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London . Published AW?Z4 ^iSj^.fy G.A: W.B.Whittaker, 13. Ave. Maria Lane. . 
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V \ "A 
 
 
 STATISTICAL, COMMERCIAL, AND POLITICAL 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 VENEZUELA, TRINIDAD, 
 
 MARGARITA, and TOBAGO : 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 Fartous &nttfrotes an* Ofcsarbattons, 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF THESE INTERESTING COUNTRIES ; 
 
 FROM THE FRENCH OF M . LAVAYSSE : 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATORY NOTES, 
 By THE EDITOR. 
 
 Hie patet ingeniis campus : certusque merenti 
 
 Stat favor : ornatur propriis industriadonis! — Claudian. 
 
 " I leave to your sovereign authority the reform or repeal of all my 
 ordinances, statutes, and decrees; bat I implore you to confirm the com- 
 plete EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES, AS I WOULD BEG MY LIFE, OR THB 
 SALVATION OF THE REPUBLIC!!!" 
 
 Installation Speech of General Bolivar, Feb. 15th, 1819. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR G. and W. B. WHITTAKER, 
 
 13, AVK-MAKIA LANE. 
 1820. 
 
 ■ 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 A 
 
W. Shackell, Printer, 
 
 Johnson's-court, 
 Fleet-street, London. 
 
mm mRR 
 
 TO 
 
 MAJOR GENERAL D'EVEREUX, 
 
 $c. <Sfc. 
 
 My dear General, 
 
 Had a personal visit to the 
 wonderful regions of which the following 
 pages treat, put it in my power to. submit to 
 the public the result of my inquiries, in an 
 original work, the friendly regard with which 
 you honour me, might, perhaps, dispose you 
 to receive my humble efforts as an author 
 with a more partial but less merited indul- 
 gence ; I feel persuaded, however, that in 
 requesting your permission to inscribe the 
 first English edition of M. Lavaysse's per- 
 formance with your name, I shall not only 
 contribute, in a far greater degree, to the 
 introduction among our countrymen of a just 
 notion respecting the moral and political 
 
VI 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 condition of Venezuela, but also lend a still 
 more effectual aid to the great cause, to which 
 you have so generously dedicated your splen- 
 did talents, and the whole of a considerable 
 fortune. 
 
 It having been my object in the few re- 
 marks which are prefixed to the translation, 
 to demonstrate, with what a capricious de- 
 viation from the true principles of a sound 
 policv, and how little consonant with the 
 characteristic liberality and well known feel- 
 ings of the British nation, is the suspicious 
 neutrality to which ministers profess their 
 determination to adhere, whilst the contest 
 between the brave, but much enduring peo- 
 ple of Spanish America, and their imbecile 
 though remorseless oppressors continues un- 
 decided ; I will not presume to detain you 
 here with any, on a subject of such various 
 and complicated bearings, but beg leave to 
 tender you the tribute of my sincere and 
 fervent admiration at your glorious reso- 
 lution to unite your political destiny to that 
 of a Bolivar, who, in sacrificing a large 
 patrimony on the altar of his country's free- 
 dom, and in spontaneously liberating fifteen 
 
$t$&\ IHh hdBBk 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 Vll 
 
 hundred slaves on his own extensive estates, 
 has held out a sublime example to the 
 Patriots of every country, and transcended 
 the illustrious Washington, not less in 
 genuine philanthropy, than in disinterested 
 patriotism ! 
 
 In full confidence that the gallant and 
 well appointed band which has recently left 
 our shores, will, under your skilful auspices, 
 insure to the standard of the Independents 
 an increase to that long series of brilliant 
 victories which has already crowned their 
 arms ; and with every heartfelt wish that, in 
 witnessing the early accomplishment of the 
 benevolent designs of a gracious Providence 
 in favour of the new world, you may reap 
 the appropriate reward of your noble enthu- 
 siasm and magnanimous self-devotion, 
 
 I have the honour to be 
 
 Your very affectionate friend, 
 And ever devoted servant, 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 London, 
 November 15th, 1819. 
 
BBS 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR 
 
 Amongst those who have described that portion 
 of Spanish South America, which has recently 
 become the theatre of such agitating and important 
 scenes, few had better opportunities of prosecut- 
 ing inquiries connected with the political economy 
 and commercial resources of Venezuela and the 
 islands in its vicinity, than M. Lavaysse, who 
 resided fifteen y ears in the West Indies, and was 
 latterly a landed proprietor at Trinidad, whence 
 he paid frequent visits to the opposite continent. 
 
 A desire of rendering the work more accept- 
 able to his English readers, has induced the Edi- 
 tor to make some trifling change in the original 
 arrangement, and also to omit those passages 
 which were either irrelevant to the main object, 
 or only calculated to swell out the volume to an 
 unnecessary size. Of these omissions, the author's 
 account of the unfortunate transactions which 
 occurred at Trinidad, from the period of its cap- 
 ture in 1797, until the removal of Sir Thomas 
 Picton, is the only one worthy of being noticed 
 in this place ; and of them it is scarcely requisite 
 to say, that having been discussed to satiety in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the united kingdom, it could have answered no 
 useful purpose, to encumber the present edition 
 with a recurrence to those painful and shocking- 
 details. In deploring events that will, it is sin- 
 cerely to be hoped, never disturb the peace or 
 retard the prosperity of that valuable colony 
 again, the Editor cannot well be charged with a 
 disposition to suppress the author's statement on 
 the subject ; as, according to an assertion of M. 
 Lavaysse, they have been treated at much greater 
 length, and with more pointed severity in the 
 Annual Register, European Magazine, and daily 
 journals of 1803, and the following year, than 
 by himself. With respect to the persecution 
 of which he occasionally complains, it is need- 
 less to remind the author, that the tribunals of 
 this country were as open to him as they have 
 been to others ; although in making the above 
 remark, the present writer is fully aware of the 
 extreme difficulty generally attendant on bringing 
 such trials to a satisfactory issue, even under the 
 most favourable circumstances. A strong bias of 
 national jealousy, aggravated by a sense of inju- 
 ries, whether real or imaginary, has evidently 
 stimulated our traveller's pen in some parts of his 
 book, and hence it was no easy portion of the 
 editorial task to qualify the author's expressions, 
 by divesting them of that acrimonious turn, 
 which is never essential to the support of truth. 
 Anxiously intent upon elucidating his subject, the 
 Editor trusts, that the manner in which he has 
 
■HL 
 
 1NTU0DIJCTI0N. 
 
 XI 
 
 acquitted himself in this respect, will equally ex- 
 empt him from the charge of partiality or prejudice. 
 
 Having thus briefly alluded to M. Lavaysse, 
 and to his own views in undertaking the transla- 
 tion, the Editor feels that he would but imper- 
 fectly discharge the most important part of the 
 obligations which he has imposed on himself, were 
 he to suffer this occasion to pass without adverting 
 to the momentous question of South American 
 independence. True it is, he cannot dare to hope 
 that any remarks he is capable of making, will 
 give the faintest impulse to the grand efforts 
 which are now accelerating the final emancipation 
 of that immense continent from the tyranny of 
 those, whom the blind and fatal policy of Europe 
 still permits to prolong its desolation and wretch- 
 edness. 
 
 Without going back to inquire how so large a 
 portion of the new world could have remained 
 subject to the galling yoke, and infuriate bigotry 
 of Spain, during a period of three centuries, it 
 will be sufficient for our present purpose to ob- 
 serve, that, no sooner had the sanguinary wars, 
 and consequent calamities which visited Europe 
 from the commencement of the revolution, 
 pointed out the necessity of liberating the Spa- 
 nish colonies from the system of oppression and 
 exclusion established by the mother country, than 
 the ministers of Great Britain, with Mr. Pitt at 
 their head, were the first to proclaim to the peo- 
 
Xll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 pie of Venezuela, that the time had at length ar- 
 rived for asserting those rights of which they were 
 so cruelly deprived : and moreover, that his majesl y 
 was prepared to afford them every assistance in 
 shaking off the chains of tyranny ! As the solemn 
 pledge then given, is still in force, for it was of 
 a nature not to be superseded by any subsequent 
 engagements, and calls more loudly than ever for 
 fulfilment on our part : the Editor cannot do 
 better than present it to his readers in the follow- 
 ing extract of a despatch from Mr. Dundas, the 
 Secretary of State, addressed to Sir Thomas 
 Picton, Governor of Trinidad, by whom it was 
 most industriously circulated throughout Vene- 
 zuela and New Grenada. 
 
 " With regard to the hopes you entertain 
 of raising the spirits of those persons with 
 whom you are in correspondence, towards 
 animatingtheinhabitantsto resist the oppres- 
 sive authority of their government, i havc 
 little more to say, than that they may be certain, 
 that whenever they are in that disposition, they 
 may receive at your hands all the succours to be 
 expected from His Britannic Majesty ; be it with 
 forces, or with arms and ammunition to any extent : 
 with the assurance that the views of His Bri- 
 tanic Majesty go no further than to secure to 
 them their independence, without pretending 
 to any sovereignty over their country, nor 
 even to interfere in the privileges of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 people, nor in their political, civil, or religious 
 rights."— 
 
 Had the just and beneficent design thus gene- 
 rously evinced been steadily followed up, it is 
 more than probable that many of those embarrass- 
 ments which now weigh so heavily on the com- 
 mercial interests of the country would never have 
 been created, while numerous and important ad- 
 vantages must have accrued from a maintenance 
 of good faith with those whom we had so posi- 
 tively promised to support. 
 
 Although the Editor is willing to draw a veil 
 over the circumstances connected with the sad 
 story of Miranda and his companions in arms, 
 history will not be silent on the fate of that brave 
 but unfortunate general. Suppressing those feel- 
 ings of regret or indignation to which a reference 
 to such events irresistibly give rise, he trusts 
 though late, a recollection of them may stimulate 
 the friends and followers of Mr. Pitt, to adopt 
 measures of atonement, while they are yet in office, 
 and before the required succours proceed from 
 others who are much less deeply interested in the 
 existing struggle than ourselves. 
 
 Notwithstanding the disastrous result of our 
 first feeble efforts in favour of the patriot cause 
 in Venezuela, they were still anxious to avail 
 themselves of British protection, and no greater 
 
 * For the whole of this memorable document, which was 
 signed Thomas Picton, and daied Port Spain, June 26th, 1797, 
 see the official papers at the end of the volume. 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 proof of this desire can be adduced, than the 
 famous letter addressed to our venerable sove- 
 reign by the junta of Caraccas on the 1st of June, 
 1810, in which amongst other passages, those un- 
 acquainted with the secret springs and tortuous 
 policy of modern statesmen, would naturally 
 suppose that the following might have produced 
 some effect. " Great Britain by her maritime 
 power, by her political influence, and by the 
 philanthropic views which direct her, is the nation 
 that appears called upon to complete the grand 
 work of confederating the scattered sections of 
 America, and to cause order, concord and rational 
 liberty, to reign therein ; and we may venture to 
 say, that nothing would be more worthy of Great 
 Britain, more worthy of the wise government, as 
 well as congenial to the character and personal 
 virtues of your majesty ; and that amongst the 
 many transcendent traits which already adorn 
 the history of your memorable reign, none would 
 render this era more brilliant to the eyes of pos- 
 terity, than the one to which we here allude." 
 
 To the above eloquent appeal, no answer what- 
 ever was returned ! We had already, in defiance 
 of every previous engagement, coalesced with 
 the selfish regency of Cadiz, and guaranteed the 
 colonies to Spain. It is needless minutely to reca- 
 pitulate the results ; but how can the impartial 
 observer who reflects on subsequent events, re- 
 frain from deploring that any circumstances, how- 
 ever urgent, could have induced us to abandon 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XV 
 
 those ill-fated provinces. While, however, a war of 
 extermination, scarcely equalled in the annals of 
 mankind, and in which several hundred thousand 
 human lives have been already sacrificed, has 
 desolated them, we are gleaning the reward of 
 our fatal policy, in the loss of innumerable advan- 
 tages on the one hand, and the basest ingratitude 
 on the other, from a prince who has done more 
 to render the kingly power odious and unpopular 
 in Europe than two thirds of his imperial and 
 royal contemporaries ! 
 
 Without being insensible to the extreme deli- 
 cacy of our present situation, not only as it regards 
 the cabinet of Madrid but that of Washington, 
 a predicament which is most assuredly not the 
 offspring of wisdom, or sound policy, it would be 
 the height of folly to imagine that the indecisive 
 and temporizing plans now pursued, can lead to 
 any thing but still greater embarrassment. The 
 most superficial reasoner amongst us, will not 
 maintain the probability of Venezuela or New 
 Grenada ever returning to the Spanish yoke ; and 
 yet, the project of occupying Cuba, is confidently 
 said to be the secret cause of ministers adhering 
 to the above ruinous system. Although he is far 
 from presuming to be sufficiently versed in the 
 arcana of diplomacy to offer a positive opinion on 
 a subject necessarily so complicated, the Editor 
 is by no means singular in his opinion, that govern- 
 ment will encounter more obstacles to the accom- 
 plishment of such a plan, if it really is contemplated 
 
XVI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 than they anticipate ; whereas, should it ever be 
 realized, we may be involved in an unprofitable 
 contest, that will most probably terminate in 
 disappointment, ultimately placing us in the 
 awkward dilemma of adding- not only Venezuela 
 but New Grenada, and Mexico, to the number 
 of our enemies! 
 
 The necessity and importance of promoting a 
 federal union between the provinces south of 
 Panama and Mexico, is strenuously advocated by 
 the most enlightened politicians of Venezuela 
 and their friends in New Grenada, while the 
 undeviating policy of the North American go- 
 vernment renders it self-evident. The whole sub- 
 ject of our interests in this part of the new 
 world, is, in fact, pregnant with such vital con- 
 sequences to our colonial power and commercial 
 interests, that nothing less than the cruellest fata- 
 lity, can prevent ministers from taking it into 
 immediate consideration, and adopting those 
 measures in favour of our real friends and natu- 
 ral allies, which every view of the question 
 seems so imperiously to demand.* 
 
 * Some days after the above cursory thoughts were committed 
 to paper, the editor met the following curious passage (not a little 
 corroborative of his opinions) in the communication of a Spaniard 
 to the editor of the Espanol Constitucional, for May : it is dated 
 Nov. 29th, 1818, from the capital of Mexico. In addition to 
 various strictures on the policy of Ferdinand, and an able ex- 
 position of the ambitious views of North America, he concludes 
 bv observing—" From my long experience and the knowledge I 
 have of the plans projected in that country, (the United States) 
 
w H B B igl 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XV11 
 
 But though ministers should persevere in the 
 present system, which they have so many mo- 
 tives for abandoning; surely there is nothing to 
 prevent the British merchants, a body so often 
 foremost in acts of liberality, from attending to 
 the appeal made to their humanity on one side, 
 and the prospect of immense advantages held 
 out on the other ? Unhappily the policy of the 
 cabinet and interests of the merchant are but too 
 frequently separated, nor were they ever more at 
 variance than in this instance. Will it, however, be 
 denied that many capitalists of this country, are in 
 
 I shall not be surprised, if four years pass over our heads with- 
 out seeing America dominate in Mexico, as she does in the 
 FJoridas. With respect to the other provinces which have risen, 
 even if they are consolidated into small republics, the United 
 States will exercise a terrible preponderance over them. God 
 grant that my political prophecy may not be fulfilled ; but I can- 
 not help thinking, if you have reflected a little on this grave mat- 
 ter, as I do not doubt you have, that you will agree with ray 
 opinion, except as to the period of time given, which is an ac- 
 cidental circumstance in the great prohlem." 
 
 A little farther on he says, " After a forty years residence in 
 America, I had hoped to have descended into the tomb, with 
 the consolation of having left my children, the noble title of 
 Spanish Citizens guaranteed by a constitution framed under the 
 auspices of deputies from both worlds; but, alas! my aged and 
 sorrowful eyes will yet see the great vice-royalty made a prize 
 of, or what is still more degrading, sold like the Floridas to this 
 proud republic, which exceeds that of Rome in ambition." 
 
 The reader is earnestly requested to compare the above with Com- 
 modore Perry's recent mission to Angostura, not to mention various 
 other indications of a decided change in the policv of the Union. 
 
WTT" 
 
 XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the daily habit of employing money less advan- 
 tageously, and with an infinitely smaller chance 
 of a profitable return, than if appropriated to 
 securing the independence of unexceptionably 
 one of the most fertile and productive regions on 
 earth ? Well might the Abbe de Pradt, to whom 
 public gratitude is pre-eminently due for his 
 meritorious efforts on the subject of South Ame- 
 rica during the last twenty years, exclaim ; 
 " Let us not dispute the fact, but candidly con- 
 fess that, as yet, America is only discovered in 
 name, and geographically. The treasures it 
 contains are still buried riches, which its free- 
 dom alone can discover to the old world. : when 
 we yield to the contemplation of those blessings 
 which the independence of this immense conti- 
 nent will overwhelm the universe ; the imagina- 
 tion is sterile to conceive, and language too weak 
 for their description !"* 
 
 When the present prosperous state of the Su- 
 preme Chief's affairs, are compared with his 
 heroic constancy during a period of ten years 
 
 • The following account of the progressive advance in the 
 revenue and produce of New Spain is not a little calculated to 
 favour the above ingenious writer's flattering anticipations. 
 Total amount in 1 7 1 2 - 1 6,000,000 francs. 
 
 Do. in 1802 - * 100,000.000 
 
 Augmentation in ninety years 84,000,000 
 
 Crop of cocoa in 1735 65,000 quintals of 150 lbs. each. 
 Do. do in 1763 110,650 do. 
 
 During the interval between 1763 and 1783, the plains near 
 Caraccas tripled the number of animals they had previously 
 contained. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XIX 
 
 incessant warfare, against the blood-thirsty Mo- 
 rillo, the Attila of South America, and his san» 
 guinary satellites, the Editor is certainly justi- 
 fied in saying, that the independent governments 
 of Venezuela and New Grenada, are not inferior 
 as securities for the payment of a few millions, 
 to some of the best guarantees held out in the 
 dilapidated financial condition of more than one 
 European nation; particularly, should any of 
 those events anticipated by many political econo- 
 mists ever take place. If, on the other hand, 
 a few liberal-minded men are disposed to risk any 
 part of their capital, surely there is quite as much 
 consolation in doing so for the rescue of a great 
 continent from tyranny and oppression, as if it 
 were sacrificed in any of those private specula- 
 tions which are daily absorbing the wealth of 
 individuals ?* 
 
 * A very well written communication that has appeared in 
 the daily papers, and dated from Trinidad, September 2d, 
 contains the following passage, which the Editor is induced to 
 submit to those who entertain any doubts on the subject to which 
 it alludes. 
 
 " Of the personal characters of the individuals composing the 
 government I entertain the highest opinion, and every day's ex- 
 perience and observation confirm its correctness. Every debt 
 that has been contracted, I am confident, will be fully, completely 
 and faithfully discharged ; and every delay which may have oc- 
 curred hitherto, however much to be deplored, cannot in the slight- 
 est degree be attributed to want of either inclination or exertion, 
 but to circumstances over which there was no human controul. 
 The best proof which I can give of my perfect reliance on the 
 
 b 2 
 
. ;• ■ - 
 
 xx 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Such is the actual state of things, both as to 
 the stability of the government in Venezuela, and 
 the progress of its army, that were a few men of 
 property to combine and take the subject of ad- 
 vancing a loan into their consideration, the Editor 
 feels convinced they would not have to wait 
 many months for a return either in specie or 
 produce, while a comparatively small sum would 
 enable the Supreme Chief to decide the contest 
 duringthe present or ensuing campaign at farthest. 
 In suggesting the propriety of an association like 
 the above, it is superfluous to remind his generous 
 countrymen, that the self-satisfaction arising out 
 of thus removing an immense portion of human 
 
 honour and good faith of the Government of Venezuela, is, the 
 fact, that I and my friends are continuing our advances ; and I 
 declare most solemnly, that had 1 the power I would go almost 
 any lengths. The debts owing by this country are com- 
 paratively a mere bagatelle, and which the possession of New 
 Grenada, and a short repose, will easily liquidate. 
 
 " The patriotic cause never wore so favourable an aspect as at 
 present, and the complete emancipation of these beautiful coun- 
 tries may be speedily anticipated. 
 
 " What an act of philanthropy, were the British Government to 
 interfere, and put an end to this inhuman warfare ; for whatever 
 the result of this or any other campaign may be, America is lost 
 for ever to Spain ! This beautiful country may be rendered a 
 desert, but never, never will it be brought to submit to the yoke 
 of Ferdinand: the continuation of the conflict can produce nothing 
 but a useless shedding of human blood. The interference of 
 Great Britain would rivet the chains of amity and attachment 
 which already exist, while from the situation and nature of the 
 two countries no rivalry can ever arise betwixt them." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXI 
 
 misery, liberating a continent, and securing con- 
 siderable pecuniary advantages, would far exceed 
 that which springs from the success of an ordinary 
 speculation. 
 
 Here it is but performing a common act of 
 justice to observe, that the persevering exertions 
 of General D'Evereux, have produced the most 
 salutary effects, not only as they regard the 
 patriot cause, but also in favour of our commerce. 
 By directing the attention of mercantile men to a 
 most profitable market, he has at the same time 
 snatched many a brave veteran from the evils of 
 poverty and wretchedness, which have weighed 
 so heavily on our disbanded soldiers and seamen 
 since the peace of 1814. By a most fortunate 
 coincidence, the period at which these laudable 
 exertions are making, combined with the generous 
 manner in which the nobility and gentry of Ire- 
 land, not excepting its women of rank and for- 
 tune, have seconded the general's views, a con- 
 siderable portion of that odium which naturally 
 resulted from a late most impolitic act, has been 
 removed. With respect to those delays which 
 have somewhat retarded the plans of the Major 
 General in favour of humanity and our commer- 
 cial prosperity, they have originated in causes over 
 which he had no controul, and cannot be so acutely 
 felt on the part of his brave followers as by himself. 
 Having understood that those busy meddlers, who 
 are ever ready to mar the best interests of society, 
 without hesitating to depreciate private character, 
 
XX11 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are not idle on the present occasion, the Editor 
 pledges himself, that the most satisfactory expla- 
 nations will be given on the whole of General 
 D'Evereux's patriotic proceedings, which have a 
 far different and infinitely more exalted aim than 
 have those of too many of his contemporaries in 
 the same sacred cause.* 
 
 These remarks, intended to convince those who 
 have already made any advances to the indepen- 
 dent government, that they have nothing to 
 apprehend in the future, and with the hope of ex- 
 citing others to complete the work of humanity, 
 cannot close more appropriately than by quoting 
 the passage in the Supreme Chief's celebrated 
 speech during the recent installation of Congress 
 at Angostura, in which, alluding to the foreign 
 creditors of the republic, he observes, " Those 
 friends of mankind are the guardian geniuses of 
 America, and to them we owe a debt of eternal 
 gratitude, as well as a religious fulfilment of the 
 
 * Amongst other ornaments of their country, Messrs. Phillips 
 and Finlay, two of the most eloquent men at the Irish bar, or per- 
 haps any other in Europe, have been particularly distinguished in 
 tins generous emulation to second the Major General's benevolent 
 and laborious efforts. But the Editor cannot omit this opportunity 
 of declaring, that the oratory of Mr. Curran's able biographer is, 
 in his humble opinion, infinitely more brilliant and persuasive, 
 when contending for the emancipation of our Catholic countrymen, 
 and asserting the liberties of Ireland and South America; than 
 while giving countenance or support to the pious members of Bible 
 Societies in the British Metropolis I 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XX1I1 
 
 several obligations contracted with them. The 
 national debt, legislators, is the deposit of the 
 good faith, the honour and the gratitude of Vene- 
 zuela : respect it as the holy ark which encloses 
 not only the rights of our benefactors, but the 
 glory of our fidelity. Let us perish rather than 
 fail, in any the smallest point, connected with 
 the completion of those engagements, which have 
 been the salvation of our country, and of the lives 
 of her children !" 
 
 In having thus endeavoured, however ineffec- 
 tually, to persuade the ministers of this country 
 into an act of common justice, and at the same 
 time convince the mercantile interest of a measure 
 that would ere long prove eminently advanta- 
 geous to both, let it not be imagined that the 
 Editor supposes the cause of South American free- 
 dom depends altogether on either. — The trium- 
 phant manner in which the Supreme Chief may 
 now be said to have almost terminated his glorious 
 labours, would render such a belief exceedingly 
 irrational. Although so tardy in coming forward 
 many years after they were bound to support the 
 sister continent, our commercial rivals in North 
 America seem to have at length awakened to a 
 sense of their interest in this great cause. Here, the 
 Editor is anxious to record, that he attributes no 
 part of their conduct during the struggle either 
 to national generosity or public virtue ! on the 
 contrary, every part of it appears to have been the 
 offspring of a cold calculating trading policy on 
 
XXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the one hand, not unmixed with an ill concealed 
 sentiment of envy and jealousy on the other. 
 But while there does not appear to be any motive 
 for the latter feeling, the cabinet of Washing- 
 ton has certainly every reason to be envious of a 
 neighbouring state, in which Universal Liberty 
 is proclaimed, while slavery is tolerated through- 
 out the incessantly vaunted republic of North 
 America! 
 
 If the Editor has dwelt on this subject some- 
 what longer than he intended, it arises from a 
 conviction that the recitals of disappointed ad- 
 ventures, and representations of those who are 
 ever ready to palliate the errors of men in power, 
 have had the effect of prejudicing many of our 
 capitalists on the subject of Venezuela. Leaving 
 those publications which draw so lamentable a 
 picture of the hardships experienced by two or 
 three isolated individuals and their companions, 
 hardships which the Editor ventures to assert have 
 been felt by thousands and tens of thousands, 
 during the late disastrous wars in which this coun- 
 try was engaged, to that oblivion which awaits 
 them, he takes this opportunity of noticing a wri- 
 ter in the last number of a well known Review, 
 and of shortly replying to his strictures on the cause 
 of independence. In these, amongst other equally 
 liberal remarks it is asserted that, " South America 
 is nothing but an arena in which a set of needy 
 and adventurous prize fighters are contending 
 each for his own individual advantage." Upon such 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXV 
 
 an assertion, and indirect mode of defending 
 government, the Editor has no hesitation in ob- 
 serving that, so far from exonerating ministers 
 from the charge of betraying the patriots, it is a 
 gross exaggeration of the crimes laid to our 
 account by the independent party in that long 
 persecuted region. But this is not the only in- 
 stance wherein the advocates of a bad cause, in- 
 stead of justifying their patrons, only tend to 
 bring them into still greater contempt, and hasten 
 the accomplishment of those events they vainly 
 endeavour to retard. Does the writer thus no- 
 ticed, merely because the above periodical work 
 is not only patronized by ministers, but partly 
 conducted by members of the administration, 
 require to be informed that, if his assertion with 
 respect to South America were even true, every 
 honest mind could most easily trace the cause 
 to those statesmen who, after having invited the 
 colonists to shake off the yoke, and solemnly pro- 
 mised every assistance, abandoned them to their 
 fate ! ! ! 
 
 In answer to the absurd proposition that the 
 great mass of the inhabitants take little or no 
 interest in the struggle, and which not only past 
 experience, but these events daily announced most 
 effectually controvert, the Editor begs to quote a 
 passage from M. de Humboldt's Essay on New 
 Spain, which accounts in a great measure for many 
 of those difficulties that have impeded the termi- 
 nation of this terrible contest. 
 
XXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the tranquil character and 
 extreme docility of the people in the Spanish 
 colonies/' says that intelligent traveller ; " in spite 
 of their peculiar situation, dispersed over a vast 
 extent of country, enjoying that species of indi- 
 vidual liberty which always arises from great 
 liveliness, political agitations would have been 
 more frequent after the peace of Versailles, and 
 above all since 1789, if the mutual hatred of the 
 casts, and the fears with which the great number 
 of blacks and Indians inspire the whites, had not 
 arrested the progress of popular discontent. These 
 motives have become still more powerful, sub- 
 sequent to the events that have taken place in 
 St. Domingo ; and it cannot be for a moment 
 doubted, that they have contributed more to pre- 
 serve peace in the Spanish colonies, than mea- 
 sures of rigour or the formation of militias." — 
 When to the foregoing causes we add the influence 
 of the priesthood, and power of the inquisition ; 
 the superstitious and unenlightened state of the 
 people, not to mention the efforts those in power 
 are ever ready to make for the preservation of 
 their patronage, emoluments and places, the 
 wonder will greatly diminish if it be not entirely 
 removed. Amongst those consequences antici- 
 pated by the best informed individuals, from the 
 European cabinets thus tacitly encouraging the 
 war of extermination, that of the black popula- 
 tion being stimulated to follow the example of 
 St. Domingo, is not the least important or wor- 
 
fl$ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 thy the serious consideration of our statesmen, 
 as being fraught with the most imminent dan- 
 gers to our colonial interests. 
 
 Without entering into a defence of such men 
 as Puyerclon, St. Martin, O'Higgins and Artigas ; 
 all of whom are embraced by the sweeping 
 charge of the Reviewer; the best reply to his 
 strictures, as well as those suggested by the hatred 
 and malignity of others, will be found in the late 
 proceedings at Angostura, where General Bo- 
 livar, in opening the second National Congress, 
 previous to a most eloquent speech, in which the 
 basis of a final constitution is proposed, insisted 
 on giving up that unlimited authority with which 
 he had been entrusted by the people ; in directing 
 the secretaries of state to lay the whole of his 
 proceedings before the representatives of the na- 
 tion, and finally consigning the staff of office to the 
 President. When this had been done the General 
 nobly added, " I return to the Republic the gene- 
 ral's staff, entrusted to me : to serve in whatever 
 rank or class the congress may place me, cannot but 
 be honourable ; in it I shall give an example of that 
 subordination and blind obedience, which ought 
 to characterize every soldier of the Republic." 
 
 The speech from which the above is extracted, 
 together with an account of the proceedings that 
 took place on the 15th of February, a proud day 
 for Venezuela, marks a memorable epoch in the 
 history of the new republic : it has been published 
 under the auspices of General D'Evereux, and is 
 
xxvm 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 particularly deserving the attention of all those 
 who feel an interest in the present progress of 
 events. It is not amongst the least extraordinary 
 political phenomena of the nineteenth century, 
 to witness a military chief imitating the most ex- 
 alted men of antiquity, and promulgating the 
 sublimest legislative truths, in a country hitherto 
 signalized as the very focus of bigotry and depo- 
 tism ! — expressing sentiments which the people 
 of Europe, chiefly know through the too partial 
 medium of Grecian and Roman history ; as if the 
 principles recently advocated by the friends of 
 human nature in the old world, were destined to 
 be practically realized in the western hemisphere! 
 But this is not the first time the Genius of Liberty 
 has crossed the Atlantic. With the most ardent 
 wishes to see her cherished by the sons of Southern 
 Columbia, let us however hope that she has not 
 totally abandoned her votaries in Europe ! 
 
 Yes ! even at this moment, the situation of 
 Simon Bolivar might well be envied by the 
 greatest monarchs on earth. Hailed a second 
 time as the liberator of Santa Fe de Bogota; 
 havinp* nreviouslv merited the same glorious title, 
 were the Editor disposed to hazard comparisons 
 between public characters, how pre-eminently 
 transcendent would not a chief whose glory and 
 fortunes are of his own creation, achieved through 
 unparalleled difficulties, and fighting for the liber- 
 ties of his country, appear, over those who, hav- 
 ing sworn to defend popular rights, are only 
 
H^HH 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XX IX 
 
 coalescing for their destruction, and endeavour- 
 ing to degrade the species by adding to the weight 
 of their fetters ! 
 
 Although a summary of the speech to which 
 the Editor has felt it his duty to call the attention 
 of his readers, will be found in the Appendix, he 
 hopes to be excused for closing these observations 
 called forth by the illiberal attempts of a few in- 
 dividuals to lessen the Supreme Chief's well merit- 
 ed claims to the admiration of this country, with 
 the last paragraph of his luminous address, which, 
 though drawing a picture that may not be realiz- 
 ed to the extent anticipated, still does infinite 
 honour to the head and heart of the illustrious 
 orator. " Flying from present and approaching 
 future times," said the General, "my imagination 
 plunges into future ages, in which I observe with 
 admiration and amazement, the prosperity, the 
 splendour and animation which this vast region 
 will have acquired ; — my ideas are wafted on, 
 and I see my beloved native land in the centre of 
 the universe expanding herself on her extensive 
 coasts, between those oceans, which nature has 
 separated, and which our country will have 
 divided with large and spacious canals; I see her 
 the bond, and central emporium of the human 
 race; I see her transmitting to earth's remotest 
 bounds, those treasures contained in her moun- 
 tains of gold and silver; I see her distributing 
 by her salutiferous plants, health and life to 
 the afflicted of the old world ; I see her impart- 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing to the sages of other regions her inestimable 
 secrets, ignorant un'Jl then, how much her height 
 of knowledge transcends her excessive wealth ; 
 — yes! I see her seated on the throne of freedom, 
 wielding the sceptre of justice, and crowned 
 with glory, shew the old world the majesty of 
 the new !" 
 
 A cursory perusal of the documents prefixed 
 to the end of the volume, while it demonstrates 
 upon what enlightened principle the new govern- 
 ment is founded, equally removed from the vio- 
 lence of democracy on the one hand, and from 
 the danger of arbitrary power on the other, 
 proves that a system of equal laws, like those even 
 now in force, and solemnly promised by the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, must prevent the abuses 
 which daily arise in the best regulated communi- 
 ties of Europe. If sentiments such as those ex- 
 pressed in the declaration of independence, and 
 in the Supreme Chief's late installation speech, 
 are not calculated to excite admiration and inspire 
 confidence, where are they be found ? And let it 
 be recorded to the honour of General Bolivar, 
 they have been rigidly acted upon, in all that 
 relates to the government of the Republic, since 
 he has been called to the arduous office he now 
 fills with no less oredit to himself than advantage 
 to his country. 
 
 The late Congress at Aix la Chapelle, from the 
 labours of which so many benefits were antici- 
 pated by some people, was also to have arranged 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 the affairs of South America, and thrown that 
 vast continent open to the industry and commerce 
 of the old world. But what was the result of 
 its deliberations on that vitally important subject ? 
 The august members separated without one soli- 
 tary measure calculated to inspire the oppressed 
 colonists with hope, or change the infatuated 
 policy of Ferdinand ! What a humiliating reflec- 
 tion, that those who had so often boasted of re- 
 establishing peace on such a solid foundation, 
 should imply their inefficiency to complete the 
 beneficent work, by leaving an immense and fertile 
 continent a prey to war, rapine, and persecu- 
 tion !* 
 
 But it is time to terminate this discussion, which 
 
 * When the future historian of our times, sits down 
 to record the proceedings of this assemblage, it must 
 be truly painful for him to state that, with such a glorious 
 opportunity of performing acts of real magnanimity, and 
 restoring their lost popularity, as no other Congress ever 
 possessed, its measures were exclusively confined to an 
 act of necessary duty, that of withdrawing the foreign 
 armies from France, concerting the best means of adding 
 to their power and increasing their territories ! 
 
 Would it not have been more conducive to the interests 
 of humanity and beneficial to themselves, had those 
 Sovereigns opened the vast continent of South America to 
 the industry and enterprize of their starving subjects, 
 giving it that independence which must eventually triumph 
 even without their aid ? Ought they to have been indif- 
 ferent to the laudable efforts of the philanthropic Owen 
 to ameliorate the condition of the species ; much less deaf 
 and insensible to the appeal of the virtuous Count de Las 
 
XXXll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 has already far exceeded the proposed limits. 
 Unambitious, as he is undeserving- of literary 
 fame, the Editor has, in the foregoing desultory 
 remarks, been rather anxious to quote official 
 documents, and record the opinions of more 
 weighty authorities than his own ; thus hoping 
 to make out a case in favour of the brave and 
 suffering people of South America, which neither 
 sophistry nor declamation, ridicule nor invective, 
 could well controvert. Relying on the indulgent 
 consideration of his country, it is for an impartial 
 public to decide how far those important objects 
 have been attained. If he has trespassed some- 
 what longer on the patience of his readers than 
 might be thought necessary, he trusts their recol- 
 lection of those countless millions in both worlds, 
 whose best interests are either directly or collate- 
 rally involved in the momentous question of South 
 
 Casas in favour of his persecuted but once powerful 
 master ! 
 
 Although the advocates of injustice and arbitrary 
 power in this country affect to forget, and are silent on 
 our treatment of Napoleon, the hero of Tilsit, of Elan 
 and Esling ; the conqueror of Vienna, the preserver of 
 Frederick William's throne, the sworn friend of the 
 magnanimous Alexander, finally of the Emperor and 
 former enemy of England, who claimed British hospi- 
 tality when overtaken by misfortune ; that treatment 
 is not the less inhuman and impolitic, or likely to become 
 a serious item of accusation against its authors and abet- 
 tors, when the day of civil and political retribution 
 arrives! 
 
■■ W$0$0l 
 
 INTHOIH'OTION. 
 
 xxxm 
 
 American independence, will be accepted as a 
 sufficient excuse for a greater want of brevity. 
 
 Should the feeble voice he has endeavoured to 
 raise with the best intentions and most ardent de- 
 sire to serve the cause of England and humanity, 
 not be heard, he ventures to express a hope, that 
 the walls of Parliament will resound with such 
 an appeal in favour of the violated rights of men 
 in the new world, that, while it convinces Europe, 
 the British nation does not participate either in 
 the wishes or designs of its ministers; shall finally 
 lead to the accomplishment of those salutary mea- 
 sures which neither the Congress of Emperors and 
 Kine-s, nor the servants of the crown, have had 
 sufficient magnanimity to perform. 
 
 Without wishing to divert the attention of 
 the legislature from objects of still greater con- 
 sequence nearer home, or diminish the awful, nay, 
 almost unprecedented circumstances under which it 
 is about to assemble, the Editor feels satisfied that 
 the subject of South America is one of paramount 
 importance; he is moreover induced to add as 
 his firm conviction, that if there is any event 
 connected with our foreign policy, more likely 
 to calm the perturbed spirit of the people than 
 another, or one that would give a most salutary 
 impulse to manufactures and commerce, go- 
 vernment would find it in a prompt and liberal 
 measure, such as sound policy dictates and our 
 situation really calls for, with regard to that con- 
 tinent. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has been recently announced in the public 
 papers, that twelve of the Englishmen surprized 
 atPortobello.have been shot by the Spanish autho- 
 rities at Panama. If this atrocious act be con- 
 firmed, the Editor trusts, for the honour of our 
 name as a people, that the circumstance of these 
 unfortunate victims having been led in an evil 
 hour, or perhaps by the dreadful pecuniary embar- 
 rassment now so prevalent in our once happy coun- 
 try, to follow the fortunes of an adventurer, who has 
 justly forfeited public confidence, will not save the 
 perpetrators from the just vengeance of England ; 
 and that unlike the recent conduct of her minis- 
 ters, in suffering the sanguinary generals of North 
 America to slaughter our ill-fated countrymen in 
 cold blood, the solitary abettors and murderous 
 instruments of Ferdinand in South America, will 
 not also be allowed to act with similar impunity ! 
 
 E. B, 
 
H 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Historical Sketch of Venezuela. — First Adventurers. — Welsers. 
 — Their Cruelties. — Depopulation amongst the Indians Tribes. 
 — Early Commerce, and Pearl Fishery. — Exclusive Commercial 
 Companies — Views of the British Ministers. — Piernal, 
 
 Gual, and Espana Don Vincente de Emparan. — Anecdote. 
 
 — General Miranda — Geographical Description of the Country. 
 — Rivers, Lakes, Population, Vallies of Cape de Paria. — Carac- 
 cas. — State of Religion and Education. — La Guyra. — Porto 
 Cavello. — Valencia. — Maracay. — Coro. — Barcpuisimeto. — San 
 Felipe. — Guanare. — Miraculous Madona. — Curious Law Suit. 
 — Nirgoa. — Zamboes. — Conjectures.— jCalabosa. . . I 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Cumana, Historical and Geographical Sketch of the Province. — 
 Privileges granted by Pope Alexander VI. — Conduct of the 
 first Spanish Invaders. — Retaliation of the Indians. — Barthe- 
 lemy de Las Casas. — Ocampo. — Biographical Sketch of Las 
 Casas. — Extract from his History. — City of Cumana. — Its Pros- 
 perity under Emparan. — Its Population. — Public Amusements. 
 — Anecdote of M. de Humboldt. — System of Education. — Price 
 of Provisions. — Manners. — Trade. — Defences and Fortifications. 
 — Gulphof Cariaco.-- Marine Birds. — Singular Mode of catching 
 them. — Carupana. — Valley of Yaguaraparo. — Cumanacoa. — 
 Grotto of Guacharo. — Indian Superstitions. — New Barcelona. 
 — Its Productions and Trade. — Conception del Pas. — Remarks 
 Guiana. — Derivations. — San Tome de Angostura. — State of the 
 Indian Tribes. — Mode of recognizing Flocks. — Wild Horses, 
 Mules, &c. — Curious Account of them. — Province of Vari- 
 nas. — Account of the Inhabitants. — Maracaybo. — Population. 
 — Island of Margarita. — An Original. — Decoration of the Vir- 
 gin, and Anecdote. — Pompatar. — A Sermon. — Theological Dis- 
 putation — Bulls and Indulgences — Faxavdo. — Margarita de- 
 scribed. — Assoncion. — Fisheries. — Departure 77 
 

 XXX VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Page, 
 
 Manners and Customs. — Various Casts. — Conquistadores. — 
 Creoles — Idea of Nobility. — Refutation of De Paw's Doctrines. 
 — Mental Qualifications of the Creoles. — Reflections on Concu- 
 binage. — Parental Affection of the Creoles. — Account of the 
 Guahiros. — Quadrupeds. — Traits of Manners. — Dress, &c. at 
 Caraccas. — Singular Fashion at Cumana. — Anecdote of an 
 Indian Female. — Remarks on several Animals. — Paca. — Pecary. 
 — Catalogue of Birds. — Insects — Trees and Shrubs. — Anecdotes 
 of the Boa Strictor. — Remarks. — Vegetable World. — M. de 
 la Barrere's Herbal. — Reflections. — Geological Attributes of 
 Trinidad. — The Sugar Cane. — Introduction and Mode of culti- 
 vating the Otaheite Cane. — Fattening Qualities of the Cane — 
 Suggestions. — Proposed Improvements in Sugar Plantations. — 
 The Cocoa Tree. — Nutritious Virtues of Cocoa. — The Tree 
 described. — Epidendrum Vanilla. — Coffee. — Thoughts on its 
 
 cultivation Mode of planting Coffee. And various Hints on 
 
 the subject. — Podocarpus. — A Reflection. — Geological Obser- 
 vations. ...... 
 
 174 
 
 CHAP. IV 
 
 Industry and Commerce of the ci-devant Spanish Colonies com- 
 pared with those of England, France, Holland, &c. — Lord 
 Chatham's opinion of Colonial Manufactures. — Impolicy of en- 
 couraging them. — Most adviseable System for Governments to 
 pursue. — Barbarous Policy of the Spanish Cabinet with regard 
 to the Colonies. — Juice of the Agave. — Absurd and oppressive 
 Mode of Taxation. — Reflections. — Guipuscoa Company. — Edict 
 of Free Trade. — Prohibitions of the Spanish Government. — 
 Remarks on the Work of M. Dcpons. — Contraband Trade of 
 
 English Merchants. — Facts and Observations relative thereto. > 
 
 Panegyric on the Custom House, and Revenue Laws of Great 
 Britain. — Remarks on the Colonial System of France, and Con- 
 sequences of the prohibitory Regulations of Spain. — List of 
 various Duties, Imposts, kc. — Privileges accorded to French 
 Settlers in the Spanish Colonies by the Family Compact. — An- 
 naul Amount of Exports from Venezuela. — Concluding Remark s. 234 
 
gEBH nM 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXVll 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Trinidad. — Geographical Description of the Island. — Guaraouns. 
 — Their singular Mode of Living, Trade, and Habitations. — 
 Mouths of the Orinoco. — Guarapiche. — Gulph of Paria. — 
 Scenery. — Port Spain — Rivers of Trinidad. — Its Bays and 
 Harbours. — Natural Canals. — Fish. — Mangrove Trees. — Birds. 
 — The Aspiialtum Lake. — Its Peculiarities. — Volcanic Re- 
 mains. — Mountains. — Conjectures. — Las Cuevas. — Nature of 
 the Soil — Excavations at Guadaloupe. — Crater of Erin. — A 
 new Metal. ..... .275 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Climate. — Seasons. — Winds. — Rain. — Rarity of Storms and 
 Hurricanes. — State of the Thermometer. — An Experiment. — 
 Quantity of Rain. — Inundation of the Orinoco. — Tides. — 
 Effects of increased Cultivation. — Various Degrees of Heat. — 
 Observations on the Effects of Climate, and Precautions recom- 
 mended.— Spring or fine Season — Remarks. — Dews. . 306 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Historical Sketch of Trinidad — Its Discovery.— First Establish- 
 ment of the Spaniards. — Sir Walter Raleigh's Visit to the 
 Island. — His Treaty with the Indians, and Attack on San Joseph. 
 — Eulogium on the Soil and Climate of Venezuela. — Blind 
 Policy of Spain. — Project of M. de Saint Laurent. — Change in 
 the Island's Condition. — Rapid Increase of its Population. — 
 Don Joseph Chacon. — His Policy. — Port Spain. — French Refu- 
 gees. — Inhabitants in 1797. — First Sugar Plantation. — Capture 
 of the Island by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. — Progressive State 
 of Population, Agriculture, and Commerce between 1783 and 
 1807 321 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Tobago. — Historical Sketch of the Island — Its Discovery and 
 original Inhabitants. — First Establishment of the Dutch there. 
 — The Lampsins. — Ceded to the Duke of Courlandby James I. 
 — Manifestoes of Charles I. in favour of the Duke. — The 
 Island is attacked by Sir Tobias Bridges, and the French Admi- 
 ral d'Estrees.— Captain Pointz. — Tobago is ceded to Great 
 Britain.— Treaty of Aix la Chapelle.— State of the Island in 
 
■ 
 
 WT~ 
 
 XXXV1H 
 
 I'ONTKNTS. 
 
 *V 
 
 17G5. — Messrs. Franklyn and Robley. — Taken by the French 
 
 in 1781 Reflections. — Recaptured by General Cuyler in 1793. 
 
 — Present State of Cultivation. — Mr. Robley 's Plantation and 
 Establishment. — His numerous Improvements and Character. — 
 Scotch Emigrants — Reflections. — Natural Productions of the 
 Island. — Plants. — Birds. — Fish — Quadrupeds.— Scarborough. 
 — Currents, &c. ...... 
 
 CHAP. IX, 
 
 341 
 
 Inquiries concerning the Negroes. — Their intellectual Capabili- 
 ties. — M. Lilet. — Opinion of Camper and Blumenbach. — 
 Difference between Negro Tribes. — How they are improved. 
 — Blanchetier Bei.levue. — Cause of Crime and Degene- 
 racy in the Negroes. — Instances of Fortitude and Generosity 
 among them. — Anecdote. — Allusion to the Cruelties exercised 
 at Surinam. — Singular Instance of Resolution in Suffering. — 
 Heroic Speech of a Negro — Anecdotes. — Pride and Vanity of 
 Negroes. — Affection for their Children. — Causes of Infanticide 
 amongst them. — Poisoning prevalent. — Mode of punishing the 
 Delinquents. — Objections answered. — Reflections. — Advan- 
 tages of Freedom. — Effects of the Slave Trade — Sir William 
 Young's Plantation. — Treatment and Management of the Slaves 
 there. — Mulattoes. — Their harsh Treatment by Europeans, 
 and Condition in the Colonies. . . . 366 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Indians. — Classedmto Caribs and Parias. — Opinion of Rochefort, 
 and contradictory Accounts of that Writer. — Analogies. — 
 Religion of the early Tribes. — Sorcery. — Sylvester. — Anecdote. 
 — Curious Dialogue. — First Establishment of Missions. — Com- 
 parison. — Reflections. — Jesuits. — Mission of St. Joseph.. — Mass 
 of the Indians. — A Review. — Indi \.ns of Guiana. — Anecdote. 
 
 Degraded State of some Tribes. — Custom of selling their 
 
 Wives and Children. — Indians of Trinidad. — Their uncivilized 
 State. — Nefarious Conduct of some English Proprietors. — The 
 Arrouages. — Their Trade. — Accouchement of the Indian Mo- 
 thers. — Conjectures. — Account of the Black Caribs of St. Vin- 
 cent's. — Visit to Grand Sable, and curious Description of a 
 Carib Chief. — Concluding Remarks. . . . 398 
 
Hi ICK *$r 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Page. 
 Containing Official Documents, Extracts from General Bolivar's 
 Speech, &c. &c. . . . 443 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 1, fox " Wall" in beading to Chap, read " Gual," p. 23. 
 
 3, for " accomplished for the degradation of humanity" read " could 
 
 effect for," Ac 
 
 60, for, " in which" read " where." 
 
 .... 120, for " Caoni," read " Caroni." 
 
DESCRIPTION OF VENEZUELA, 
 
 <jrr. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 
 Historical Sketch of Venezuela. — First Adventurers. — Welsers. — Thin 
 Cruelties — Depopulation amongst the Indian Tribes. — Early Com- 
 merce, and Pearl Fishery. — Exclusive Commercial Companies. — 
 Views of the British Ministers. — Piernel, Wall, and Espana. — 
 Don Vincente de Emp.vran. — Anecdote. — General Miranda. — Geo- 
 graphical Description of the Country. — Rivers, Lakes, Population, 
 Vallies of Cape de Paria. — Caraccas — State of Religion and Educa- 
 tion. — La Guyra. — Porto Cavello. — Valencia. — Maracay. — Coro — 
 Earquisimeto. — San Felipe. — Guanare. — Miraculous Madonas. — 
 Curious Law Suit.— Nirgoa.— Zamboes. — Conjectures Calabosa. 
 
 The vast, fine, fertile, and generally pictu- 
 resque country, of which I am about to sketch 
 the history and description, was discovered by 
 Christopher Columbus, during his third voyage 
 to the new world in 1498. All that this great 
 man related to the court of Spain, relative to 
 the beauty and riches of the regions he had dis- 
 covered, excited the cupidity of two adven- 
 turers, his cotemporaries, Americo Vespucci 
 and Alfonso Ojeda : in consequence of which, 
 they obtained permission from the Spanish 
 
2 COLUMBUS. 
 
 Government to glean on his track. These 
 men united in this enterprise, like two traders 
 on a commercial speculation. The noble mind 
 of Columbus was only animated by a love of 
 the sciences and true glory ; while Ojeda and 
 Vespucci were stimulated by the desire of ac- 
 quiring riches, no matter by what means. It is 
 not therefore surprising, that the last named 
 personage attempted to persuade, and at length 
 succeeded in convincing the court of Spain, that 
 the discovery of the new continent was due to him, 
 and that Columbus had merely discovered some 
 islands. In almost every age, audacious adven- 
 turers have obtained more success at courts than 
 men of real genius ; but it is not the less surpris- 
 ing, that although the deceit of Vespucci was 
 soon discovered, his name should be given to, 
 and still remains with the new world. It was 
 destined, that the man who made the greatest 
 and most brilliant of discoveries, who was the 
 cause of reclaiming so large a portion of the 
 human species from the forests of barbarism, and 
 of laying the foundations of numerous states and 
 colonies ; it was decreed that this truly great 
 man should be calumniated and persecuted 
 during his life, that his glory should be con- 
 tested, and even his name mutilated. Historians 
 are justly indignant at this injustice of his cotem- 
 poraries ; but many think it fortunate for the 
 pure and unspotted glory of Columbus, that his 
 name has not been borne by a portion of the 
 

 HE 
 
 ALFONSO OJEOA, 
 
 world which was to be made the theatre of all that 
 avarice and superstition, tyranny and slavery, have 
 accomplished for the degradation of humanity. 
 When, however, those objects now so gloriously 
 contending for, are accomplished, and this coun- 
 try attains its proper rank among the mightier 
 powers, it would be worthy of its inhabitants, to 
 give it the name of Columbia, andthat the usurped 
 trading name of America should be effaced from 
 their maps. When in August, 1806, General 
 Miranda made his first attempt to render Vene- 
 zuela, his native country, an independent state, 
 he conceived the noble idea of giving to the 
 little band which he commanded at Coro, the 
 name of the Columbian army, and proposed that 
 his countrymen should take the name of Colum- 
 bians. 
 
 Alfonso Ojeda reconnoitred the Lake of Mara- 
 caibo in 1499, and having found the villages of 
 the natives built on piles, he, gave the country 
 the name of Venezuela, from its similitude to 
 Venice. He did not found any settlement there, 
 but spent his time in waging war with the natives, 
 whom he took to sell as slaves in the island of 
 Saint Dominp-o and Porto Rico. 
 
 o 
 
 It does not enter into the present plan, to write 
 a history of the plunders, massacres and cruelties 
 committed in all those countries, soon after their 
 discovery, calamities of which the original cause 
 may be traced to the permission granted by 
 Charles V. to those ruthless robbers of a barbar- 
 
 ;; L' 
 
RHHH 
 
 THK WELSETtS. 
 
 ous age, who went to conquer the new world, 
 and enslave the natives. A man who had na- 
 turally a benevolent heart, and who was ani- 
 mated with the true spirit of the gospel, the vir- 
 tuous Bishop of Chiapa, had the glory of re- 
 straining those excesses, and of shielding the In- 
 dians from their executioners. He also was ca- 
 lumniated ; but the good which he effected re- 
 mains, and his name, an honour to that of Spain, 
 will descend to the remotest posterity among 
 those of the most illustrious heroes of huma- 
 nity. 
 
 Previous to my giving a description of the pro- 
 vince of Venezuela, it may be proper to present 
 a short historical view of the government of the 
 Welsers, bankers at Augsburgh, to whom Charles 
 V. had ceded the country as an hereditary fief 
 of the crown of Spain. The young colony was 
 then governed by a prudent and worthy chief, 
 Don Juan Ampues, who had founded the town 
 of Coro, in 1529, the most ancient establishment 
 in Venezuela except Cumana, built in 1520, by 
 Gonzalo Ocampo, and which did not form a part 
 of that government. 
 
 The conditions on which this important cession 
 was made, were as follows : 
 
 First. All the countries comprised between 
 Cape de la Vela, and Maraeapana, with the pri- 
 vilege of making conquests, and extending their 
 possessions towards the south, were ceded to the 
 new company. 
 
TflEIU POLICE 
 
 Second. The Welsers obliged themselves to 
 found two towns, and three forts, in the space of 
 three years. 
 
 Third. They were to equip four vessels for 
 the conveyance of three hundred Spaniards, and 
 fifty Germans, and it was allowed to them by 
 this charter, to work all the mines of the new 
 world for their advantage, or that of their as- 
 signs. 
 
 Fourth. The emperor gave the title of Ade- 
 lantado, to the person whom the Welsers should 
 appoint to the government of that colony. 
 
 Fifth. The imperial cedula permitted the 
 Welsers to make slaves of such Indians as should 
 refuse to become their vassals. 
 
 It' is true the Emperor Charles V. appointed a 
 priest, Father Montesillo, to be the protector of 
 the Indians; but some historians have given to 
 this precaution the term of a refinement in hypo- 
 crisy. From whatever motive it arose, Montesillo 
 found it more profitable to participate in the plun- 
 der of the W T elsers, than fulfil the duties of his 
 pious mission. The agents of those bankers be- 
 haved in that devoted country, as commercial 
 companies have always done, to which the sove- 
 reignty of distant regions has been confided. To 
 found durable establishments, or encourage agri- 
 culture and the arts, has never been the noble 
 ambition of such men. Stimulated by the desire 
 of accumulating riches speedily, and returning 
 to enjoy them in their native country, the Welsers 
 
6 
 
 A L FINGER 
 
 began by exactions and pillage, and were not long 
 in familiarising themselves with murder, rapine 
 and cruelty. Such was the conduct of Alfinger, 
 the first Welser agent, and of his deputy, Sail- 
 ler, who arrived ai Coro in 1528, at the head of 
 four hundred adventurers. Scarcely had they 
 taken possession of the government, when they 
 inquired where the mines of gold and silver were ; 
 but when Alfinger was informed that the coun- 
 try did not contain any, and that the means of 
 enriching himself were not so easy as he had 
 been assured in Spain, he sallied forth into the 
 interior of the colony, at the head of a detach- 
 ment, leaving Sailler to command at Coro. While 
 on this predatory excursion he hunted the unof- 
 fending Indians, as if they were wild beasts, ap- 
 plying the torture to, or exterminating all those 
 who did not bring him a certain quantity of gold 
 dust on the appointed days ; for although mines 
 of gold had not been discovered then, yet it 
 was found in the beds of some rivers. The colo- 
 nists, who were a mixture of Spanish and Indian 
 blood, were no better treated by Alfinger. He 
 made incursions on their plantations, robbing all 
 who fell in his power, and murdering any one that 
 opposed his progress : he also sold the Indians 
 to whoever would buy them. This wretch, no 
 less cruel than insatiable, lost a great many 
 troops in the first year of his government ; 
 but the Welsers took care to send him recruits 
 occasionally : at length the relentless assassin was 
 
. , -■ : 1 ; I ! 
 
 SP1H U A. 
 
 massacred by the Indians, in 1531, in a valley that 
 has ever since borne his name, El Valle de Misser 
 A/nbrosio, the Valley of Ambrosio, for that was 
 the monster's name. The Welsers had sent 
 another German to succeed Alfinger in case of 
 death : this man, instead of roaming about, armed, 
 like his predecessor, led a tranquil life at Coro, 
 gorging himself with pillage which never ceased 
 to be exacted, as in the time of the former go- 
 vernor. 
 
 In 1533, the Welsers sent out Spina with the 
 title of governor ; he had under his orders four 
 hundred men, Spaniards or natives of the Canary 
 Islands : when he had united his troops to those 
 which were in the colony, he divided them into 
 three bands, which penetrated the country to 
 plunder it, he being at the head of one of those 
 detachments. This expedition lasted five years: 
 Spirra returned to Coro in 1539, bringing back 
 but eighty of the four hundred men whom he 
 had taken with him. It was on this journey 
 that the story of the fabulous country of El 
 Dorado originated. It is probable that the In- 
 dians invented this fable, to attract their greedy 
 tyrants into the large forests of their country., 
 that they might perish the more easily. Spirra 
 died at Coro of fatigue and chagrin. The court 
 of Spain had sent a bishop named Bastidas, to 
 Venezuela, in 1536. At the death of Spirra, 
 the audiencia of Saint Domingo, which at that 
 time, had the superintendence of the other colo- 
 
8 
 
 AS CASAS. 
 
 nies, conferred the government on this bishop; 
 Philip de Urre, a general officer, was appointed 
 to command the troops. Those two men shewed 
 themselves in every thing worthy of succeeding 
 to the agents of the Welsers. 
 
 The Bishop Bastidas commenced by ordering 
 an officer named Pedro Limpias to go on an ex- 
 pedition against the Indians of the Lake Mara- 
 caibo, on whom it was expected a large contribu- 
 tion in gold might be raised ; but the result hav- 
 ing produced only a small quantity, the people 
 were sold as slaves, when all hope was lost of 
 procuring by their means a greater supply of that 
 metal. 
 
 Bastidas then sent Philip de Urre in search 
 of the far famed El Dorado. After having 
 pillaged, and assassinated all who fell into his 
 hands during the four years the expedition lasted, 
 Urre returned to Coro, without discovering the 
 chimera, reduced to the last stage of misery, and 
 after having lost nearly all the accomplices of his 
 crimes. On his arrival he was assassinated by Lim- 
 pias, and Carvajal, who by means of false papers 
 seized on the government of the colony, whilst 
 Bastidas had been sent to fill the episcopal chair 
 of Porto Rico. Carvajal founded the town of 
 Tucuyo, the only establishment formed in the 
 colony during the time it remained in the power 
 of the Welsers. 
 
 At length the eloquent voice of the immortal 
 Las Casas succeeded in asserting the rights of 
 
PERES DE TO LOS A. J 
 
 suffering humanity at the court of Charles V. : 
 that monarch reclaimed those powers which none 
 ought ever to alienate, especially in favour of 
 commercial companies; he resumed the actual 
 sovereignty of Venezuela, and the ferocious agents 
 of the Welsers were expelled. Grant Heaven that 
 those who now exercise a tyranny no less cruel and 
 diabolical, may ere long experience the fate of the 
 Welsers and their agents ! 
 
 Returned to the administration of a deputy 
 appointed by their sovereign, the colonists were 
 at length relieved. Those who had survived the 
 tyranny of the traders, resumed the occupations 
 of agriculture and the useful arts, under* the 
 government of Don Juan Peres de Tolosa.* Vari- 
 ous edicts, published from 1526 to 1542, declare 
 the Indians free ; but it is known other edicts had 
 encroached on their liberty. At length in 1546, 
 it was solemnly proclaimed by Toloso, and ex- 
 tended even to those who might be taken inarms: 
 these he distributed in several villages, under the 
 • superintendence of Spanish chiefs, where they 
 were subjected to a kind of feudal government ; 
 a system, which, when prudently administered, 
 is perhaps one of the best and surest for training 
 savages to civilization. 
 
 * Raynalsays, that the conduct of the Spaniards was not in 
 the least different from that which had just been (he cause of so 
 many horrors. The Spanish historians and chronicles <>t Carae- 
 ^as and Cumana, However, eulogize Tolosa. 
 
10 
 
 I'OMCY OF SPAIN, 
 
 The plan of distribution, which the chiefs did 
 not delay in turning to an abuse, was changed 
 in many colonies for that of the encomiendas. 
 There was this difference between these two modes : 
 in the last, the Spanish chief, or inspector of the 
 Indians, was prohibited from residing in the same 
 village with them. The encomendero was a kind 
 of inspector or surveyor, appointed to visit them 
 on certain days, to decide on their differences, 
 and induce them to renounce the customs of savage 
 life ; also to inspire a taste for agriculture, arts, 
 and civilization ; in short, to aid the missionaries 
 with all his influence. This system was certainly 
 preferable to that of the repartimiento. It may 
 be seen by the prohibition which the legislature 
 placed against the encomenderos residing in the 
 same village with the Indians, that the cause of 
 humanity had made considerable progress. It 
 was feared, with good reason, that the con- 
 stant presence of arbitrary commanders, among 
 artless and ignorant men, would end in habituating 
 those chiefs to treat them as slaves. Notwith- 
 standing all the precautions taken by a sovereign 
 who resided nearly two thousand leagues from 
 these new states; as generally happens, the enco- 
 menderos concluded by abusing their authority, 
 and appropriating the labour of the poor Indians 
 lo themselves. 
 
 " The Indians," says M. de Humboldt, " whose 
 liberty had been proclaimed in vain by Queen 
 Isabella, were, until then, the slaves of the whites. 
 
~W0 
 
 ENCOMENDEROS. 
 
 II 
 
 who had collected them promiscuously. By the 
 establishment of the encomiendas, slavery took 
 a more regular form. To put an end to the dis- 
 sentions among the conquerors, the remains of 
 the conquered people were distributed to them ; 
 the Indians, divided into tribes of several 
 hundreds of families, had masters appointed in 
 Spain from among the soldiers who had distin- 
 guished themselves in the conquest, and among 
 the lawyers (Licentiados,) that the court sent 
 to govern the provinces, and serve as a counter- 
 poise to the usurping power of the generals. A 
 great number of the encomiendas, and the best, 
 were given to the monks. Religion, which, by 
 its principles, ought to be favourable to liberty, 
 was debased in availing itself of the slavery of the 
 people. This distribution of the Indians attached 
 them to the soil ; their labour belonged to the 
 encomenderos. The vassal frequently took the 
 family name of his master ; many Indian families 
 bear Spanish names to this day, without having 
 ever mixed their blood with that of Europeans. 
 The court of Madrid thought it gave protectors 
 to the Indians ; but it had increased the evil, by 
 rendering the oppression more systematic. 
 
 " Such was the state of the Mexican cultivators 
 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Since 
 the eighteenth, their lot has become progressively 
 more fortunate : the families of the conquerors 
 are partly extinct : the encomiendas, considered 
 as fiefs, have not been distributed anew ; the 
 
12 
 
 rilAKLKN IIF. 
 
 viceroys, and especially the audiencias, have 
 watched over the interests of the Indians; theif 
 liberties, and in many provinces, even their com- 
 forts, have increased gradually. Above all, it 
 was Charles III. who, by measures no less wise 
 than energetic, was the benefactor of the na- 
 tives: he abolished the encomiendas, and prohi- 
 bited the repartimientos, by which the corregi- 
 dores arbitrarily constituted themselves the cre- 
 ditors, and consequently masters of the labour of 
 the natives, in providing for them, at exorbi- 
 tant terms, horses, mules, anddress. The establish- 
 ment of intendancies, which is due to the adminis- 
 tration of the Count de Galvez, has become a 
 memorable era for the benefit of the Indians. 
 The annoyances to which the cultivator was in- 
 cessantly exposed on the part of the Spanish 
 and Indian subaltern magistrates, have greatly 
 diminished under the active inspection of the 
 superintendents ; the natives begin to enjoy the 
 advantages which the laws, generally mild and 
 humane, have granted them, but of which they 
 were deprived in ages of barbarism and op- 
 pression. The first appointment of persons to 
 whom the court confided the important places of 
 superintendents, or of governors of provinces, was 
 very fortunate. Among the twelve who adminis- 
 tered the country in 1804, there was not one 
 whom the public accused of corruption^ or want 
 of integrity."* 
 
 ' £cc hi- K:-:.;t\ en New Spam. 
 

 .MKXKANS. 
 
 13 
 
 Heaven forbid that I should endeavour to 
 palliate the crimes of those rapacious and unjust 
 men who availed themselves of the gifts of civi- 
 lization only for the purpose of reducing the 
 unhappy Indians to slavery ! The observations 
 of M. de Humboldt are equally just and wise ; 
 when the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they 
 found a people who had made a great progress in 
 civilization, and to whom there was only wanting 
 a knowledge of the art of writing, to be on a 
 level with the greater part of the European na- 
 tions of that period. The Mexicans were cultiva- 
 tors, and practised many of our mechanical and 
 chemical arts : a good government, and wise laws, 
 would have exacted the adoration of a people 
 that groaned under the double tyranny of a Mon- 
 tezuma, and the most debasing feudality. 
 
 But, the aboriginal natives of Venezuela, were 
 then in a very diiferent situation : they had made 
 no advances from a savage state, scarcely culti- 
 vating a few roots, and depending for the re- 
 mainder of their wants on the spontaneous pro- 
 ductions of nature, which were lavished in a cli- 
 mate so inviting to indolence. The Caribbs, Pa- 
 rias, and Caraccayans, had not arrived at the 
 knowledge of domesticating animals ; they were 
 not even herdsmen or shepherds, and conse- 
 quently far inferior to the Bedouins and Tartars. 
 Something more than mere exhortations was 
 therefore requisite to withdraw them from such a 
 life, and induce them to become cultivators. 
 
mHBnm 
 
 14 
 
 Indian Tiunrs. 
 
 Even to this clay the Indian tribes of the new 
 world, so far from being ameliorated in their 
 condition, have become completely depraved, 
 and are almost extinct in the neighbourhood of 
 European settlements, particularly the British and 
 French, which have not subjected them to their 
 laws. Since the abolition of the Jesuits, drunk- 
 enness, licentiousness, and the small pox, have 
 destroyed nearly all the communities that lived 
 in the vicinity of the French and English posses- 
 sions in the two Americas. At Cayenne, for ex- 
 ample, more than sixty thousand Indians were 
 counted in 1720; and fifteen years after they had 
 lost their Jesuit missionaries, that is to say in 
 1777, there remained only four or five thousand ; 
 in 1809, there were scarcely two hundred! 
 
 It is not much more than ten vears since the 
 savages of Brazil were still subjected to a kind of 
 feudal system ; the native population, far from 
 becoming annihilated, as in the neighbourhood of 
 the British and French possessions, had increased 
 as well as in the Spanish colonies. At that period 
 M. de Souza Coutinho, governor of Grand Para, 
 liberated by order of his government, two hun- 
 dred thousand Indians, all cultivators, carpenters, 
 cabinet-makers, masons, -&c. in that province only. 
 If the ancestors of those savages had been 
 abandoned to themselves, and not collected toge- 
 gether under the care of missionaries and Euro- 
 pean chiefs, the vicinity of the white colonists, of 
 whom they contract only the vices, when they 
 
Hi 
 
 TIIF.IH EXTIN'CTiONi 
 
 I 
 
 are not held in subjection by a vigilant and steady 
 police, would no doubt have reduced them to as 
 small a number as those who vegetate, and are on 
 the point of extinction in French Guiana and 
 Canada. 
 
 It is truly surprising, that a country which be- 
 gan under such unfavourable auspices in 1529, 
 should have had a considerable population in 1560. 
 At that period, the towns of Cumana, Coro, Bar- 
 quisimeto, Palmes de Nirga, Tocuyo, Borburato, 
 Valencia, Truxillo, and Collado were already 
 founded. The district of the Lake Maracaibo, 
 which at first formed the government of Vene- 
 zuela, that has since given its name to the general 
 government of Caraccas, and which now forms 
 one of the states of the Venezuelan confederation, 
 was first visited in 1499, by Alfonso Ojeda. 
 This adventurer did not form any establishment 
 there, and only thought of plunder. The first 
 colonial establishment, that of Coro, was made 
 in 1527, by Ampues : in the following year the 
 colony was delivered to the Welsers, under the 
 tyranny of whom it languished until 1545. 
 
 It was therefore, in the short space of twenty- 
 five years that the towns mentioned after Cu- 
 mana and Coro, were founded. No historical 
 record informs us of the population of Ma- 
 racaibo or Coro in 1560; but according to a ma- 
 nuscript which I received from a respectable 
 inhabitant of the Caraccas in 1807, the popula- 
 tion of Maracaibo, in 1560, was about 16,000. 
 
16 
 
 population: 
 
 The resources of that country, and perseverance 
 of the first colonists, must have been great, to 
 produce such an increase, without any commer- 
 cial connection with the mother country. Pre- 
 vious to 1660, no ship had ever sailed from 
 Spain to exchange its productions for those 
 of the colony; the intercourse of the Welsers 
 having had for their object only the discovery 
 and working of the mines. But a considerable 
 population being created by the marriages of 
 Europeans with the Indian women, those colonists 
 sent a deputy to Spain in 1555, calling upon then- 
 sovereign for a reform in the colonial adminis- 
 tration, and permission to despatch annually from 
 Spain to the port of Borburata, at the expense 
 and risque of the colonists, a vessel, whose cargo 
 should be liable to pay only half the excessive 
 duties then levied on cargoes that arrived at, or 
 were sent from America. This favour was grant- 
 ed in December, 1560: from that time until 1575, 
 a ship went every year to Borburato. But the 
 town of Caraccas having been founded in 1565, 
 by Diego Lozada, and that part of the colony 
 becoming more populous than the district of 
 Maracaibo, owing to the superior fertility of its 
 soil and delightful climate, the ship ceased to 
 visit Borburata from 1576, thenceforth frequent- 
 ing La Guyra, the nearest port to the Carac- 
 cas. Pearls were the principal object taken in 
 return : a little cocoa, vanilla, indigo, arnotlo, 
 and deer skins, formed the remainder of the 
 

 PEARL FISHERIES. 
 
 17 
 
 the cargo. But the rapacity and want of pre- 
 caution with which the pearl fishery was carried 
 on, about the Island of Margarita, caused the 
 almost total destruction of the oysters that pro- 
 duced them, at the same time that it occasioned 
 the loss of thousands of Indians who were forci- 
 bly employed as divers in the fishery. This oc- 
 cupation having been fruitless, during the last 
 hundred and fifty years, it has been abandoned, and 
 the oysters in which the pearls are found, have 
 again multiplied on the coasts of that island. Jn 
 1807, I saw a person, who had procured about 
 four hundred of them, in the course of the pre- 
 ceding year. 
 
 The colony remained for a long time in the 
 same state ; its population increasing by the 
 abundance of its provisions, but unable to en- 
 rich itself from the want of commerce. The 
 Dutch, who had formed an establishment at 
 Curagoa in 1634, did not, however, delay enter- 
 ing into commercial connections with the Spanish 
 colonists ; agriculture then assumed another as- 
 pect, and cocoa soon became the principal article 
 of cultivation. The animals received from Eu- 
 rope, were better managed ; they have since 
 multiplied to such a degree, that the colonists 
 having many more than they could keep, horses, 
 asses, mules and oxen, have at length ran wild 
 in the desert plains and forests, where travellers 
 and hunters find them in herds of many thousands. 
 
 When the relative increase and prosperity of 
 
18 COMMERCIAL MONOPOLIES. 
 
 this colony was known in Europe, and also the 
 large profits gained there by the Dutch in their 
 contraband trade, the Spanish merchants peti- 
 tioned their government for permission to send 
 cargoes out. But, as it was necessary to have 
 a special licence from the king, for the despatch 
 of each vessel, which licences were very expen- 
 sive, and as they were granted on the express 
 condition that they should be sent from Seville 
 only, as also that they should return to dis- 
 charge at that port, not to mention the enor- 
 mous imposts exacted on leaving Spain and 
 reaching America : it was found totally impos- 
 sible to support a competition with the Dutch 
 interlopers in the new world : consequently the 
 two vessels which were sent from Seville in 
 1655 and 1G56, made ruinous voyages. Other 
 merchants having attempted to renew this trade 
 by sending three ships in 1680, were not more 
 fortunate, in consequence of the imbecile rapa- 
 city of their government. The company of Gui- 
 puscoa was formed in 1722. The object of this 
 association was to engross the trade of the colony, 
 to the exclusion of the Dutch. Its first opera- 
 tions were favourable to the colonists, and pro- 
 fitable to the share-holders ; but the old spirit 
 of insatiable avarice, that always gains the ascen- 
 dency in commercial monopolies, did not fail 
 soon to render the company odious to both colo- 
 nists and government. Its agents having found 
 it more profitable to trade with the Dutch in 
 
EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 10 
 
 CWacoa, than with Spain, ended by sending 
 very few vessels to the latter country. It is curi- 
 ous to observe how in all times, and in every 
 nation, this monstrous avarice of exclusive com- 
 panies has produced the same results, and con- 
 cluded by effecting their destruction. It is con* 
 fidently said, that, for about fifteen years past, 
 the British East India Company sell licences or 
 protections to neutrals to trade to their ports in 
 India. This knavery, (what other term can more 
 appropriately be applied to it ?) has produced 
 some colossal fortunes in England and America, 
 whilst the trade was prohibited to the merchants 
 of England, Ireland and Scotland.'^ 
 
 * It is sincerely to be hoped that the above assertion was 
 merely a report: if otherwise, the author's language is certainly 
 not too strong; and whether true or false, the recent alteration 
 in the East India Company's charter, has removed the evil. 
 God knows the mercantile sovereigns of the eas(, have enough 
 of sins to answer for, without the disreputable charge of adding 
 to their revenue in the manner stated by M. Lavaysse. But 
 the author is by no means singular in his dislike to exclusive 
 privileges in commerce. The Abbe de Pradt, whose enlightened 
 opinions on the subject cannot be too often read, or highly 
 praised, observes — " To see the use which the moderns have 
 made of exclusive commercial companies ; to contemplate this 
 practice as consecrated by nations and ages ; to compare the 
 system with those effects which it has never failed to produce, 
 together with the expences into which it has led the mother 
 country and her colonies ; it is scarcely possible to avoid being 
 surprized at the respect one has felt towards institutions, that 
 have been thus sanctioned no less by the imposing authority of 
 
 c2 
 

 20 
 
 FREE TRADE. 
 
 The company of Guipuscoa, after having ex- 
 perienced various modifications, was at last abo- 
 lished in 1778, by an edict of Charles III., to 
 which the Spaniards have given the term of the 
 " edict of free trade." From that period, as 
 glorious for the monarch as it was fortunate for 
 the mother country and its colonies, is to be 
 dated an increase of population and wealth 
 which can scarcely be believed, under a govern- 
 ment vicious in every other respect. The popu- 
 
 their authors, than the seal of time. To buy at a low price 
 from the producer, and sell dearly to the consumer ; to graduate 
 the proportion of abundance, not on public want, but according 
 to the interest of the privileged few, has always, and ever will 
 be, the maxim of exclusive companies : they will think much less 
 of providing for those who have the misfortune of being left to 
 their mercy, than of keeping away those who wish to partici- 
 pate in their profits. People have invariably adduced the ad- 
 vantages of exclusive commerce to palliate the odious parts of it. 
 But who can ever believe that a nation ought to be excluded for 
 its advantage ? It is high time to speak in the language of 
 truth, and proclaim that the word exclusive should be hence- 
 forth banished from the vocabulary of every civilized people, 
 and confined to that of Turkey or other countries equally en- 
 lightened!" — See Chap. X. of the Abbe's famous work on the 
 Colonies. Nor is our own celebrated political economist Adam 
 Smith much more partial to trading companies. See the admir- 
 able remarks in Vol. II. p. 505, et passim, of his admirable 
 work on the Wealth of Nations, wherein that independent writer 
 does not hesitate to declare mercantile companies incapable of 
 consulting their true interests when they become sovereigns, 
 finally considering them as a public nuisance. — Ed. 
 
REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES. 
 
 21 
 
 lation of Venezuela alone has more than doubled 
 in the space of twenty -nine years ; it was a 
 million of souls in 1809. 
 
 The edict of 1778 was issued most oppor- 
 tunely, at a moment when the British colonies 
 of North America had risen to shake off the yoke- 
 of the parent state ; so that the Spanish colonists 
 testified no desire to imitate their neighbours, 
 and seemed contented with what was granted to 
 them. The principles of the French revolution 
 did not as yet inflame their minds, though some 
 individuals endeavoured to convince the people, 
 they also had a right to civil and political liberty. 
 It is, however, a singular fact, that whilst Great 
 Britain was at war with France, under the spe- 
 cious pretence of preserving herself from its prin- 
 ciples, her ministers no sooner heard of the 
 treaty of Basle, by which Spain made peace 
 with France, than they lavished the public trea- 
 sures to propagate ideas that had been dissipated 
 in France, as soon as the commotions insepar- 
 able from such a great revolution had ceased. 
 Scarcely had the Island of Trinidad been deliver- 
 ed to them, than they established a focus of in- 
 surrection, destined not only to render Spanish 
 America independent, but to overturn and ruin 
 it like our colonies. Historical impartiality re- 
 quires me to state that His Royal Highness the 
 Prince of Wales, as well as many distinguished 
 personages in England, expressed their indigna- 
 tion at this perfidious mode of making war. 
 
22 
 
 STATE PRISONOUS. 
 
 At the time that Great Britain took possession 
 of Trinidad, great discontents had prevailed in 
 the province of Caraccas for some months, owing 
 to the exactions recently committed by the officers 
 of the customs, and the vexations practised by a 
 police magistrate. 
 
 During these occurrences, three Spanish state 
 prisoners arrived at La Guayra, condemned 
 to imprisonment for life in one of the forts. 
 These were men of great talents : one of them, 
 Picornel, had been surnamed by his coun- 
 trymen, the Spanish Mirabeau ; they availed 
 themselves of the public discontent, to interest 
 the commander and officers of the garrison in 
 their fate. Farenheit's thermometer is generally 
 at ninety degrees in the casemates, in which they 
 were ordered to be confined, a circumstance that 
 excited the pity of the garrison. The commander, 
 therefore, took upon himself to allow them the 
 fort as their prison. The eloquence of Picornel, 
 and the singular talents of his two companions, 
 gave rise to the esteem and friendship of all those 
 who saw T them ; the inhabitants of the neighbour- 
 hood obtained leave to visit the fort. On perceiv- 
 ing every one, even to the priests and monks, 
 exasperated against the administrators of the 
 colony, the triumvirate formed the bold project 
 of delivering the country from the yoke of its 
 oppressors. Don Joseph de Espana, corregidor of 
 Macuto, and Don Manuel Gual, captain of engi- 
 

 THE IK ESCAPE. 
 
 23 
 
 neers, both natives of Caraccas, undertook to 
 organize this revolution. 
 
 The prisoners, however, finding that the con- 
 spirators were not sufficiently forward in putting 
 their project into execution, and fearing a disco- 
 very, made their escape : soon after one of them 
 became mad and died. The 14th July, 1797, 
 was the day fixed by Espana and Gaul, for raising 
 the standard of independence : those conspirators 
 were not Catalines; they were the most distin- 
 guished men in the colony for their talents, virtues, 
 fortune, and even their birth. Their object was 
 to possess themselves of the heads of the govern- 
 ment, to keep them as hostages, and treat them 
 with the greatest kindness, especially the Captain 
 General Carbonel, who detested, and had even 
 endeavoured by every means in his power to put 
 an end to the crying vexations committed by cer- 
 tain administrators : their plan w T as imitated in all 
 points by the congress of Venezuela, when it 
 declared itself independent of the Junta of Cadiz, 
 in 1811. On the 13th July, 1797, in the evening, 
 a conspirator seized with fear, went to the cathe- 
 dral and rang one of the bells. It is thus that a cri- 
 minal acts in Spain, after having committed mnr- 
 der, in order that a priest may go and give him 
 absolution, and secure impunity for him. This 
 man required they should conduct him to the arch- 
 bishop, to whom he promised to reveal the con- 
 spiracy, on condition that the Captain General 
 and the Audiencia would guarantee his life, What 
 
24 
 
 ESPANA. 
 
 he demanded was granted. Orders were suddenly 
 issued to arrest all the persons he accused : Espafia 
 and Gual, who were at La Guayra, had timely 
 notice to escape ; which they effected in a boat to 
 Curacoa, from whence they went to Trinidad, 
 where I became acquainted with them. The 
 other conspirators, to the number of seventy-two, 
 were arrested and imprisoned. The colonial 
 government sent a despatch to Spain, to give in- 
 telligence of this occurrence. The king, after 
 having received the official report, convinced 
 that his Venezuelan subjects had been driven to 
 despair and rebellion by the unheard-of exactions 
 of his administrators, ordered that the conspira- 
 tors should be treated with clemency and sent to 
 Spain. But the latter had reason to fear, that if 
 they were sent, the truth would have been made 
 known to the sovereign, and themselves sacrificed 
 to the just resentment of the colonists. This was 
 the motive which induced them, instead of obey- 
 ing the order of their sovereign, to linger out the 
 process of the prisoners ; and it may be well suppos- 
 ed they did not omit informing the minister, rea- 
 sons of state required that, at least, some of the 
 principal heads should fall. 
 
 During the above period Espafia was at Trini- 
 dad, the most unhappy of mankind, by his sepa- 
 ration from a wife and children whom he tenderly 
 loved. It was not unknown at Trinidad that the 
 king had recommended clemency : this intelli- 
 gence, and the desire of seeing his family again, 
 

 RETURNS TO THE CARACCAS. 
 
 25 
 
 induced him to adopt the resolution of returning 
 to his country, in spite of all that those who were 
 most interested in his fate could say to dissuade 
 him from it. He, therefore, returned to the 
 neighbourhood of Caraccas, where he remained 
 concealed for some time, at the house of a friend, 
 where he had the consolation of seeing his wife 
 and children occasionally. It. would seem as if 
 the Audiencia had, until then, respected the king's 
 order, only for the purpose of attracting Espaiia 
 and Gual into the country, two men whose talents, 
 courage, and popularity they most feared. As had 
 beenforboded by his friends, the retreat of Espaiia 
 was discovered, the house surrounded, and himself 
 taken. 
 
 The trial of the conspirators had now been 
 carried on for nearly two years ; every one 
 supposed that, in consequence of the king's or- 
 ders., they would be no further punished than 
 by sending them to Spain. During those 
 events, a new captain general came to take pos- 
 session of the government of those provinces : 
 scarcely had Espaiia been taken, when the trial, 
 which many supposed forgotten, was renewed : 
 this created the utmost consternation, and excited 
 a great fermentation in the country. The new 
 captain general, Don Miguel de Vasconcellos, 
 received anonymous letters, threatening another 
 disturbance, if the life of Don Joseph de Espaiia 
 should be endangered. Those letters produced 
 no other effect than that of irritating him. Vas- 
 
26 
 
 EM PER AN'. 
 
 concellos possessed neither the knowledge, virtue? 
 nor the calm firmness of Carbonel, bis prede- 
 cessor : yet he was not malicious or tyrannical, 
 but one of those narrow-minded men who conceal 
 their weakness by a degree of violence, to which 
 they endeavour in vain to give the appearance of 
 greatness of mind and fortitude. Instead of con- 
 trolling the subalterns, he neglected every 
 part of the administration, except the military ; 
 complaint and murmurs recommenced, and the 
 oppressors of the colony represented those com- 
 plaints and murmuring to him as indicating a 
 spirit of revolt. Severe measures were redoubled 
 at the moment when most people called for, and 
 all would have been satisfied by a removal of the 
 abuses. As a proof that it was the excess of op- 
 pression, and not the contagion of revolutionary 
 principles, that inspired the inhabitants of Ca- 
 raccas with the desire of throwing off the Spanish 
 yoke, it should be remarked that the province of 
 Cumana, or New Andalusia, did not participate 
 in those troubles, although both these provinces 
 were adjacent ; and the English, who had then 
 much more commercial intercourse with Cumana 
 than the Caraccas, had omitted nothing to propa- 
 gate a spirit of independence in New Andalusia. 
 But the latter was governed by a man of inte- 
 grity, and of a disinterested, firm character, Km- 
 paran : under such heads, symptoms of discontent 
 or revolt are never manifested. 
 
 But to return to the process against Espana 
 
■ 
 
 FATE OF ESPANA. 
 
 27 
 
 and the other conspirators ; the threats addressed 
 to the captain general produced no other effect 
 than that of hastening their ruin. It was disco- 
 vered afterwards that those anonymous menaces 
 had been fabricated by the auditor of war, Lav- 
 nes ; who, seeing that the Captain General Vas- 
 concellos inclined to mercy, invented the above 
 diabolical stratagem, to exasperate him against 
 the accused. This malignant magistrate, who 
 had long sold his decisions at Trinidad and Ca- 
 raccas to the highest bidder, and who the con- 
 gress of Venezuela had merely banished, knew 
 that if Espafia should obtain access to the throne, 
 he would reveal his numerous extortions. 
 
 Seven of the accused were condemned to die ; 
 one of them for contumacy. Five were executed 
 at La Guayra in the beginning of May, 1799, and 
 on the 8th of the same month, Don Joseph de Es- 
 pafia was drawn and quartered at Caraccas. " Con- 
 ducted to execution," says a celebrated writer, 
 whom I shall quote on this occasion, " he saw the 
 approach of death with the courage of a man born 
 for great actions."* Thirty-three of the other pri- 
 soners were condemned to the gallies : there re- 
 mained in prison thirty-two, against whom there 
 were no proofs ; they were sent to Spain : Charles 
 IV. pardoned them in 1802, and gave them em- 
 ployments, on condition that they should never 
 return to their own country. 
 
 M. de Humboldt. 
 

 CHARACTER OF ESPANA. 
 
 During the time proceedings were carrying on 
 against Espana, one of his relations went to a 
 Scotchman residing at Caraccas, who was the 
 secret agent and banker of his government in 
 that capital : the Venezuelan told the agent 
 that the relations and friends of Espana had 
 subscribed to form a sum of thirty thousand dol 
 lars, by means of which they would save his 
 life : the half of this sum was to be paid to Lav- 
 nes, who had put that price on his escape, and 
 the remaining fifteen thousand dollars were des- 
 tined for the jailor, who had promised to run away 
 with him. A boat was waiting for them in the 
 port of La Guayra ; the prisoner's friends were 
 deficient of eight thousand dollars ; every species 
 of security was offered to obtain from him that 
 sum by way of loan. This man, who had then 
 more than a hundred thousand dollars in his chest, 
 and who had inveigled the too credulous Espana 
 into his schemes, was deaf and insensible to their 
 proposals ! 
 
 I was acquainted with Espana : he had one of 
 those frank and open countenances, but pensive 
 and full of sensibility, such as 1 have sometimes 
 seen, though very rarely, so fine, in the new 
 world ; a primordial type, of which scarcely any 
 traces remain, except in the Pyrenees, Switzer- 
 land, the mountains of Scotland, and in some 
 elevated regions in which the inhabitants have 
 not been much intermingled with their neigh- 
 bours. He was descended from an illustrious Bis- 
 
r ?. 'J?*-;. <*mi 
 
 GUAL. 
 
 29 
 
 cayan family, transplanted to America, his son 
 went to Guadaloupe, and from thence to France, 
 where he has found friends and a second country. 
 
 Gual, abandoned by the British government in 
 1801, soon afterwards died of a broken heart in 
 Trinidad. It appears that in that year, Great 
 Britain had deemed it proper to defer the anarchy 
 of the Spanish colonies ; for the Governor of 
 Trinidad ceased to pension the persons he em- 
 ployed for that purpose, and to encourage those 
 who were really desirous of the independence of 
 their country. This requires some explanation.* 
 
 There is a period when colonies must cease to 
 be subject to the countries that have founded 
 them : nature herself indicates that period : it is 
 that in which they have sufficient strength to 
 maintain themselves in regard to self-defence and 
 commerce. The Spanish colonies, the islands of 
 Cuba, Porto Rico, and Trinidad excepted, have 
 approached rapidly to this situation for more 
 than half a century. The identity of religion, 
 opinions, recollections, origin and language ; the 
 ties of kindred ; all that of which the endearing 
 name of country is composed, formed the moral 
 cement which retained those of Spain under the 
 
 * It does ! and the editor trusts for the honour of his country, 
 that the friends of those ministers who patronized the heroic but 
 unfortunate Miranda, will come forward to disprove many of those 
 charges which remain unanswered, but which his impartiality 
 and love of truth will not allow the editor to suppress. 
 
■n 
 
 30 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 authority of the common sovereign. In that re- 
 spect, they differ from those which now form the 
 United States of North America, whose inhabi- 
 tants have sprung from colonies and emigrants 
 sent out from nearly all the nations of Europe. 
 The white population of the Spanish colonies 
 having, on the contrary, an homogeneal origin, 
 it is easy to conceive that nothing less than great 
 oppressions in the government of one of those 
 colonies, or a revolution occurring in the mother 
 country, could break the moral ties by which it 
 remained subject to its sovereign. These principles 
 are advanced in order to distinguish the peaceable 
 citizens and proprietors of a country, who are 
 solicitous solely for its independence, from the 
 factious agitators and spies hired by a powerful 
 enemy, to propagate discord and anarchy in it. 
 
 An excellent governor, Don Vincente de Em- 
 paran, had, by the mere influence of his wisdom 
 and virtues, put an end to public discontent in 
 the provice of Cumana, after the catastrophe of 
 Espana. The fruits of his beneficent administration 
 were still enjoyed under his successor, Don Ma- 
 nuel de Cagigal, in 1807, when I was in Cumana. 
 Having, one day entered the store of a grocer, 
 in that town, I found him occupied in making 
 paper bags and wrappers of the declarations of 
 the rights of man, copies of the social contract, 
 and the bulls true or false of Pope Pius VI. which 
 excommunicated the French nation. I inquired 
 how those papers had come to his shop ; the fol- 
 
CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 3J 
 
 lowing was his answer : " I made a voyage to 
 
 Trinidad after the peace of Amiens : Mr. 
 
 gave me a bale containing five hundred copies of 
 each of these writings, and as many by a Peruvian 
 Jesuit, who has long resided in London, by which 
 he instigated us to renounce our allegiance to our 
 sovereign, and promised us the assistance of Eng- 
 land. Such bales are given to all the traders who 
 frequent the ports of Trinidad. As for me, I took 
 mine to the governor, after having reserved some 
 copies for making bags, &c. It must be acknow- 
 ledged," added this Creole, a man of singular good 
 sense, " that the British ministers are as perfidious 
 as they are inconsistent : they send us these 
 writings in order to inculcate democratic princi- 
 ples, whilst they at another time declared war 
 against France, under the pretext of opposing 
 her in an attempt to establish for herself that 
 form of government which they now wish by all 
 means to force us to adopt. They are Protestants, 
 and they send us the Pope's bulls against the 
 French, to inspire us with horror for that nation. 
 They must truly deem us a very stupid race, in 
 supposing that we can be entrapped in such a man- 
 ner." " My friend," I replied, " it is of very little 
 consequence to those ministers under what form 
 of government you or we live: their great object 
 is to sow enmity and discord among other nations, 
 to obtain a monopoly of their commerce : that is 
 the sole aim of their policy." 
 
 The reforms effected in the province of Carac- 
 
. . . . 
 
 HHi 
 
 32 
 
 MI It A MM. 
 
 cas by Don Pedro Carbonel, and in that of Cu- 
 mana by Don V. de Emparan, (the two principal 
 provinces of the general government of Vene- 
 zuela,) had calmed and satisfied all minds ; but, 
 with those governors, it was not long before the 
 good they had introduced also disappeared. The 
 Captain General Vasconcellos having placed all 
 his confidence, and in some measure transferred 
 his authority to Lavnes, tyranny and extortions 
 again distracted the colonists. General Miranda 
 was invited by thousands of letters to go and 
 place himself at the head of the insurgents in the 
 year 1805. He appeared on the coast of Porto 
 Cavello in the month of May, 1806 ; but the ves- 
 sel that conveyed him was repulsed by the Spanish 
 gun-boats. He repaired to Trinidad in the fol- 
 lowing month, and departed from it on the 1st of 
 August, accompanied by about one hundred and 
 eighty volunteers, escorted by a sloop of war from 
 the squadron of Admiral Cochrane. Six days 
 afterwards he landed at Coro, where he remained 
 twelve days with his little troop, without being 
 attacked by Colonel Salis, who was posted at four 
 leagues from him. Miranda found the people of 
 that thinly inhabited part of the province, very 
 little disposed for a revolution, and seeing himself 
 abandoned by the British admiral, who had pro- 
 mised him powerful aid, he decided on returning 
 to Trinidad, where he was the object of the most 
 cruel raillery, both to the English generals who 
 had deceived him, and of those persons who had 
 
Hi 
 
 THE AUDIENCIA. 
 
 33 
 
 previously lavished the meanest flatteries on him, 
 when they expected to see him soon become the 
 head of a new state. I shall say nothing of the 
 events that have since elevated him to the place 
 of supreme chief of the United States of Vene- 
 zuela, because I was not there when that revolu- 
 tion broke out ; but 1 know that the persecutions 
 exercised against the French, when that state 
 was governed by the agents of the Junta of Cadiz, 
 have ceased since the authority has passed into 
 the hands of General Miranda and the indepen- 
 dent party. 
 
 Here it is necessary to direct the reader's atten- 
 tion to two things : the first is, that as soon as 
 the Audiencia of Caraccas had information that 
 General Miranda was preparing at New York 
 to invade his country, they hastened to put an. 
 end to public discontent, by prohibiting exac- 
 tions and abuses, and by displacing some subaltern 
 agents ; which proves how mild the people are, 
 and easy to be governed. 
 
 Tn the second place, it is to be observed that 
 the British ministry of this period, the close of 
 1806, caused to be inserted in the London Ga- 
 zette, an official letter from Admiral Cochrane, 
 in which he announced the capture of Caraccas 
 by General Miranda, while they ought to have 
 known that the general had not approached 
 within fifty leagues of that capital. As there 
 were negociations for peace at the time, they 
 
 j> 
 
34 
 
 VENEZUELA. 
 
 thought, perhaps, that this petty trick would 
 have an influence on those which related to 
 Spain. 
 
 VENEZUELA. 
 
 This country is bounded on the north by the 
 Caribbean Sea, and extends southward from SL 
 Joseph de Rio Negro (where the Portuguese 
 possessions begin,) which is in the first degree of 
 northern latitude, to Cape de la Vela, in 12° 10 ; 
 and from east to west from the 62° of West 
 longitude, to 75° 50 . French and Dutch Cayenne 
 form its eastern limits, and the kingdom of New 
 Grenada, or Santa Fe de Bogota, bounds it on 
 the west. A chain of mountains which stretch 
 from the Andes de Bogota, meander across the 
 country, first in a northern direction, then to- 
 wards the east, and at length incline as they ap- 
 proach the coast. The Island of Trinidad, which 
 is at the end of this chain, and that of Tobago to 
 the eastward of Trinidad, are supposed to be ves- 
 tiges of the great catastrophe which has detached 
 them from it. To the south and north of the 
 mountains are vast plains which extend to the 
 east and west, and are terminated at the foot of 
 the Andes de Bogota. 
 
 Tin 
 
 few 
 
 lere are lew countries so well watered, if we 
 except the steppes or desarts which h 
 
 been 
 
 S(> 
 
Hi 
 
 TO POO RA PIIIC A L DESC It f PTION. 
 
 35 
 
 well described by M. de Humboldt. In a future 
 chapter, I shall offer some observations on the 
 periodical increase and decrease of the Orinoco. 
 There are nearly three hundred and seventy 
 marine leagues from the Raudal (cataract) of 
 the Guajaribos, east of the Esmeralda (the 
 nearest point to its sources, which are unknown) 
 to the mouths of the Orinoco. The map prefix- 
 ed to this work will shew its windings, the rivers 
 it receives, its cataracts, and its depth between 
 the town of St. Thomas and the sea, and also 
 above the last named place. 
 
 The country is intersected in every direction 
 by navigable rivers of various sizes. All those 
 which are eastward of Cape de Paria, the Guara- 
 piche, and the small rivers that flow into the Gulf 
 of Paria excepted, are lost in the Orinoco. 
 Many of its tributaries are more considerable 
 than some distinguished rivers in Europe: the 
 Rio Apure runs nearly one hundred and twelve 
 leagues, and is navigable for large vessels for 
 more than sixty leagues from its confluence with 
 the Orinoco. In latitude 7° 32' N. it has four 
 thousand six hundred and thirty-two fathoms in 
 width, and is not impeded by islands. 
 
 The Guarapiche presents a very remarkable 
 phenomenon : this river has its source, like all 
 those of New Andalusia, in that part of the Lla- 
 nos which is denominated Mesa (a platform or 
 plain.) de Amana, Mesa de Guanipa, Mesa de 
 Tororo, &c. The mountains that separate the raa- 
 
 u 2 
 
36 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. 
 
 ritime range of Paria from the granitic and am- 
 phibolic mountains of the Lower Orinoco, form a 
 ridge very little above the rest of the plain ; but 
 this elevation, which is called Mesa, is sufficient 
 to determine the rivers to run northward towards 
 the gulf of Paria, and to the south into the Ori- 
 noco. The Guarapiche rises in the Mesa de 
 Amana, to the south-west of the village of Ma- 
 thurin : it receives near St. Antonio the Rio Co- 
 lorado, then the Rio Punceres, and at last the 
 large river Arco, which is called Rio de San 
 Bonifacio near its source. The Governor Emparan 
 had formed some very useful projects for colonial 
 establishments on the fertile banks of the Arco 
 and Guarapiche. The place where the Arco 
 unites with the Guarapiche, at five leagues from 
 its mouth, is called the Horquetta, a name given 
 by the Spaniards to all junctions of rivers : at that 
 point the Guarapiche has a depth of from forty to 
 fifty fathoms. Previous to 1766, large vesselscould 
 have sailed up the Guarapiche to Mathurin s an 
 earthquake has since raised its bed, and now the 
 navigation of the Rio Arco is preferable. The lat- 
 ter is still sixteen fathoms deep as far as Port San 
 Juan, at twenty-five leagues from the sea. I can 
 venture to assert that there is no communication 
 between the Guarapiche and Orinoco : I have 
 never heard it mentioned in all the time I re- 
 sided in that country, and in which I travelled 
 through it in various directions. I was not a 
 little surprised to find in the map of a work, 
 
■MHHHH 
 
 ■i 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION, 
 
 37 
 
 otherwise estimable, (Travels of M. de Pons,) a 
 pretended canal of Morichal, a natural channel, 
 that effected a communication between those two 
 rivers above old Cayenne. M. de Humboldt, 
 who navigated that river, had also no knowledge 
 of any such communication. A geographer who 
 raises or sinks mountains, forms or drains marshes 
 with the same facility with which he penetrates 
 into iron mines to the centre of the earth, has not 
 placed in his map this curious and important river ; 
 and the place where its mouth is found in the 
 Gulf of Paria, presents the extremity of a natural 
 canal or branch of the Orinoco, which w T ould 
 commence on its left bank, at San Thome de An- 
 gustura. The Guarapiche, notwithstanding its 
 depth, and the great body of water it carries to 
 the sea, has only from its sources to its mouth a 
 course of thirty-three marine leagues. 
 
 This country contains a large lake, that of Ma- 
 racaybo, some gulfs, and a most interesting lake 
 for naturalists, that of Tacarigua. I shall say 
 nothing of Lake Parima or El Dorado, which 
 has so excited the invention of authors, and the 
 avarice of adventurers; nothing being more du- 
 bious than its existence ; and according to the 
 astronomical observations of M. de Humboldt, 
 if such a lake does exist, it ought to be situated 
 more to the east, and consequently nearer to 
 French Guyana than the maps have placed it. It 
 has been suppressed in the new map of South 
 America, by Arrowsmith. As for myself, I sus- 
 
38 
 
 LAKE TACAHIGtA, 
 
 pect that this lake is only an immense plain, inun- 
 dated annually in the rainy season. 
 
 The Lake Tacarigua, to which the Spaniards 
 have given the name of Valencia, is situated at 
 the southern extremity of the valley of Arogoa, 
 and at twenty French leagues from Caraccas. 
 It is elevated twelve hundred feet above the 
 level of the sea, and has almost the shape of 
 an oblong square : its length is thirteen leagues 
 from east to west, and it is two leagues broad in al- 
 most its whole extent. The contrast of the desert 
 and barren mountains of Guigue, with the hills and 
 vallies opposite, ornamented with the most beau- 
 tiful tropical vegetation, and even the fields of 
 corn and fruit trees of Europe, and the vicinity 
 of the little town of Valencia, agreeably reminds 
 an European of the lake of Geneva and Vevay. 
 The mountains of Caraccas, it is true, have not 
 the grand appearance of the Alps ; but then 
 how much superior the rich, varied and majestic 
 vegetation which ornaments the borders of the 
 Tacarigua, is to the most beautiful natural produc- 
 tions of Europe ! I was there in company with 
 a Dane, (Mr. West,) a man of talents. Whilst 
 we were absorbed in the contemplation of that 
 delightful scene, the native of the north suddenly 
 exclaimed : " It is here that we should fix our 
 residence for the remainder of our lives : I shall 
 return to Santa Cruz, there collect my property, 
 and come to these charming shores, which shall 
 also be my tomb." 
 

 Hi$ 
 
 NKW-BOHiN ISLANDS. 
 
 39 
 
 Several small rivers and streams flow into this 
 lake, which has no outlet : this has induced the 
 people of the country, and even some writers, 
 to believe that it communicates with the sea by 
 subterraneous channels ; but a celebrated natu- 
 ralist, who has studied nature on the spot, and 
 calculated her operations, thinks that by the 
 evaporation more water is exhaled from the lake 
 than is carried to it. It is thus that M. de Hum- 
 boldt explains the formation of the small islands 
 that have been formed in the lake : at first 
 they were only sand-banks, which by degrees 
 became covered with vegetables. Another 
 cause that I had the means of observing at Tri- 
 nidad, has contributed, without doubt, to the 
 formation of these islands ; the draining and 
 cultivation of the vallies of Aragoa. There is a 
 prodigious difference between the quantity of 
 slime carried olF by the rains and torrents in a 
 cultivated, or a savage country : it is known that 
 in the latter the quantity of earth washed away 
 is much less than in the former : if the mountains 
 and vallies which surround the Lake Tacarigua, 
 had not lost their ancient trees and thick turf, 
 perhaps it would have required a thousand years 
 to have formed these small islands in its bed. 
 From time to time new ones are seen to arise. 
 The inhabitants of the neighbourhood have given 
 to them a name that justly characterises 'them : 
 Las Aparecidas, the new-born islands. A great 
 number of small crocodiles are seen in this lake, 
 
40 
 
 LARES AM) RIVKKS. 
 
 which never attack the persons who go there to 
 bathe. 
 
 The shape of the Lake Maracaybo is an oval, of 
 fifty leagues in length, by thirty in breadth ; 
 which makes a circumference of about a hun- 
 dred and fifty leagues : this lake is situated be- 
 tween the lowest part of the mountans of Santa 
 Martha, and near the place where the chain 
 begins, which is detached from the Andes de 
 Bogota : it communicates with a gulf of half its 
 size, by a passage of about two leagues broad and 
 eight long : thus this lake forms a little Mediter- 
 ranean : it receives the tribute of more than 
 twenty rivers, and a great number of rivulets 
 that run down the two ridges of mountains, be- 
 tween which it is situated. The most considerable 
 are the Subio and the Matacau ; for the Souba 
 and the Cuervos, though wide at their mouths, 
 are only creeks fed by torrents, into which the 
 waters of the lake recoil during winter. 
 
 The Souba has nearly eight leagues of length, 
 and the Cuervos forms a curve of about fifteen 
 leagues : both of those creeks are navigable. It 
 is between them and the mountains, that the 
 Guahiros are found ; warlike Indians who have 
 never been subjected by the Spaniards. They 
 extend to the other side of the mountains, along 
 the Rio de la Hache to the borders of the sea. 
 The Rio de la Hache in that part forms the 
 boundary between the government of Caraccas 
 and the kingdom of New Grenada. 
 

 LAKHS AND HI VERS. 
 
 41 
 
 Though the Lake of Maracaybo communicates 
 with the sea by a gulf, of which the opening is 
 about fifteen leagues, its waters are sweet and fit 
 for use ; but when the wind blows inward with 
 violence, the sea water rushes into the lake, and 
 its water becomes brackish until the wind changes. 
 This lake is not subject to tempests; yet w T hen 
 the north-wind is strong, it produces a short 
 and broken swell that sometimes does considerable 
 injury to the smaller craft. 
 
 The tide rises higher in this lake than on the 
 adjacent coasts, where it is scarcely perceptible. 
 It is the same in the Gulf of Paria, and in that of 
 Cariaco, because the tide and wind oppose the 
 water there, which continually runs out. On the 
 north west shore of the Lake Maracaybo is an 
 extensive mine of asphaltum, of the same nature 
 as that in Trinidad. When the Spaniards dis~ 
 covered this country, they found a great number 
 of Indian villages situated about the lake, built on 
 piles, which was the reason that they gave it the 
 name of Venezuela, as already noticed. This 
 name soon extended to all the province ; of which 
 Coro became the capital. The town of Carac- 
 cas having been since made the metropolis of all 
 the countries that compose the captain general- 
 ship, its district took the name of the Province 
 of Venezuela ; the country surrounding the lake 
 was named the province of Maracaybo ; the other 
 three continental provinces were termed Varinas, 
 Guyana, and Cumana. The country known by 
 
42 
 
 TUIMDAD. 
 
 the name of New Andalusia, as well as the Island of 
 Margarita, form part of the government of Cumana. 
 
 The Island of Trinidad formed a sixth province 
 or particular government, depending on that of 
 Caraccas, before the English got possession of it. 
 A captain general, intendant, and an audienda, 
 or supreme tribunal of justice and finance, com- 
 posed the superior government of those pro- 
 vinces. The provincial governors were directly 
 subjected to the captain general of Caraccas in all 
 affairs concerning the military and civil govern- 
 ment ; to the intendant, of whom they took the 
 title of sub-delegates, for financial concerns; and 
 the audiencia was a tribunal to which appeals 
 were made, not only from the decisions of the 
 provincial courts, but also to which individuals 
 had the right of summoning such persons in office 
 as they thought they had reason to complain of. 
 
 There was a privilege of appeal from the de- 
 crees of the audiencia, to the supreme council of 
 the Indies, at Madrid. A frovernment where 
 all the departments were so regulated as to watch 
 and balance each other, was no doubt admirably 
 calculated to protect the rights of the subject, 
 and establish a laudable emulation among its 
 officers, which ought to promote public pros- 
 perity ; and such was always its happy result, 
 when those provinces were governed by an honest, 
 vigilant and firm captain general, like Don Pe- 
 dro Carbonel. But as it unfortunately happens, 
 it became an established practice at Madrid to 
 
■I ■■■ 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 43 
 
 give or sell the administrative and judicial 
 places to the lowest class of office clerks, and 
 those of lawyers, who paid an annual acknow- 
 ledgment to their patrons ; and that this abuse 
 had extended even to the nomination of the most 
 insignificant military commands, it is easy to 
 conceive how the colonists must have been op- 
 pressed under such a system, particularly when- 
 ever it happened that the captain general was 
 a rapacious man, desirous to acquire a fortune, 
 and return to Europe to enjoy it. 
 
 According to M. Depons, the population of 
 the five provinces of Venezuela, Varinas, Mara- 
 caybo, Cumana, and Guyana, amounted to only 
 seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand souls 
 in 1802. In his calculation the whites composed 
 two-tenths of this population, the slaves three, 
 the free people of colour four, and the Indians 
 one tenth. Agreeably to this calculation, there 
 ought to have been two hundred and eighteen 
 thousand four hundred slaves in those provinces, 
 whilst, in reality, there were not fifty-eight 
 thousand. 
 
 This is the manner in which M. Depons distri- 
 butes the population : 
 
 Venezuela and Varinas 
 
 500,000 souls. 
 
 Maracaybo - 
 
 100,000 
 
 Cumana and Margarita 
 
 94,000 
 
 Spanish Guayana 
 
 34,000 
 
 Total 
 
 728,000 souls. 
 
44 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 According to the calculations of M. de Hum- 
 boldt, which correspond with the documents 
 that were furnished to myself, five years after 
 his residence in Caraccas, the population of those 
 provinces, was in 1800, about nine hundred thou- 
 sand souls, of whom only lifty-four thousand 
 were slaves. A well informed administrator of 
 Curnana, communicated some statements to me 
 in the month of May, 1807, by which it would 
 appear that the population of those provinces 
 amounted to more than nine hundred and seventy- 
 five thousand souls. It is true that there had 
 been comprised in that table an enumeration of 
 several tribes of Indians not united in missions ; 
 for instance, the Guaraouins, who live in the 
 small islands situated at the mouth of the Orinoco, 
 and of whom the number is supposed to be about 
 ten thousand ; some hordes of Arroouaks, who 
 live between the Orinoco and the Rio Esequibo, 
 about four thousand; and lastly, the Guahiros, 
 who live in the mountains situated between the 
 Lake of Maracaybo and the Rio de la Hache, 
 whose number cannot be less than fifty thousand 
 persons. We shall observe, by the way, that 
 M. Depons, after having said at page 313 of 
 the first volume of his travels, that this tribe 
 contains only thirty thousand individuals, says, 
 at page 319, that they can muster fourteen thou- 
 sand warriors ! 
 
 In the states of which I have just spoken, 
 there was to be found a table of the progressive 
 

 A NEW COLONY. 
 
 45 
 
 population of the vallies of the Cape de Paria, 
 where, since the year 1794, there have been 
 established a considerable number of cultivators 
 from various nations, particularly Irish and 
 French : the latter are the chief part of the co- 
 lonists of Grenada, Tobago, and Trinidad, who 
 sought an asylum there from oppression. This 
 new colony, unknown to the rest of the world, 
 contains about seven thousand individuals of all 
 ages, ranks and colours. Those of the Punta de 
 Piedra cultivate cocoa successfully; those of 
 Guira cotton wool : there are some sugar plan- 
 tations, and some of coffee in the other vallies. 
 1 passed some very agreeable moments among 
 those worthy people in 1807. Their manner of 
 life, simple and laborious, the abundance and 
 comfort in every necessary, the absence of all 
 that approaches luxury in their dress, furniture, 
 and houses ; the good will, harmony, and hospi- 
 tality that prevailed among them, (there was 
 neither lawyer nor inn-keeper, and very few 
 doctors) made me particularly regret their so- 
 ciety. I left in that infant colony men who had 
 figured in the most brilliant companies of Ger- 
 many and France : the latter are Frenchmen ; 
 some who have been obliged to fly from the per- 
 secutions of two or three renegados of their na- 
 tion, established at Trinidad, and who, banished 
 for ever from France, have become the most bit- 
 ter enemies of their former countrymen : others 
 are Frenchmen who have chosen rather to aban- 
 
46 
 
 OPPRESSIONS. 
 
 don their properties in the islands conquered by 
 the British, than to take oaths and sign declara- 
 tions hostile to their sovereign. These men, 
 frank, energetic, laborious, strangers to all poli- 
 tical intrigue, and who have no other wish than 
 that of cultivating their new plantations in peace, 
 were yet annoyed, and some of them plundered 
 by a Spanish administrator, at a time when the 
 British government possessed a great influence 
 in the colonies of the former nation. But since 
 the independent party has obtained the ascen- 
 dency at Caraccas over that of the Junta, and 
 that liberal principles have succeeded to tyranny 
 and fanaticism, the colonists of the French origin 
 established in the state of Venezuela partake 
 with the other citizens the benefit of the new 
 government. 
 
 As I have spoken of the oppressions commit- 
 ted on the peaceable French cultivators, at the 
 instigation of others, it will not be out of place 
 here to add, that it was at the demand of an 
 agent of the British government, that several 
 hundreds of the unfortunate colonists of St. 
 Domingo, refugees in the island of Cuba, were 
 expelled from it in 1808 : and what had these un- 
 happy colonists done against that government ? 
 The greater part of them had fought under its 
 banners, when in the delirium of jealousy and 
 hatred, and in the beginning of the French revo- 
 lution it sent pretended succours to them, under 
 the pretext of quelling the insurrection; but, in 
 

 I A It A CCA S. 
 
 IT 
 
 reality, to accomplish the ruin of that queen of 
 colonies! Those interesting victims had con- 
 veyed to the United States, and from thence, 
 amidst a thousand dangers, to the Island of Cuba, 
 their wives, children, and some portion of the 
 wreck of their fortunes, which they had saved 
 from the fury of the negroes, or from the rapa- 
 city of the British : they lived unknown to the 
 rest of mankind, clearing the forests to plant the 
 means of subsistence there ! 
 
 Caraccas, the metropolis of the province of 
 Venezuela while under the Spanish yoke, was 
 founded in 1566, by Diego de Losada : it is situa- 
 ted in the delicious Valley of Arragon. Its ele- 
 vation above the level of the sea is three thousand 
 feet, according to the observations made by M. 
 de Humboldt at the Trinity church. Although 
 it is in 10° 30' of latitude, and 67° of West longi- 
 tude, this elevation, added to some other local 
 causes, suffices to give it during our winter, the 
 temperature of our spring, and in that season, 
 the heat is very seldom so great as in our sum- 
 mers : this will be seen by the thermometrical 
 observations inserted in the course of this chapter. 
 It is the residence of the captain general ; of the 
 intendant ; of the audiencia, or supreme adminis- 
 trative and judicial tribunal; of an archbishop ; 
 a chapter ; a tribunal of the inquisition (abolished 
 by the present government,) and an university ; 
 it has some what of a triangular shape, and is 
 about two thousand toises long on each of its sides. 
 
48 
 
 M0DF, OF BUILDING. 
 
 Like all other towns in the new world, its streets 
 are drawn at right angles, and are rather 
 wide. Being built on an unequal surface, what- 
 ever Caraccas wants in regularity, it gains in 
 picturesque effect : many of the houses have ter- 
 raced roofs, others are covered with bent tiles; 
 there are many that have only a ground floor ; 
 the rest have but one story more : they are built 
 either of brick or of earth well pounded, and 
 covered with stucco, of an architecture sufficiently 
 solid, elegant, and adapted to the climate. Many 
 of them have gardens in their rear, which is the 
 reason that this town has an extent equal to an 
 European one that would contain a hundred 
 thousand persons. Four beautiful streams that 
 traverse it, contribute to its coolness and clean- 
 liness, and give it an air of animation which is not 
 found in towns deprived of running water. As in 
 some towns of the Alps and Pyrenees, each house- 
 holder in Caraccas has the invaluable advantage 
 of having in his house a pipe of running and lim- 
 pid water, which does not prevent all the squares, 
 and almost all the streets from having public 
 fountains. In general there is much luxury and 
 gilding in the decorations of the houses of wealthy 
 persons, and among all, more cleanliness and 
 comfort than in Spain. This town does not 
 possess any public edifice remarkable for its beauty 
 and size, with the exception of the church of Alta 
 Gracia, built at the expense of the people of colour 
 in Caraccas and its vicinity. 
 
■ i$$* 
 
 CONVERT*. 
 
 49 
 
 The town is divided into five parishes: that of the 
 Cathedral, Alta Gracia, Saint Paolo, Saint Rosalia, 
 and La Candelaria. Three other churches belong- 
 to confraternities : Saint Maurice, the Divina 
 Pastora, and the Trinidad. Though the archi- 
 tecture of those churches has nothing remarkable, 
 they are solidly built, and richly ornamented in 
 the interior. The cathedral is two hundred and 
 fifty feet long by seventy-five broad, and its walls 
 are thirty-six feet high ; four ranges of stone 
 columns, each containing six, support the roof; 
 the only public clock in the town, three years 
 ago, was in the steeple of this church. 
 
 This town has five convents, of which three 
 are for men, the Franciscans, Dominicans, and 
 Brothers of the Order of Mercy. The church 
 •of the Dominicans has a very curious historical 
 picture : it represents the Virgin Mary suckling 
 a grey-bearded Saint Dominic. The following is 
 the account of this miracle, as recounted by the 
 sexton to those who visit the church : St. Dominic 
 having had a violent pain in his breast, and his 
 physician having ordered him woman's milk, the 
 Virgin suddenly descended from Heaven and 
 presented her breast to the saint, who, as it may 
 be supposed, was cured in an instant. The sexton 
 finishes his story by observing that the Virgin 
 operated this miracle in acknowledgment of their 
 founder's devotion for the rosary. 
 
 The priests of the oratory of St. Philip de Nevi 
 
 E 
 
50 CHURCH REVENUES. 
 
 have also a church : they are usefully occupied in 
 the civilization of the aboriginal inhabitants. 
 
 The two monasteries of women are those of 
 the Conception and Carmelites. A more useful 
 and respectable association is the congregation 
 of Las Educandas : it is a community of young- 
 ladies of good family and well educated, who 
 though they do not make vows of chastity and 
 confinement, as the others do, observe them much 
 better, and occupy themselves in the education of 
 young females. 
 
 The Archbishop of Caraccas has for suffragans 
 the Bishops of Merida and Guiana: he had 
 previous to the rupture of the treaty of Amiens 
 a revenue of about sixty thousand dollars for his 
 part of the tythes, without counting what accrued 
 to him for the sale of dispensations, indulgences, 
 bulls, &c. articles which raise his revenue to more 
 than ninety thousand. In general those bishops, 
 canons, monks, and nuns are richly endowed, well 
 fed, and do not painfully tread the paths that con- 
 duct to Heaven amidst thorns and briars : it is, 
 however, necessary to do them this justice, that 
 they have neither the brutality nor intolerance of 
 their brethren in Spain ; nor is it rare to find 
 among them persons of elegant manners, learning 
 and virtue. 
 
 The reader will not, perhaps, be a little surprised 
 to learn, that the head of a government so impor- 
 tant, the captain general, and immediate represen- 
 
■■ ^fjk; 
 
 UNIVERSITIES. 
 
 51 
 
 iative of the sovereign, formerly resided in a hired 
 house, of which he had only the ground floor : the 
 intendancy, the audiencia, tribunals, and military 
 hospital, are also in rented houses. The conta- 
 deria, or treasury, a solid but mean building, and 
 the barracks, which are vast and well built, are 
 the only edifices that belong to the government. 
 
 This town has a college founded in 1 778, by 
 -Antonio Gonzales d'Acuna, Bishop of Caraccas, 
 and converted into a university in 1792, with the 
 permission of the Pope ! In this university read- 
 ing and writing are first taught. Three profes- 
 sors teach enough of Latin to read mass, Aristotle's 
 physics, and the philosophy of Scotus, which 
 still prevailed at this school in 1808. A professor 
 of medicine demonstrates anatomy, explains phy- 
 siology, all the laws of animal life, the art of cur- 
 ing, &c. on a skeleton and some preparations 
 in wax. If in this orthodox country a provision 
 for instructing the profane arts and sciences has 
 been neglected, it has not been so with the study 
 of theology and canon law ; live professors are 
 occupied in teaching those sciences. One, only, 
 the most learned, of course, is employed to de- 
 fend the doctrine of Saint Thomas on the imma- 
 culate conception, against all heretics ! No diplo- 
 ma can be obtained without having sworn to a 
 sincere belief in this revered dogma! 
 
 The university has also a professor who teaches 
 the Roman law, the Castilian laws, the code of 
 the Indies, and all other laws. In short, a pro- 
 
 e 2 
 
52 THEATRE. 
 
 lessor of vocal church music forms part of thv; 
 hierarchy of instruction, and teaches to the stu- 
 dents of law and medicine, as well as to those of 
 theology, to sing in time and harmony, the airs 
 of the Roman ritual. By letters I have lately re- 
 ceived from that country, I am informed that 
 the leaders of the independent party have intro- 
 duced into the courses of instruction, the study 
 of the philosophy of Locke and Condillac, the 
 physics of Bacon and Newton, pneumatic chy- 
 mistry, and mathematics, to the great displeasure 
 of certain persons, whose luxury and corpulence 
 were maintained by the ignorance of their coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 A town like Caraccas could not but require a 
 theatre ; and the one it has, is decorated with the 
 finest ceiling in the world, which is the sky : 
 the roof only covers the boxes, so that when it 
 happens to rain, which is seldom the case in this 
 country, those in the pit are drenched. Nothing 
 can be more monotonous and contemptible than 
 the acting of their players ; yet this wretched 
 performance is frequented by the inhabitants of 
 all classes, even by the priests and monks, who go 
 there in their religious habits. 
 
 The population of the town of, Caraccas was 
 forty-seven thousand two hundred and twenty- 
 eight persons of all colours, in 1807 ; it amount- 
 ed to fifty thousand souls in 1810; three hundred 
 and fortysix thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
 two persons of all colours then composed thepopu- 
 
^ : ''vy0v<ifi 
 
 EHRORS. 
 
 53 
 
 lation of the other towns and the province of 
 Caraccas, properly speaking;, which makes a total 
 of 496,772 inhabitants. 
 
 I ought here to rectify an error of almost all geo- 
 graphers in the political divisions of the late cap- 
 tain generalship of Caraccas or Venezuela. The 
 Spanish collection entitled, Viagero Universal, 
 and the Geographical and Historical American 
 Dictionary of Colonel Alcedo, do not present 
 the most sure and exact notions in the descrip- 
 tion of this part of the country. The late M. 
 Depons is not only the first Frenchman, but the 
 first European, who has made a good statistical 
 table of this country : still his work is not with- 
 out errors and negligences, some of which I shall 
 notice. 
 
 Almost all European geographers confound the 
 general government of Caraccas or Venezuela, 
 with the province, of which the town of Saint 
 Leon de Caraccas is the capital. This town was 
 the residence of the president,* captain general, 
 intendant, and an Audiencia (a supreme adminis- 
 trative and judicial court,) on which depended 
 the respective governors of the provinces of Cu- 
 mana and New Andalusia, Maracaybo, Varinas, 
 Guiana, and the Island of Trinidad. 
 
 It is not possible to be too clear and precise 
 
 * The captain-general used lo be president ex officio of the 
 Audiencia. The title of President waa considered as superior lo 
 'hat of Captain Geneial or Governor. 
 
M 
 
 INDIAN VIL1AGES. 
 
 in the description of a country, as yet so little 
 known, and respecting which there are confused 
 and contradictory accounts. I shall therefore re- 
 peat what I have already stated, that when the 
 Spaniards discovered this country, they found 
 near the Lake of Maraeayho, a great number of 
 Indian villages built on piles, which made them 
 give it the name of Venezuela, in com paring- 
 it with Venice. This name soon extended to all 
 the province, of which Coro became the capital. 
 The town of Caraccas being subsequently made 
 the metropolis of all the country that formed the 
 captain-generalship of that name, the district of 
 that town took the name of Province of Vene- 
 zuela ; which, though it be not, by its extent, 
 the most considerable of the five that compose 
 the general government of the Caraccas, now 
 gives its name to the republic of the seven pro- 
 vinces that have so wisely shaken off the yoke 
 of the regency of Cadiz. 
 
 When the district of Caraccas had taken the 
 name of Venezuela, the country situated round 
 the lake received that of Province of Maracaybo : 
 the two provinces w T hich were successively dis- 
 membered from those of Venezuela and Mara- 
 caybo, were called Varinasand Guiana. A por- 
 tion of the country known by the name of New 
 Andalusia, as also the Island of Margarita, 
 formed part of the separate government of Cu- 
 mana. The island of Trinidad was a sixth pro- 
 vince or distinct government, depending on the 
 
■ 
 
 « o.MMr:iu i a i. pout. 
 
 55 
 
 captain-generalship of Caracca?, until the En- 
 glish conquered it in February, 1797. 
 
 Venezuela is the national name adopted at pre- 
 sent by the confederated provinces, and Caraccas 
 is their metropolis : the province of Venezuela 
 has taken the name of Province of Caraccas. 
 This province is bounded on the west by the sea, 
 on the north-west by that of Maracaybo. on the 
 north by that of Cumana, and to the east and 
 south-east by that of Varinas. 
 
 The commercial port of the province of Ca- 
 raccas is La Guyra : it is a bay open to all winds, 
 and an unsafe anchorage in stormy weather ; but 
 this port has the advantage of being only five 
 leagues from Caraccas. La Guyra is built on the 
 side of a mountain, which, in this climate, adds 
 to the heat of the atmosphere : from the beginning 
 of April, to the month of November, Farenheit's 
 thermometer is usually at ninety degrees ; and 
 from the beginning of November to the end of 
 March, it is generally at eighty-five or eighty-six. 
 The humidity of the climate, added to the heat, 
 produce annually inflammatory fevers, which 
 degenerate, in twenty-four or thirty-six hours, 
 into putrid fevers, that are chiefly detrimental 
 to those who are newly arrived from Europe and 
 the cold regions of America ; for those who are 
 seasoned to the climate, are seldom attacked, 
 though they do not enjoy a good state of health 
 there. 
 
 This town is badly built, but tolerably well 
 
56 
 
 M E It C HANTS. 
 
 fortified ; it had a population of seven thousand 
 souls, in 1807, comprising a garrison of eight 
 hundred men. There is but one church in it, and 
 the rector is also chaplain of the garrison. La 
 Guyra had not a municipal administration or Ca- 
 bildo, before the revolution, like the greater 
 part of the other towns in this country : it was 
 governed by the commander of the fortress, who 
 united in his person the civil and military autho- 
 rity, but there was an appeal from his sentences 
 to the Royal Audiencia of Caraccas. 
 
 The greater part of the merchants of La Guyra 
 are only the agents of those of Caraccas, of which 
 the former is but the wharf; for scarcely are the 
 goods landed, than they are transported to Ca- 
 raccas on the backs of mules. The two towns 
 are situated at about five leagues from each other : 
 to go from La Guyra to Caraccas, the mountain 
 of the Venta, above four thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea, is ascended on mules; travellers 
 rest on the plain at its summit, where there is a 
 bad inn, but where it is always very cool. I found 
 Farenheit's thermometer at seven degrees above 
 the freezing point there on the 28th January, 
 There is a very agreeable sensation experienced 
 on this delightful summit, after leaving the burn- 
 ing atmosphere of La Guyra. The mountain is 
 afterwards descended to go to Caraccas, situated 
 considerably below the inn of the Venta: two 
 hours are generally requisite to ascend, and one 
 hour to descend the mountain. 
 
Wl^: 
 
 TEMPER AT ORE. 
 
 57 
 
 To give an idea of the temperature of the town 
 of Caraccas, and of the fluctuations of the ther- 
 mometer in this place, I shall quote one day's 
 observations of M. de Humboldt, for which I am 
 indebted to his kindness. 
 
 I 
 gi 
 
 7 
 
 hours in the morning 14-^ 
 [6 
 afternoon 
 
 between 70" and 78° 
 Farenheit. 
 
 In the month of January of the same year 
 Reaumur's thermometer was at Caraccas generally 
 between seven and eight o'clock in the morning 
 at 13° and 14°; between twelve o'clock and two, 
 at 17° raid 19° ; and at eleven o'clock at night usually 
 at 13°, and on certain days at 15° at the utmost. 
 During this season it descends commonly to 12° 
 and even 1 1" : it has sometimes been seen even 
 below 10° half an hour before sunrise. 
 
 Porto Cavello is situated at a league to the 
 west of Borburata, which was, for some time, 
 the principal port of the colony : but it has been 
 only a village since the maritime commerce was 
 chiefly directed to La Guyra, and that the naval 
 arsenals have been established at Porto Cavello. 
 It is but an unhealthy place, yet one which any 
 other government than the Spanish would have 
 easily rendered healthy. There is, however, con- 
 siderable trade carried on there, and although 
 
, • ' ■' O' 
 
 58 
 
 CORRUPTION OF NAMES. 
 
 it was the principal port in the government of 
 Caraccas for the Spanish navy, in no other part 
 was there so much contraband trade. More than 
 half the produce of the province of Caraccas 
 was carried there, and sold to the smugglers of 
 Curagoa and Jamaica, who paid for all that pro- 
 duce in Dutch and British merchandize, besides 
 selling annually to the amount of one million 
 three hundred thousand, to one million four hun- 
 dred thousand dollars of those merchandizes, for 
 which they were paid in specie. Porto Cavello 
 is twenty-four leagues from La Guyra, and in 
 10° 28' N. latitude, and G9° 10' W. longitude. 
 
 The town of Valencia was founded in 1555, 
 under the government of Villacinda : this place 
 is situated at half a league from the magnificent 
 Lake of Tacarigua, to which it has in vain en- 
 deavoured to give its European name, that is much 
 less sonorous than the Caribbean. It is worthy 
 of remark, that the indigenous names of the 
 mountains, lakes, rivers, &c. are much more har- 
 monious than those which the Europeans have 
 wished to substitute for them : a few of those 
 words, as the aboriginal inhabitants pronounce 
 them, will prove the assertion ; Tacarigoa, Mara- 
 caybo, Nik-karagoa, Ibirinocco*, Naiagara, On- 
 tario, Amana, &c. 
 
 * Of which the Spaniards have made Orinoco. Ibirinocco 
 was also the name of the mountains where they supposed thc- 
 sources of thL rivei were. 
 
. . 
 
 POPULATION". 
 
 50 
 
 The population of Valencia, which was only 
 about six thousand five hundred persons in 
 1801, was more than ten thousand in 1810. The 
 inhabitants are nearly all Creoles, the offspring of 
 ancient Biscayan and Canary families. There is 
 great industry and comfort in this town. It 
 is as large as an European town of twenty- 
 four to twenty-five thousand souls, because the 
 greater part of the houses have only a ground 
 floor, and many of them have gardens. Fifty 
 years ago, its inhabitants passed for the most 
 indolent in the country : they all pretended to 
 descend from the ancient conquerors, and could 
 not conceive how it was possible for them to exer- 
 cise any other function than the military profes- 
 sion, or cultivate the land, without degrading 
 themselves. Thus they lived in the most abject 
 misery, on a singularly fertile soil. Their ideas 
 have since completely changed ; they have applied 
 themselves to agriculture and commerce, and 
 the grounds in the neighbourhood are now well 
 cultivated. Valencia is the centre of a consider- 
 able commerce with Caraccas and Porto Cavello. 
 
 The town of Maracay, situated at the other 
 extremity of the lake, was inhabited by a race of 
 men, whose minds were never deranged by the 
 frivolous and noxious pride of birth : almost all 
 the inhabitants of the town, and of the neigh- 
 bouring country, are of Biscayan origin, and there- 
 fore industry, comfort, cleanliness, and good 
 morals are to be found generally throughout 
 

 '60 
 
 VITTOH1A. 
 
 this district. The grounds that encompass Mara- 
 cay, are covered with numerous plantations of 
 cotton, indigo, coffee and maize, and the heights 
 with fields of wheat : in a radius of two leagues 
 the vegetables of the temperate climes of Europe 
 are cultivated as well as those of the tropics. 
 Though Maracay had not the name of a city 
 under the ancient Spanish government, because 
 it had not a Cabildo, it contained nevertheless 
 a population of nearly ten thousand persons. 
 
 Tulmaro is another town situated in one of the 
 vallies which communicates with the valley of 
 Aragoa : it is two leagues from Maracay, and 
 is the residence of the administrators of the to- 
 bacco contract. This town is very well built ; 
 eight thousand inhabitants were calculated as its 
 population in 1807 : its district was then covered 
 with plantations of tobacco, which was culti- 
 vated there on account of the government. 
 
 In going from Caraccas to Tulmaro, there is 
 a town called Vittoria, which was once only a 
 village of Caraccas Indians, whom the Spanish 
 missionaries had converted to Christianity and 
 civilization ; but, for a century past, a great 
 many Europeans have established themselves 
 there, who, by their lawful or clandestine con- 
 nections with the native women, have produced 
 a numerous and mongrel population. There are, 
 however, many families, that deem themselves 
 descended from European blood, without any 
 mixture of that of Africans or of Indians, and 
 
■ 
 
 CORK. 
 
 61 
 
 who place great importance on this absurd pre- 
 tension. The town had, in 180T, a population 
 of eight thousand persons. There are several 
 other towns or villages in the vallies of Arragon, 
 where the inhabitants cultivate all the tropical 
 productions, as well as the wheat and fruits of 
 Europe. 
 
 In 1807, this population was distributed on 
 two hundred and thirty-seven plantations, and 
 nearly two thousand houses in towns or villages : 
 it consisted of, 
 
 24,000 whites. 
 
 18,000 mixed blood. 
 6,500 Indians. 
 
 4,000 slaves. 
 
 Total 52,500 persons. 
 
 CO'RO. 
 
 The fortunate situation of Coro for trading 
 with the neighbouring islands, and particularly 
 with Porto Rico and St. Domingo, and not 
 chance, as M. Depons has asserted, caused its 
 scite to be chosen for the first settlement which 
 the Spaniards founded on this part of terra 
 firma. The tribe of Indians that inhabited it, 
 were called Coriana. The Audiencia of St. Do- 
 mingo sent Juan de Ampues there in 1529, in 
 the capacity of governor, and principally with 
 the view of restraining the robberies and cruel- 
 ties of the Spanish traders who infested those 
 
62 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 coasts. Scarcely had the country begun to re- 
 cover under the administration that excellent of 
 governor, than it fell under the tyranny of the 
 Welsers. 
 
 There had been a bishopric and chapter esta- 
 blished at Coro in 1532 : the seat of government 
 having been transferred to Caraccas in 157G, 
 the bishop and his chapter were removed there 
 in 1630. The chronicles of the country relate, 
 that the canons of Coro hunted the Indians, to 
 sell them for slaves, while others engaged in the 
 profession of corsairs. 
 
 The environs of Coro are barren, but at three 
 leagues from the town are hills, vallies and plains 
 of some fertility. This town is situated on the 
 Isthmus of Paragoana, whose inhabitants lead a 
 pastoral life, occupying themselves entirely with 
 the care of their flocks. Ten thousand persons 
 of all colours, among whom there are scarcely 
 two hundred slaves, form the population of the 
 town. They still hold a considerable trade with 
 Curacoa in cattle, hides, and indigo, and even 
 in cochineal, which last article comes from the 
 district of Carora. According to the Depcsito, 
 the town of Coro is in 11° 9 North latitude, 
 and 69° 35' West longitude. 
 
 The town of Caroro and its district contain a 
 population of about ten thousand persons. This 
 town appears under the name of San Juan 
 Bautista del Portillo de Coropa, in the Diction- 
 ary of Alcedo. Carora, its real appellation, is 
 
^^H 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 63 
 
 an Indian name. Formerly the inhabitants were 
 entirely occupied in the care of a kind of wild 
 cochineal, as fine as the Misteca. Thou gh its 
 soil is arid, there are numerous herds of oxen, 
 horses, asses, mules, sheep, and goats; the dwarf 
 deer of South America is also very common. 
 The inhabitants breed cattle chiefly for the pur- 
 pose of tanning the hides : a great number of 
 them are shoemakers and sadlers, others are wea- 
 vers and ropemakers. They make very hand- 
 some hammocks and excellent packthread with 
 the fibres of the agave foetida or American aloe. 
 They carry on a great trade in those articles 
 with Maracaybo and Carthagena, from whence 
 they are exported to the neighbouring colonies. 
 
 The inhabitants of Carora were very poor for- 
 merly, but they have become rich since under- 
 taking the plan of grazing, and the tanning 
 trade. Its sandy soil is covered with the cactus 
 opuntia (Indian fig,) and other thorny plants ; 
 as also trees that produce aromatic gums and 
 odoriferous balsams, to which they attribute great 
 virtues; and of which many have not as yet been 
 described by any botanist. 
 
 The little river of Morere, which, in the dry 
 season, is scarcely sufficient for the necessities of 
 the inhabitants, is the only one that waters this 
 salubrious district. The government of the town 
 is merely municipal, another cause of the indus- 
 try of its inhabitants. 
 
64 
 
 BARQLISIMFTO. 
 
 Carora is situated, according to the Spanish 
 geographers, at fifteen leagues east of the Lake 
 Maracaybo, and at ninety leagues west of Ca- 
 raccas, and in the tenth degree of N. latitude. 
 The town is well built, every thing indicating 
 order and opulence. There are three handsome 
 churches : the parish church, that of St. Denis 
 the Areopagite, and the Franciscans, who have 
 a convent there. 
 
 In going from Carora to Caraccas, is the town 
 of Barquisimeto, situated on a plain : though in 
 9° 45' of N. latitude, it enjoys a very mild cli- 
 mate. I have been assured that when there is no 
 wind, Reaumur's thermometer rises to 28° and 
 29° ; which I am inclined to doubt, on account 
 of the elevation of its scite ; besides, wheat 
 grows in the vicinity of Barquisimeto. All the 
 tropical productions are cultivated in the val- 
 lies which surround it, and they grow excellent 
 coffee there. The town is well built, and has, 
 with its district, a population of about fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants. There is a fine parish 
 church there, that contains a crucifix which has 
 worked a great many miracles, and is at the 
 same time an object of devotion with the peo- 
 ple, and an abundant source of revenue to the 
 clergy of the church. In the same town is a 
 convent of rich Franciscan friars, w T ho are es- 
 teemed great lovers of good cheer, also an hos- 
 pital, where the poor are badly lodged and scan- 
 
SAX FF.LIPF. 
 
 65 
 
 lily fed. This town is ninety leagues west from 
 Caraccas, and one hundred north of Santa Fe 
 de Bogota. 
 
 San Felipe, a century ago, was only a village, 
 known by the name of Cocorote ; a great number 
 of Canarians and natives of the neighbouring 
 districts, attracted by the fertility of its soil, hav- 
 ing settled there, the company of Guipuscoa, 
 some time before its dissolution, established stores 
 for the purpose of trading with the interior. 
 From that time this place gained a new aspect : 
 handsome houses, streets regularly built, took 
 the place of huts huddled together without order. 
 The inhabitants of this district are reputed labo- 
 rious and industrious : they have only priests, and 
 no monks or miraculous images, as seen in the 
 surrounding countries. They grow excellent co- 
 coa, coffee, maize, rice, and a little cotton. This 
 district is watered by the rivers Jarani and Arva, 
 and by numerous rivulets ; copper mines are also 
 worked there. 
 
 Tocuyo is built in a valley more elevated than 
 the plain of Barquisimeto : its climato is cool, 
 oven cold, from the month of November to April 
 whilst the wind blows from the north. Its ter- 
 ritory is adapted to all kinds of agriculture, and 
 a great quantity of wheat is grown there, which 
 is sent to different parts of the province. The 
 wool of the Tocuyo sheep has a high reputation 
 among the natives ; I have seen very fine blankets 
 and kerseymeres made of this wool. There are 
 
 r 
 
00 
 
 Ol/ANAKR. 
 
 also many tanneries where they tan leather toler- 
 ably well, and it forms a considerable branch of 
 their commerce. 
 
 The inhabitants of Tocuyo are reputed very 
 industrious ; they bring salt from the salt works 
 of Coro, to sell to the inhabitants of other parts of 
 the province. It is said that they are very much 
 given to suicide. This town is ninety leagues 
 south-west of Caraccas, twenty north of Trux- 
 illo, and twenty-two from Coro; and according 
 to the Spanish geographers, in 0° 35 N. latitude 
 and 70" 30' West longitude. 
 
 Forty leagues further inland, on the borders of 
 the province of Caraccas, towards that of Va- 
 rinas, in a magnificent plain, is the handsome 
 town of G uarare, founded in 1593 : it is situated 
 on the banks of a river of the same name, and 
 between this and the Portuguese river, which is 
 navigable, and falls into the Apure. 
 
 The district of Guanare is as well cultivated 
 as a country can be, whose population is so scanty ; 
 for there are scarcely twenty thousand inhabi- 
 tants. The cultivation of tobacco was formerly 
 an abundant source of riches to them ; but since 
 it has been permitted only in certain cantons, and 
 for the account of government, the inhabitants 
 have applied to the culture of maize and alimen- 
 tary roots, such as the potatoe, solanum tube- 
 rosum ; the sweet potatoe, convolvolus batata ; 
 the yam, discorea alata, &c. They cultivate 
 only as much sugar, coffee, and cocoa, as is ne- 
 
■MHHi 
 
 •XUAfRK 
 
 67 
 
 <ressary for their own consumption, their flocks 
 being their chief wealth. 
 
 There is another branch of revenue for the 
 priests of Guanare : it is the Madona de Co- 
 moroto, which on the 3d February, 17-1G, per- 
 formed miracles, the particulars of which pious 
 persons will find in the work of M. Depons. 
 Guanare is ninety-three leagues south-west of 
 Caraccas, in 8° 14' N. latitude, and 72° 5 West 
 longitude, according to the Spanish geogra- 
 phers. 
 
 The town of Araure, twenty leagues west- 
 ward of Guanare, is built between two branches 
 of the river Aricagua; the right branch is navi- 
 gable, its territory is watered by numerous rivu- 
 lets, which would be deemed rivers in Europe. 
 This little town is well built, and has a very 
 handsome church, the temple of a miraculous 
 Madonna, which, according to the tradition of 
 the country, was found in 1702, under the bark 
 of a tree, by a female mulatto named Margaret, 
 who bartered it with the Capuchin Miguel de Pa 
 lencia, for small images of the Virgin, reliqua- 
 ries, &c. It appears, however, that it had not 
 begun to work miracles, and enter into competi- 
 tion with the Virgin of Guanare, until 1757. The 
 priests of Guanare declare that the Madona of 
 Araure is only a Capuchin fraud, and has never 
 performed a miracle : more charitably inclined 
 than my friends of either places, T believe that 
 
 *■ 2 
 
08 
 
 SAN LUIS de mil A, 
 
 the two Madonas are equally worthy of the venc 
 ration of the faithful ! 
 
 The inhabitants of Araure, as well as those of 
 Guanare, are considered indolent, lazy, and much 
 addicted to pleasure, which appears to be the 
 distinguishing characteristics of the inhabitants 
 of every country in the world, where miracles 
 and superstition possess much influence. The 
 town and its district have a population of about 
 eleven thousand persons : the property of its in- 
 habitants consists in flocks : they cultivate a little 
 cotton, coffee and cocoa. Araure is, according to 
 the Spanish geographers, in latitude 9° 16' North, 
 70° 20 West longitude. 
 
 San Luis de Cura is situated in a fertile valley, 
 and yet but little cultivated ; its inhabitants occu- 
 pying themselves entirely with the care of their 
 flocks. The mountains surrounding it have a 
 very picturesque appearance. The soil is clayey, 
 and the water which the inhabitants drink, is 
 reddish in rainy weather, but wholesome, at least 
 they do not find any bad effects from it. 
 
 The church of San Luis has also a miraculous 
 Madona, known by the name of Nuestra Senora 
 de Los Valencianos, for having been found, as the 
 priests say, in 1771, by an Indian, in the ravine 
 of los Valencianos. This Madona has been the 
 cause of a suit that made great noise in this 
 part of the world, between the rector of San 
 Luis, and that of San Sebastian de los Reyes. 
 The latter pretended that the Madona belonged 
 
HHH ■■ 
 
 LAW-SUIT. 
 
 69 
 
 to him, because the ravine in which it was found 
 is situated in his parish; and the rector of San 
 Luis alledged that he had bought the Madona 
 of the Indian who discovered it. During thirty 
 years that this strange law-suit continued, and 
 which was contested on each side with all the 
 venom of superstition, the poor Madona was 
 abandoned in the garret of the episcopal palace 
 of Caraccas, where she was so impotent as not to 
 be able to prevent the vermin from corroding 
 her, so as not to be distinguishable when the 
 Archbishop of Caraccas, Don Francisco de Ibarra, 
 a virtuous and benevolent prelate, reconciled the 
 two rectors, and delivered her to him of San Luis 
 dc Cura ; who, after having had her repaired by 
 a painter and gilder, in which she was outraged 
 by the worms, and purchased a magnificent ward- 
 robe for the much injured relic, conducted her in 
 triumph to his church, where she has not ceased 
 to grant numerous miracles to the prayers of the 
 faithful, especially that of removing sterility in 
 females. As the rector of San Luis did not feel 
 himself alone sufficient for the duties of his new 
 office, he has been obliged to take some young 
 clergymen of the neighbourhood as associates, 
 whose ardent zeal is continually employed in giv- 
 ing to barren husbands and wives proofs of the 
 miraculous power of their Madona. 
 
 San Luis de Cura is eight leagues south-west 
 from the Lake Tacarigua, and twenty-two 
 leagues south-west of Caraccas. San Sebas- 
 
70 
 
 MKfiOA. 
 
 tiari de los Reyes is it little town on the banks oi 
 the Rio Guarica, about seven leagues from San 
 Luis, and eighteen from Caraccas. The territory 
 of this district is fertile, yet there is only maize 
 cultivated there : its pasturage, however, feeds 
 many cattle. 
 
 Nirgoa is built on the ruins of the fortified 
 village of Palmas, which was founded in 1553, 
 by Diego Montesqui, to protect the works of the 
 copper mines that he had discovered in the moun- 
 tains, among which Nirgoa, is now situated, at 
 ten leagues from the Lake Tacarigua. The In- 
 dian Giraharas who were cruelly annoyed by Mon- 
 tesqui, burnt and destroyed those establishments. 
 The following year the government ordered 
 another officer, Diego Paradas, to rebuild that 
 village, under the name of Nirgoa. The latter, 
 instead of pacifying the Indians, and treating 
 them with justice and humanity, hunted them, 
 in order to procure slaves for working the mines. 
 But the Indians having vanquished their oppres- 
 sors, forced them, in 155G, to evacuate this post. 
 A person named Romera was sent there some 
 months afterwards j and employed negroes to 
 work the mines : the Indians drove him away also, 
 as they had done his predecessors. 
 
 The licenciatc Rernades was forced to evacuate 
 Nirgoa in 1557. Francisco Paxardo caused a 
 great number of houses to be built, and fortified 
 this town in 1500: but the Spaniards still con 
 tinning to hunt the Indians, to procure slaves 
 

 7. AM BO LIS. 
 
 71 
 
 and women, the latter never omitted to attack 
 their oppressors, whenever they thought them- 
 selves sufficiently strong to carry on the war, 
 which ended in 1628, by the total extermination 
 of the tribe of Giraharas. 
 
 The town and district of Nirgoa are inha- 
 bited by Zamboes,* a race produced by the 
 union of the negro and Indian. Though in the 
 Spanish and Portuguese colonies, persons tainted 
 with African blood, (I beg pardon for this Ame- 
 rican expression,) were not despised, as in those of 
 other European nations, still they were not held 
 in that degree of estimation in which families 
 were, who had the reputation of springing from 
 the union of European and Indian blood. The 
 individuals of this race, the Mestizos, were, it is 
 true, declared competent to occupy civil and 
 military employments, but they were but rarely 
 promoted to them. Even the Creoles, who deemed 
 themselves descended from European families, 
 without any mixture of indigenous or African 
 blood, were seldom elevated to important posts, 
 and were treated by the Spaniards born in Europe 
 with great haughtiness, and as an inferior class 
 almost all the honourable and lucrative situations 
 intheciviland military departments, were reserved 
 tor Europeans. But the kings of Spain gave diplomas 
 of whites (a kind of scandalous whitewashing) 
 
 * The word Zambo in Spanish means a man who has bowed 
 it'g»: n marked characteristic in die formation of most negro tribes. 
 
72 PREJttDierc. 
 
 to certain persons who had rendered, or were sup- 
 posed to have rendered important services to the 
 state. It is about fifty years since King Charles 
 III. whitewashed by wholesale, in an edict, his 
 loyal and faithful subjects, the Zamboes of the 
 town of Nirgoa. 
 
 Nirgoa enjoying the privileges of a city, has in 
 consequence, an elective municipal council, as 
 other Spanish cities. It may be readily supposed 
 that the first use the Zamboes made of those privi- 
 leges was, to elect people of colour to the muni- 
 cipal places. This favour or justice of the sove- 
 reign so inflated the minds of the Zamboes, they 
 became so haughty and arrogant to the whites, 
 that the latter have deserted this district, which 
 is no longer inhabited than by tallow-coloured 
 whites ; who according to the assertions of the 
 citizens of Caraccas, are the most vicious of man- 
 kind. In this metropolis, the word Zambo is 
 synonymous with worthless, idler, liar, impious, 
 thief, villain, assassin, 7 &c. Of ten crimes that 
 may be committed in the province, eight are 
 said to be done by the Zamboes. M. Depons, 
 who resided a long time at the town of Caraccas, 
 coincides in the unfavourable opinion of its inhabi 
 tants towards the Zamboes, and I confess that I can- 
 not recollect the name of one honest man, when 
 I think of the numerous individuals of this crossed 
 breed whom I had occasion to know and employ 
 either during my residence at Trinidad, or in the 
 course of my travels. Still this afllicting pheno- 
 
■■ 
 
 CONTRASTS. 
 
 7,3 
 
 menon maybe explained. These individuals are 
 born of clandestine and adulterous unions, of 
 natives who have contracted only the vices of 
 civilization, and of African slaves : what can be 
 expected of children born of such parents, whose 
 minds are totally neglected, and in a climate that 
 invites to sloth and indolence ? But there is ano- 
 ther observation, which, I think, should fix the 
 attention of learned zoologists, and excite them 
 to research : why is it that individuals proceed- 
 ing from a mixture of African and indigenous 
 American blood, have a bodily strength, finer 
 forms, more intellectual faculties, and moral 
 energy, than the Negro or Indian ? Why, 
 although the white be, in general, superior in 
 strength of body, mental powers, and in moral 
 force, to the aboriginal American and to the 
 negro; why, I ask, are the individuals born of 
 the union of a white with an Indian woman (the 
 Mestizos, for instance,)inferior in mental and cor- 
 poreal qualities to the Zamboes ? Why are the 
 Mestizos generally distinguished by fine figures, 
 agreeable countenances, and the mildness and doci- 
 lity of their dispositions ? Why is the mulatto son of 
 a white and a negress, superior to the Zambo in 
 intellectual faculties, but his inferior in physical? 
 Why is it, that when those races are mixed, their 
 progeny is remarkable for a more healthy 
 and vigorous constitution; and for more vital 
 energy, than the individuals born in the same 
 climate, of indigenous European or African 
 
71 
 
 SAN CARLOS. 
 
 blood, without mixture? These are facts by no 
 means unworthy of the physiological researches 
 of Cuvier, Gall, Biumenbach, Soemmering and 
 Humboldt. 
 
 San Juan Bautista del Poa, is situated at fifty 
 leagues south-west of Caraccas. It is the princi- 
 pal town of a district which is inhabited only by 
 shepherds and their flocks. The population of the 
 town and its territory, is about ten thousand per- 
 sons. The river Pao, which runs south of the 
 town, formerly discharged itself into the Lake 
 Tacarigua; but an earthquake and inundation 
 have altered its course : it now flows into the 
 Apure. If a canal were to be cut from the Lake 
 Tacarigua to the Pao, it would be easy to establish 
 a communication from Caraccas to Guiana, and 
 even as far as the Brazils. Trade will, hereafter, 
 derive great advantages from those internal com- 
 munications. 
 
 San Carlos is a little town founded by the 
 first missionaries in Venezuela. It is situated on 
 the border of the small river Aguare, and, ac- 
 cording to the Spanish geographers, is in 9° 20 
 N. latitude. The river runs into one of the 
 branches of the Apure. The inhabitants of this 
 district originate chiefly from the Canary Islands, 
 and are considered laborious and industrious. 
 They cultivate all that is necessary for their 
 maintenance, which is maize and the roots of 
 the country, as also coffee and indigo ; but then- 
 principal wealth consists in their flocks. It is a 
 
WKm 
 
 ( ALABOSO. 
 
 id 
 
 very handsome town, and contained more than 
 fifteen thousand inhabitants in 1807. San Car- 
 los is sixty leagues south-west of Caraccas, and 
 twenty-five from Lake Tacarigua. 
 
 Baria is the name of a little town placed at 
 five leagues to the east of San Carlos, on the 
 bank of the river Sarare, which communicates 
 with the river Apure by the Portuguese river. 
 It is a canton of pasturage and Hocks, and con- 
 tains six thousand inhabitants. 
 
 Calaboso was formerly a village of Indians, 
 but the Guipuscoa company having deemed it 
 expedient to establish a staple there, towards the 
 middle of the last century, the village became 
 changed into a well-built town. Its territory is 
 covered with flocks. This country was infested, 
 in 1802, by a band of robbers, who employed 
 themselves in hunting the horses, oxen, mules, 
 vVc. for their hides, which they took to Trinidad 
 lor sale. It was the only instance that I had 
 ever heard of a band of plunderers in the Spanish 
 colonies. It is situated in 8° 40 N. latitude, i,^ 
 lifty-two leagues from Caraccas, and on the bor- 
 der of the Guarico, a fine navigable river that 
 runs into the Apure. Fifteen thousand indivi- 
 duals, of all casts, compose the population of its 
 territory. 
 
 Such is the description of the principal towns 
 in the province of Caraccas (formerly the pro- 
 vince of Venezuela, properly speaking) ami of 
 their territories. The population of those towns is 
 
76 
 
 NATIVES. 
 
 not composed, as those of the greater part of 
 Europe, which are not essentially commercial or 
 manufacturing, of proprietors and annuitants, 
 who do nothing more than spend their revenues, 
 and of traders. The inhabitants of those towns 
 and villages of Venezuela are generally farmers, 
 who cultivate their lands, or keep numerous 
 flocks and herds in the surrounding countries. 
 Priests, physicians, escrivanos (lawyers, who are, 
 at the same time, barristers, notaries, attornies, 
 and even bailiffs,) and a few shopkeepers form 
 the remainder of the population. There are no- 
 thing but forests and natural meadows (savanas) 
 in the intervals that separate the territory of a 
 town or village from tho neighbouring towns or 
 villages, which are generally ten or fifteen 
 leagues from each other. There are also found 
 occasionally, usually at ten leagues distance, mis- 
 sions or villages of half civilized Indians. 
 
 A statement of the agricultural productions, 
 flocks, &c. of Caraccas, and the other confedera- 
 ted provinces or states, will be found in another 
 chapter. It has been already stated that the 
 population of the province of Caraccas in the 
 year 1810, was 490,772. 
 
■H 
 
 CUM ANA 
 
 CHAP. TI. 
 
 * i mana. — Historical and Geographical Sketch of the Province.— Privi 
 leges granted by Pope Alexander VI. — Conduct of the first Spanish 
 Invaders. — Retaliation of the Indians. — Barthelemy de Las Casas. — 
 Ocampo. — Biographical Sketch of Las Casas. — Extract from his 
 History. — City of Cumana. — Its Prosperity under Emparan. — Its 
 Population. — Public Amusements. — Anecdote of M. de Humboldt. 
 — System of Education. — Price of Provisions. — Manners. — Trade. — 
 Defences and Fortifications. — Gulph of Caricao. — Marine Birds. — 
 Singular Mode of catching them. — Carupana. — Valley of Yaguara- 
 paro. — Cumanacoa. — Grotto of Guacharo. — Indian Superstitions. — 
 New Barcelona. — Its Productions and Trade. — Conception del 
 Pas. — Remarks. — Guiana. — Derivations. — San Tome de Augus- 
 tura. — State of the Indian Tribes. — Mode of recognizing Flocks. — 
 Wild Horses, Mules, &c. — Curious Account of them. — Province 
 of Varinas — Account of the Inhabitants. — Maracaybo. — Popula- 
 tion. — Island of Margarita — An Original. — Decoration of the Vir- 
 gin and Anecdote. — Pompatar. — A Sermon. — Theological Disputa- 
 tion. — Bulls and Indulgences. — Faxardo. — Margarita described. — 
 Assoncion. — Fisheries. — Departure. 
 
 I ii avr already said thai Alfonso Ojeda recon- 
 noitred the Lake of Maracaybo in 1499. In the 
 month of July of the preceding year, Christo- 
 pher Columbus, in his third voyage to the new 
 world, discovered the Island of Trinidad, and 
 the countries now known by the name of Gui- 
 ana, Cape de Paria, Cumana, &c. His design was 
 to proceed as far as the Equator j but frequent calms 
 
78 
 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 prevented its execution, and the currents carried 
 him as far as that mouth of the Orinoco, or ra- 
 ther the Gulf of Paria, situated between the 
 Island of Trinidad and the continent, and to 
 which he gave the name of Las Bocas del Drago, 
 or Dragon's Mouths ; it was in this place that the 
 above great man was convinced, for the first time, 
 of the existence of that continent which ought to 
 bear his name. " Such a prodigious quantity of 
 fresh water"" (the waters of the Orinoco,) said 
 Columbus to his men, a can be discharged only 
 by a river of very long course ; the land which 
 possesses so much water, must be a continent, 
 and not an island." Ferdinando Columbus informs 
 us that his father coasted the continent as far as 
 to the west of the Testigos islands, and then re- 
 turned to San Domingo. 
 
 Scarcely had the news of this discovery reached 
 Spain, than the crafty adventurers Americo 
 Vespucci, Alfonso Ojeda, Christopher Guerra, 
 &c. obtained permission to trade on those 
 coasts. I have already mentioned the two for- 
 mer. Christopher Guerra traded with the na- 
 tives of Cape de Paria, Margarita, Cubagua, and 
 Cumanagoto. He bartered trifles for pearls, 
 gold, dying woods, balsams, &c. From Bar- 
 celona, Guerra went to Coro, where he found 
 the natives hostile, and they refused to treat 
 with him. 
 
 Guerra having returned to Spain with a rich 
 cargo, the rumour of his success incited the mer- 
 
Warn 
 
 PAPAL POWEK 
 
 79 
 
 chants of nil the ports to make speculations to 
 those countries; but Charles V. having given 
 permission, by an edict, to take, as slaves, all 
 the Indians who should embarrass the trade, or 
 oppose the taking possession of the countries dis- 
 covered by Columbus, this traffic soon changed 
 into a horrible piracy. 
 
 It is well known that Pope Alexander VI. 
 who, owing to the besotted prejudices of those 
 limes, was king of kings, had divided, in 1493, 
 the discoveries made, or to be made in the new 
 world, between the Kings of Spain and Portu- 
 gal. Gunpowder, tortures, and slavery, woe 
 the means employed, at first, to force the abori- 
 ginal inhabitants to enter the church of the sove- 
 reign pontiffs : who, at that period, tyrannized 
 over monarchs and their ignorant people, disho- 
 noured the name of Christian by their infamous 
 conduct, and disfigured the benevolent religion of 
 Jesus Christ by introducing into his worship the 
 superstitions of paganism, the absurdities of their 
 own imagination, and the intolerance of the first 
 disciples of Mahomet. Consuming with a thirst 
 of gold, inflamed by an ignoble ambition, and 
 misled by a sanguinary fanaticism, the war which 
 those adventurers waged in the new world ac- 
 quired the superstitious character of the crusades 
 without possessing their heroism. 
 
 Columbus had taken out missionaries on his 
 second voyage of discovery. That extraordinary 
 man, whose virtues have not been sufficiently 
 
80 
 
 PIRATES. 
 
 celebrated, had chosen for converting the na- 
 tives to Christianity and civilization, not fero- 
 cious fanatics, but enlightened and benevolent 
 ecclesiastics. A short time afterwards, Cordova, 
 whom the history of the Spanish missions re- 
 presents as a man endowed with every virtue, 
 obtained permission from Charles V. to preach 
 the gospel in the country of Cumana. His 
 health not allowing him to undertake that voy- 
 age, he sent his brother there, Francisco de 
 Cordova, and Juan Gareias; those two mis- 
 sionaries arrived at Cumana in 1512. The mild- 
 ness of their manners gained them the confidence 
 of the Indians, who considered them divine 
 beings. 
 
 Pirates continually sailed from the islands of 
 San Domingo and Porto Rico, under the name 
 ■of conquerors. One of those vessels arrived at 
 Cumana, whilst the Fathers Cordova and Garcias 
 were occupied with the conversion of the Indians. 
 The captain of the pirates landed under pretence 
 of trading with the natives, whom the humanity 
 of the missionaries had reconciled to the Spanish 
 name. The chief pirate invited the cacique w T ith 
 his family, to dine aboard his vessel, they went 
 according to the invitation, accompanied by a great 
 number of Indians : scarcely had they reached the 
 ship, than the pirate set sail for San Domingo. 
 
 This act of villainy raised all the Indians of the 
 country : they resolved to massacre the missiona- 
 ries, whom they accused of being accomplices of the 
 
H 
 
 MISSIONARIES BUTCHERED. 
 
 81 
 
 pirates. The missionaries, after having declared 
 their innocence, promised to despatch a boat im- 
 mediately to San Domingo, to demand their chief 
 and countrymen: on this condition their lives were 
 spared ; but with the assurance, that they should 
 be put to death, if in four months the captives 
 were not set at liberty. The pirates, however, 
 having refused to deliver them up, the fathers 
 Cordova and Garcias were killed. Las Casas re- 
 lates, that many more missionaries were murdered 
 in the island of Trinidad, and other parts of the 
 province of Cumana, because the Spanish pirates 
 had carried off the natives. In that age of pro- 
 selytism, those terrible examples made no impres- 
 sion on men who sighed with ardour for the crown 
 of martyrdom. New missionaries went to Cumana, 
 and the pirates not desisting from their incursions 
 on the coasts, to make captives of the Indians, 
 the latter regularly made reprisals on the mission- 
 aries, and put them to death. In 1519, all the 
 Spaniards, who were settled in that country, 
 were destroyed. 
 
 It was then about six years since the worthy 
 Las Casas had travelled over the colonies to 
 preach humanity to his ferocious countrymen. It 
 is impossible to read without shuddering, the re- 
 citals made by the virtuous Bishop of Chiapa, of 
 the cruelties committed in those regions, the mas- 
 sacres of millions of Indians, immolated by fana- 
 ticism and avarice. 
 
 Las Casas had gone to the new world at the 
 
 G 
 
^ 
 
 ■ 
 
 82 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 age of thirteen years, with his father, at the 
 very time of its discovery . Interested by the 
 mildness of the Indians, he entered into holy 
 orders, for the purpose of effecting their con- 
 version ; but as he was naturally endowed with 
 a generous and feeling heart, he thought that his 
 time would be better employed in pleading the 
 causo of those unfortunate beings at the court 
 of his sovereign, which drew from his criminal 
 cotemporaries those absurd calumnies, that all 
 who have seriously studied the history of those 
 times, are disgusted in finding so flippantly re- 
 peated by historians, otherwise respectable. " He 
 was," says Raynal, " continually seen flying from 
 one hemisphere to the other, to console the peo- 
 ple, and humanize their tyrants. The inutility 
 of his efforts at length convinced him that he 
 could never obtain any thing for the settlements 
 already formed, and he therefore proposed to 
 establish a colony on a new basis." 
 
 In 1519, he arrived at Porto Rico with three 
 hundred Castilian labourers, and a few days after- 
 wards departed for Cumana, to found his new co- 
 lony there. Charles V. had then given him the 
 title of governor of Cumana : knowing that his 
 countrymen were held in horror by the natives, 
 he contrived to distinguish his colonists by a parti- 
 cular dress, decorated with a cross, in order that 
 the Indians might make a distinction between 
 them and other Spaniards. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of Las Casasat Cumana, 
 

 OCAMPO. 
 
 83 
 
 Gonzalo Ocampo was sent there by the audienoia 
 of St. Domingo, in the capacity of military com- 
 mander, and to revenge the massacres which the 
 Indians had committed on his countrymen. When 
 Ocampo appeared on the coast at the entrance of 
 the Gulf of Cariaco, he received the visits of seve- 
 ral Indians, and after having caressed them for 
 some moments, that he might attract a greater 
 number on board his ships, he had them hung 
 up to the yards, after which he landed with his 
 artillery, and shot all the natives who fell into 
 his power. He refused to deliver the government 
 of the country to Las Casas : the latter, after 
 having lodged his colonists in a kind of fort sur- 
 rounded with palisades, embarked for St. Do- 
 mingo, in order to inform the audiencia of the 
 conduct and rebellion of Ocampo, who soon fol- 
 lowed him, leaving all his people in the small is- 
 land of Cubagua. The Indians, who could not 
 conceive that there were honest men among the 
 Spaniards, attacked the colonists of Las Casas by 
 night, and massacred all those who were not 
 able to save themselves by escaping to Cuba- 
 gua ; after which they exterminated the other 
 Spaniards who were scattered through the pro- 
 vince. 
 
 The audiencia of St. Domingo sent, in 1523, 
 Diego Castillon to Cumana, as governor, and 
 with a force sufficient to protect him from the 
 vengeance of the Indians. The Spanish histo- 
 rians represent him as a chief equally prudent, 
 
 g 2 
 
84 
 
 WANTON AGGRESSIONS. 
 
 resolute and humane ; who was capable, at once 
 of restraining the disposition which his country- 
 men had for plunder, and that of the natives to 
 reveng-e themselves for so many cruelties. How- 
 ever, it appears from the accounts of cotempo- 
 rary writers, that, as before, the Spaniards were 
 always in a state of war w T ith the original inhabi- 
 tants. Now, those who have had the means of 
 studying the character of the latter, know that 
 they are never the aggressors, and that the Indians 
 have on no occasion taiken arms again.,t the whites, 
 except when forced to do so by some great 
 outrage, or enormous oppressions. =& 
 
 I have long resided in the neighbourhood of 
 
 * I hope I shall not be accused of inconsistency on the reader's 
 perusing what I bring forward in a future chapter relative to the 
 Caribs of St. Vincent's massacre of the white inhabitants of that 
 island, of whom they had no reason to compJain. But those pre- 
 tended Caribs were Zamboes, men half civilized, who had been 
 seduced by interested whites to commit those hostilities. And if 
 the detractors of the Indians should oppose to me the frequent 
 incursions of the savages of North America against the citizens of 
 the United States, I w r ould answer, that the attacks of those Indians, 
 are always reprisals for cruelty or injustice committed by some 
 dastardly American. f 
 
 T The recent conduct of the American Government, and of its 
 blood-thirsty general, which mark both with a character of in- 
 delible infamy, fully proves the exact justice of the authors re- 
 mark. But it is hoped Great Britain is fast approaching that 
 period, when such a monster as Mr. Jackson will not be able to 
 hang Englishmen with impunity ! ! — Ed. 
 
$0*0. 
 
 Bj§jB Ws KS^ Sm^KSs 
 
 LAS CAS AS. 
 
 85 
 
 savages, have had daily intercourse with them, 
 and I declare that I have never known a single 
 
 o 
 
 instance wherein an Indian was the aggressor in 
 a quarrel with a white man, or that he had 
 acted unjustly towards one, without having been 
 driven to it, or led on by a white, mulatto, or 
 a negro. 
 
 But to return to the situation of the province 
 of* Cumana during the government of Diego Cas- 
 tillon, it appears, that there was less anarchy 
 and pillage under this governor than during the 
 administrations of his predecessors. 
 
 The virtuous Las Casas, who has left us a 
 hideous portrait of the history of those times, 
 would certainly not have omitted to mention Cas- 
 tillon with respect, if he had been the protector 
 of the Indians. The Bishop of Chiapa has not 
 transmitted to us the names of the execrable 
 beings whose crimes he recounts, and the dates 
 are too negligently placed in his history to serve 
 as guides. As I believe that his account of the 
 injustice and crimes committed against the In- 
 dians on the pearl cdast (the coast of Cumana,) 
 may be placed as well to the time of Castillon, 
 as to that of his predecessors, I hope to gratify 
 my readers by the following extract from the 
 celebrated bishop's history. 
 
 " The Spaniards carried off from those coasts 
 (the provinces of Cumana and Venezuela) more 
 than two millions of men, to transport them to 
 
86 
 
 SPANISH BARBARITY. 
 
 the Islands of San Domingo and Porto Rico ; 
 where the greater part of them perished in the 
 mines, or from the hardships to which they were 
 otherwise subjected. It is a circumstance deserv- 
 ing compassion, and capable of affecting the 
 greatest barbarians, that this coast, which was 
 once so populous, is now absolutely deserted. It 
 has been remarked, by intelligent persons, that 
 a third of the slaves taken by the Spaniards on 
 board their ships, die during the voyage, with- 
 out speaking of those whom they kill when they 
 break into the houses, to carry off those unhappy 
 beings. The object of the Spaniards in com- 
 mitting those violences, is to enrich themselves 
 by any means : they require a great number of 
 slaves in order to amass a large sum of money : 
 they lay in a very small stock of provisions and 
 water for all those persons in their vessels, to 
 avoid being at too much expence for the subsis- 
 tence of those poor Indians : scarcely is there 
 sufficient to maintain the Spaniards who work 
 the ships ; wherefore, it happens that the Indians 
 worn out with hunger and thirst, die miserably, 
 and a great portion of them is thrown into the sea, 
 in order to save the remainder. A pilot of a ves- 
 sel informed me, that in sailing from the Island 
 of Lucayos to St. Domingo, the passage being 
 about seventy leagues, he had no occasion to use 
 a compass, or observe the stars, for steering his 
 vessel, as he assured me that the dead bodies of 
 
$5$$t'; 
 
 .SPANISH BARBARITY. 
 
 87 
 
 Indians served to track his course, and that he 
 thereby arrived in clue time without missing his 
 destined port. 
 
 " When the Indians arrive at the island where 
 they are destined to be sold, no one can look at 
 them without feelings of pity, unless a mere bar- 
 barian ; men, women, and children are seen quite 
 naked, wasted by hunger and fatigue, scarcely 
 able to support themselves, and fainting from lan- 
 guor and debility : they are formed into flocks 
 like sheep, the husband separated from his wife, 
 the children from their fathers and mothers : they 
 are parcelled into gangs of tens and twenties, 
 and lots are drawn to decide to whom they shall 
 belong in the division. Thus it is that the pirates 
 behave, who arm and equip vessels to ravish the 
 unhappy Indians from their native homes, to 
 enrich themselves at their cost, by reducing them 
 to slavery. When the lot falls on a gang in 
 which there is an old or sick person, ho to whom 
 it is destined, generally speaks thus : why do you 
 give me that old fellow who is good for nothing, 
 and a dead loss to me ? what shall I do with this 
 sick man, who will be only an expence to me, and 
 whose disease makes him completely useless ? 
 By this it may be seen what little value the 
 Spaniards place on the Indians, and how badly 
 they fulfil the precepts of Christian charity ; 
 since they love neither God nor their neighbour ; 
 on which, however, depend the law and the 
 prophets. 
 
88 PEARL FISHERY. 
 
 " Nothing more cruel or detestable can be 
 imagined than the tyranny which the Spani- 
 ards exercise in collecting and entrapping those 
 poor Indians, when they go in quest of slaves, 
 to employ them in the pearl fishery : the pains 
 of Hell can alone be compared to what they 
 inflict on the sufferers : those experienced in 
 the mines from whence gold is extracted, 
 are much less agonizing, though they are also 
 horrible. They force them to dive in the sea 
 in the depth of five or six fathoms ; there 
 they swim about to collect the oysters in which 
 pearls are found ; they come up to the surface 
 of the water with nets full of those oysters, 
 to breathe and avoid suffocation : if they hap- 
 pen to stay there a little too long, an inexo- 
 rable Spaniard, who is near them in a small 
 boat, flogs them dreadfully and loads them with 
 stripes : he seizes them by the hair to force them 
 to plunge into the water again and renew the 
 fishery. They are fed with a morsel of fish and 
 bread that is dry and without nourishment ; even 
 of this, they do not receive enough to satisfy their 
 hunger. They have no other bed than the hard 
 ground, on which they sleep in chains, to pre- 
 vent their escape. They frequently drown them- 
 selves at this fishery, or are devoured by sea 
 monsters, insomuch that there is nothing more 
 heard of them. 
 
 u It is easy to perceive by what I have said, 
 that the precept of charity is badly observed in the 
 
?$m 
 
 I'EAKL FISHERY. 
 
 89 
 
 pearl fishery, since those unhappy slaves are 
 exposed to such imminent danger of perishing ; 
 the avarice of the Spaniards, whose sole object 
 is gain, is the reason that they never take the 
 trouble to instruct their slaves, or administer 
 the sacrament to them : they tax them with so 
 much labour that they die in a short time ; for it 
 is impossible for men to continue long under 
 water, and bear the hardships which they suffer. 
 The intensity of the cold is such, that it causes 
 them to vomit blood, and they often die of it, 
 because they have their stomachs too much op- 
 pressed, being obliged to retain their breath so 
 long under water ; besides that the excessive cold 
 they endure, causes a flux of blood. They have 
 naturally black hair, but their fatigues cause its 
 colour to change, and it becomes similar to that 
 of the sea- wolf. The foam of the sea coagulates 
 and so attaches to their shoulders, that they 
 resemble monsters more than men. The Spani- 
 ards have destroyed by the labours of this fishery, 
 all the inhabitants of Lucayas, who were the 
 most expert and accustomed to this occupation. 
 That is the reason why they sold Indians of the 
 country, at fifty or a hundred crowns each. The 
 Lucayans have an astonishing facility in swimming 
 and diving : such of the natives of other provinces 
 also, as could be caught, were employed in this 
 fishery, and an infinity of them were lost in it."* 
 
 * Vide the Discovery of the West Indies by B. de Las Casas, 
 
00 
 
 LAS {.'AS AS. 
 
 Whatever may have been the conduct of the 
 governor Castillon towards the Indians, he was 
 the real founder of the town and colony of Cu- 
 mana. Gonzales Ocampo, it is true, is the reput- 
 
 Bishop of Chiapa, &c. Having had occasion to mention this 
 celebrated man so frequently, I hope my readers will be grati- 
 fied by a short sketch of his valuable life, which was spent in 
 a constant series of the most active benevolence and exalted 
 humanity. 
 
 Bartholomew de Las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa in Mexico, 
 was born of a noble family in Seville, A. D. 1 169, according to 
 some historians, and in 1-174, according to others. At the age 
 of nineteen he went to St. Domingo with his father Antonio de 
 Las Casas, who accompanied Christopher Columbus in his first 
 voyage to the new world. On his return to Spain, he adopted 
 the ecclesiastical profession, and afterwards entered into the 
 fraternity of Dominicans, in order to become a missionary for 
 the conversion of the Indians. In 1533 he lived at the convent 
 of St. Dominic, in the Island of St. Domingo, where he occu- 
 pied himself in preaching the gospel to the Indians, and huma- 
 nity to their insatiable and ferocious tyrants. The most faithful 
 and impartial historian of that period, Oviedo Valdes, a Spanish 
 officer, who passed nearly all his life in America, informs us 
 that there was, in 1519, an insurrection of the Indians caused 
 by a Spaniard having violated the wife of the Cacique Don Henry 
 who had embraced Christianity. This cacique having in vain 
 demanded justice on the ravishei of his wife, from Peter de Va- 
 dillo, Lieutenant of the Admiral Jacomcs Columbus, retired with 
 his people to the mountains of Beoruko, from whence he made 
 war against the Spaniards for nearly fourteen years. Peace 
 wa3 re-established in 1533, and was principally the work of 
 the missionary Las Casas. " At that time," says Oviedo, 
 " among other pious monks who resided in the monastery of St. 
 Dominic, was- Friar B. de Las Casas, a learned man of good 
 life and doctrine. He had undertaken, being a secular priest, 
 and whilst he was called the licentiate B. de La? Casas. an 
 
I 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 91 
 
 ed founder, because he had made a settlement 
 there in 1520 ; but that was destroyed by the 
 natives, who were almost continually at war with 
 the Spaniards until 1656, at which period the 
 
 afFair which irritated great numbers against him, and of which 
 I shall give an account in Book XIX." It will soon be seen 
 what this afFair was, truly glorious for Las Casas, who awakened 
 against himself the hatred of the robbers that devastated the 
 New World, and which furnished a pretence for their calum- 
 nies, repeated by some historians. Oviedo, though a conquis- 
 tador, linishes the twelfth chapter of his sixth book, by doingjus- 
 tice to the virtues and knowledge of Las Casas. He relates how 
 this worthy missionary penetrated into the forests and among 
 the mountains, to reconcile the Cacique Henry to the Spaniards; 
 how he concluded a peace between them, which, unfortunately, 
 was not of long duration, and which was followed by the exter- 
 mination of almost all the natives. This is the afFair which had 
 drawn on Las Casas so much hatred and calumny. Previous 
 to entering the order of Dominicans he had presented to Charles 
 V. several memorials in favour of the unhappy Indians. The 
 offers he made for mitigating their fate having been useless, he 
 projected the founding of a colony on principles very different 
 from those which his countrymen practiced. He obtained leave 
 from the emperor to be sent to Cumana in the quality of governor. 
 Having arrived at Porto Rico in the beginning of 1519, with 
 three hundred Castilian labourers, a short time afterwards he 
 went to Cumana, to establish his colonists there. Convinced 
 that his countrymen must have been held in horror by the natives, 
 he invented the mode of distinguishing his colonists by a particu- 
 lar dress, decorated with a white cross, in order that they might 
 not be confounded with other Spaniards. To gain the affection 
 of the natives, by acting according to the benevolent spirit of 
 the gospel, and respecting their persons and properties, was 
 the plan of Las Casas and the worthy men who accompanied 
 him. Unfortunately, a short time before his arrival at Cumana, 
 some Spanish pirates who took the name of conquistadores, had 
 
92 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 latter renounced the plan of converting them 
 with muskets and scaffolds. From that time the 
 Jesuits and other missionaries, with only the arms 
 of perseverance and persuasion, have congregated 
 
 made incursions on the coast of Trinidad, Venezuela, and Cu- 
 inana, from whence they carried oil' the Indians, whilst they 
 bartered with, and made feasts for them. The Indians revenged 
 themselves by exterminating all the Spaniards whom they could 
 seize. When Las Casas arrived at Cumana with his followers. 
 Gonzalo de Ocampo, who had been sent there by the governor 
 of St. Domingo, in the capacity of military commander, refused 
 to acknowledge his authority. Las Casas, after having placed 
 his men in a fort surrounded with palissades, went to St. Do- 
 mingo, in order to inform the governor genera! of the Indies, 
 of the conduct and rebellion of Ocampo. That officer caused 
 the natives to rise en masse, by his exactions, treachery and 
 cruelties; and as they could not believe there were worthy 
 men among the Spaniards, they attacked the companions of Las 
 Casas, as well as the satellites of Ocampo, and massacred all 
 those who were not able to save themselves in the small Island 
 of Cuba^ua. It is not necessary to have a profound knowledge 
 of the human heart, to conceive that this catastrophe was a sub- 
 ject of triumph for those base and perverse men who founded 
 their fortunes on the slavery of the Indians. Las Casas was not 
 discouraged, he was seen continually hastening from one hemi- 
 sphere to the other, going from America to Spain, and returning 
 from Spain to America, to plead the cause of the unfortunate 
 Indians: no wonder, therefore, if so much Zealand virtue irritated 
 their oppressors against him. 
 
 There was another ecclesiastic, Sepulveda, canon of Salamanca, 
 the theologian and historiographer to Charles V. who composed 
 a work entitled, Demoerates Secundus, seu dejustis belli oausis, 
 fyc. or in other words, " Demoerates the second, or of the just 
 causes of war; an inquiry into the legality of attacking the In- 
 dians with armies, to usurp their lauds, properties and temporal 
 goods, and even to kill them in case of resistance ; in order that 
 
^H 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 93 
 
 them in villages called missions ; Ihey have given 
 them some ideas of Christianity, and induced 
 them to acquire a taste for architecture and the 
 elementary arts of a social state. Europeans 
 have been enabled to settle among them, and 
 
 being thus stripped and subjected, they may be more easily con- 
 verted to the faith by missionaries.'' 1 Charles V. prohibited this 
 libel from being printed; but it was circulated at Rome with the 
 approbation of the Pope, and the monks sent it to Spain, in defi- 
 ance of the sovereign authority. Las Casas, who was then Bishop 
 of Chiapa, refuted this odious work by a tract which bears the 
 noble stamp of his character ; it is entitled, Brevissima relation 
 de la destruicion de las Indias, in quarto, Seville, 1552. The fe- 
 rocious canon did not deem himself conquered; he demanded a 
 public conference with Las Casas, and continued to maintain in 
 his discourses and witings, that according to the laws of nations, 
 Charles V. might force the Indians to acknowledge him for their 
 sovereign ; and that according to the laws of the Romish church, 
 it was a duty to exterminate whoever refused to embrace its re- 
 ligion. Charles V. appointed Domingo de Soto, his confessor, to 
 examine this great process; but that monarch, exhausted with care 
 and business, never decided the question : so that the Indians con- 
 tinued to be hunted, exterminated, and crammed into the mines; 
 it is asserted that nearly fifteen millions of them perished in less 
 than ten years. 
 
 There is an absurd accusation which has long weighed heavily 
 on the memory of Las Casas, from the sole assertion of Herrara, 
 who has written the History of the New World, with great talent, 
 no doubt, but with incorrectness and partiality : he accuses Las 
 Casas himself, of having advised the Spaniards to enter into the 
 negro slave trade, in order to substitute them for the Indians, 
 working the mines, &c. The Senator, Cregoire, formerly Bishop 
 of Blois, has victoriously refuted this calumny, in a tract entitled, 
 An Apology for B. de las Casas, inserted in the fourth volume of 
 tiieTransactions of the Class of Moral and Political Sciences of the 
 Institute. Like him, I have consulted all the Spanish and Portu- 
 
94 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 form establishments there. History will record, 
 that the missionaries of the Romish church began 
 to have success among the natives, only since it 
 has become less intolerant. 
 
 The town of Cumana, now a commercial place 
 
 guese writers of that period, as well as the English who have 
 written on commerce, and it results from this examination, that 
 the accusers of the Bishop of Chiapa, Raynal, de Pauw, Bryan 
 Edwards, &e. and even the illustrious Robertson, have all written 
 on the faith of Herrera, or on that of Father Charlevoix, who, 
 whilst he wrote on the subject of the Spanish colonies, merely 
 translates Herrera without quoting him. Herrera wrote thirty 
 years after the death of Las Casas, and he displays much enmity 
 to that great man. He quotes no public act, no document in fa- 
 vour of his accusation: not one of the writers who were cotem- 
 poraries of Las Casas said a word of it, though many of them 
 were his enemies, and had endeavoured to render him odious and 
 contemptible. Sepulveda would not have failed to avail himself 
 of such a fact, in the famous conference which he held at Valla- 
 dolid with Las Casas, had it been only to prove him inconsistent. 
 Remesal, the author of the history of Chiapa and Guatimala, is 
 also silent on this matter. Lopez de Gomara, in his Historia 
 general de las Indias, defames the Bishop of Chiapa; but though 
 Gomara speaks of the Negroes, he does not impute to Las Casas 
 the crime of having advised the trade in them. Don Juan Lopez, 
 Bishop of Moncpcli, and a Dominican, who has written a history 
 of his order, eulogizes Las Casas, and says not a word of Ne- 
 groes. The Abbe Racine, who is deemed a severe critic, speaks 
 in the highest praise of him, in his Ecclesiastical History ; nor does 
 he mention the story of the slave trade, any more than the pre- 
 ceding authors. 
 
 In short, there exist of Las Casas, in the library of Mexico, 
 three volumes of manuscripts in folio, of which there is a copy in 
 the library of the Academy of Madrid. These are his memoirs, 
 his official and familiar letters, and other political and theological 
 
^ : m i m 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 95 
 
 of the first rank in the new world, was, forty 
 years ago, only a miserable village, which receiv- 
 ed annually two or three small vessels from Spain, 
 that divided the trade of the country with the 
 
 works. So far from finding, in all (hose writings, a word from 
 whence it might be inferred, that he had recommended the slavery 
 of the negroes to be substituted for that of the Indians, it is seen 
 that in three or four places where he had occasion to mention the 
 negro slaves, he commiserated their sufferings as he did those of 
 the Indians. 
 
 How is it that the historians, who have repeated and trans- 
 mitted the calumny of Herrera, have been ignorant that many 
 years before the birth of Las Casas, and the discovery of the 
 New World, the Portuguese navigators were accustomed to pur- 
 chase and steal black slaves on the coast of Africa, to sell them to 
 their countrymen and to the Spaniards'? 
 
 Oviedo, book IV. chap. IV. mentions a revolt of the Iolof 
 negroes, which took place at St. Domingo in 1522, and which 
 began on the plantation of the Admiral Jacomo Columbus. This 
 exact and even triflingly minute writer, docs not mention when 
 and how those negroes had been introduced ; and the cause of his 
 silence is easily explained: it was, that the Spaniards having 
 been accustomed to the services of Negro slaves, previous to the 
 discovery of the new world, took them there along with them- 
 selves. In this they merely followed the bad example of the an- 
 cients, the nations of India, the Greeks, the Macedonians of 
 the time of Alexander, and the Romans. 
 
 " To judge therefore from the above facts, it is evident that Las 
 Casas never advised the slave trade ; and that thus his memory 
 should be handed down to posterity, pure and without stain ; that 
 we should look upon him as one of those extraordinary men, who 
 received from nature a superior mind, undaunted courage, and a 
 gift still more rare, that of sympathising in the misfortunes of his 
 fellow creatures : privileged and beneficent beings, who appear 
 occasionally on earth to console men of worth for partaking the 
 name of man with rogues who cheat, cowards who dishonour, 
 
. 
 
 I . . 
 
 90 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 Dntch and English smugglers. When the edict of 
 King Charles III. dated the 12th November, 1778, 
 vulgarly called that of free trade, and which put 
 an end to the monopoly of the Guipuscoa Com- 
 
 and the wicked who oppress it ; true philanthropists, who no more 
 resemble certain mountebanks and hypocrites, who have in our 
 days usurped that name, than copper resembles gold! 
 
 Las Casas was a theologian, publicist and distinguished histo- 
 rian ; he has been accused of exaggeration in the recitals he 
 made of the crimes committed by the conquerors of the New 
 World. The Abbe Clavigero, at the end of the second volume of 
 liis History of Mexico, seems to be astonished that unreserved 
 credit is given to the relation of Las Casas; and yet he did not 
 abstain from retracing, throughout his whole history, the cruel- 
 ties and injustice of Cortes, Alvarsdo, and the other Spanish 
 chiefs. He .represents Mexico, TIascala, and the neighbouring 
 states, as very populous at the time of the conquest. Clavigero 
 agrees on this point with Cortes, who wrote to Charles V. that 
 he had subjected to his arms, and united to his crown, states more 
 populous, and larger cities, than his states and cities in Spain : 
 which has caused the learned and judicious Count Carli to say in 
 his American Letters, that nothing more fully proves the fidelity 
 of Las Casas's recitals, than those of Cortes, the other Spanish 
 commanders, and of Clavigero himself; since the indigenous 
 population was reduced to such a small number of individuals, 
 fifty years after the conquest, and that it is almost extinct in the 
 Antilles. 
 
 Las Casas after having passed fifty years in the New World, 
 and traversed the ocean twelve or thirteen times, to plead the 
 cause of the Indians, in Spain, renounced his Bishopric, and re- 
 turned in 1551, to his native country, where he died, after having 
 immortalized himself by his beneficence, and the practice of every 
 virtue. 
 
 Such a noble character as that of Las Casas, is always wor- 
 thy of being claimed by a country to which he belongs; and 
 this induces me to mention his French origin. Remesal, in his 
 
■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 COUNT DE LAS CASAS. 
 
 97 
 
 pany, revived the languishing agriculture and 
 commerce : the population of this province more 
 than doubled in twenty years, and the riches of 
 the country augmented in a progression still more 
 considerable. 
 
 History of the Diocese of Chiapa, says, that B. dc las Casas was 
 descended from a noble and distinguished family in France, whose 
 ancestors had gone to settle in Spain, about the time of St. Fer- 
 dinand. The Bibliothcca Mexicana, a biographical work, pub- 
 lished at Mexico, in 1755, also observes, in speaking of Father 
 B. de las Casas : Parentem clarissimd stirpe virum e Gallia 
 rtuctd, 4'c This circumstance is found confirmed and detailed in 
 an old chronicle in the possession of a branch of this family, 
 which still exists under the name of Las Casas, lord of Belveze 
 in Languedoc. The head of the Las Casas of Belveze, passed 
 from Spain to France, in 1200, with Blanche, mother of St. 
 Louis, t 
 
 t The immortal bishop's descendant, Count Emmanuel de Las 
 Casas, already well known to the British public, is every way 
 worthy of bis glorious ancestor, whether viewed in the amiable 
 privacy of domestic life, or in the more distinguished sphere of 
 politics and literature. If any difference of opinion can exist, 
 as to the policy adopted by the ministers of England towards 
 Napoleon, or the ignominious treatment our once formidable 
 enemy has experienced from those in whose power he placed 
 himself when the hour of misfortune arrived, no one can be in- 
 sensible to the heroic constancy which has uniformly actuated the 
 Count's conduct towards his fallen master. The impartial of 
 our own days, and future historians, will record to the unfad- 
 ing honour of this truly virtuous man, that living in a period 
 of almost unprecedented political profligacy, when disinterested- 
 ness and consistency in statesmen, had nearly ceased to be con- 
 sidered as virtues, Count de Las Casas was amongst the soli- 
 tary few who redeemed the degraded character of the times, by 
 his unshaken attachment to the sovereign whom he had acknow- 
 
 11 
 
98 
 
 COUNT l)E LAS CASAS. 
 
 This province, its capital and other towns, are 
 honourable monuments of the prodigious influence 
 of an enlightened, prudent, and disinterested 
 governor on the prosperity of a colony. During 
 nearly eleven years (from 1793 to 1804) that 
 Don Vincente de Emparan was governor of 
 the colony, the liberal protection which he 
 
 ledgcd from principle, and which, instead of diminishing, ad- 
 versity only tended to increase ! ! 
 
 Driven from St. Helena by the system of persecution establish- 
 ed there, the Count, though emaciated in health and broken in 
 spirit, continues to advocate the cause of humanity, violated in 
 the person of Napoleon and his meritorious followers in exile. 
 In addition to his " Letters," and petition to the British .par- 
 liament, published by Mr. llidgway, appeals, no less unanswer- 
 able than eloquent, the Count has in a series of letters addressed 
 to the sovereigns lately assembled at Aix la Chapelle, vainly 
 endeavoured to convince those august personages that the man 
 whose alliance they once courted with so much avidity, and to 
 whose clemency some were indebted for the preservation of their 
 thrones, has strong claims on their magnanimity, and is entitled to 
 less harsh treatment. 
 
 Besides several memoirs presented to the Emperor, while em- 
 ployed on various important missions, all of which related to the 
 improvement of some branch of the legislature, public works, or 
 institutions of beneficence, Europe is indebted to Count dc Las 
 Casas for the Atlas Historique, &c. a work unequalled in 
 the annals of" literature, either as to the extent, variety, or im- 
 portance of its multifarious contents. This stupendous production 
 was the fruit of his emigration, and partly written in the United 
 Kingdom. As it continues to be published under the name of 
 A. Le Sagk, many are unacquainted with the real author; but 
 the editor promises himself the pleasure of making the Historical 
 Atlas more generally known and appreciated amongst his coun 
 trymen on a future day. 
 
^*i* 
 
 DON VINCENTE DE EMPAKAX. 
 
 99 
 
 granted to agriculture and commerce, had aug- 
 mented, in 1805, the colonial produce to double 
 the quantity that it was in 1799; every class of 
 society was in good circumstances, and many per- 
 sons had acquired considerable fortunes. The town 
 of Cumana, situated at half a league from the sea, 
 and on the shores of the gulf of Cariaco, increased 
 to triple its former size; houses elegantly built, 
 and with Italian roofs, replaced hovels and huts ; 
 and a new quarter or suburb, that rivals the ancient 
 town, took the venerated name of Emparan. 
 
 When Don Vincente de Emparan was governor 
 of Cumana, he took upon himself to permit the 
 ships of friendly and neutral powers to trade with 
 certain restrictions in the ports of his government. 
 This wise measure disseminated plenty and hap- 
 piness in his province, whilst misery and despera- 
 tion produced revolts in the neighbouring colonies. 
 His sovereign, far from reprimanding him for 
 having mitigated the severity of the prohibitory 
 laws, in consequence of the urgency of the case, 
 praised and granted him especial marks of favour. 
 
 Formerly (in the time of the Welsers,) the 
 province or district of New Barcelona, formed a 
 part of the country ceded to them ; but there 
 was no settlement made on it then. At that 
 period the governor of Cumana was independent 
 of Venezuela. In 1579, Juan Pimontel, gover- 
 nor of the last named province, sent Garcia Gon- 
 zales, at the head of one hundred Spaniards, and 
 four hundred natives in the pay of Spain, to 
 
 ii 2 
 
100 
 
 <A R< I A GONZALES. 
 
 repress the Cumanagotes or Quiriquires Indians, 
 enemies of the Spaniards. Though Gonzales 
 gained several advantages over various tribes of 
 this country ; and although, if we can give credit 
 to Oviedo y Banos, the historian of Venezuela, 
 he could temper the rigours of war and victory 
 by moderation and humanity, which caused him 
 to be surnamed the glorious, by his contempora- 
 ries ; it is no less true, that the Indians were very 
 far from being subjugated and pacified in 1585. 
 It was in that year that the audienciaof St. Do- 
 mingo, in which the supreme government of the 
 colonies was concentered at that period, ordered 
 Christopher Cobostogo and wage war at his own 
 expence against the Indians of Cumana and Vene- 
 zuela, to expiate the crime of his father Alonzo 
 Cobos, governor of Cumana, who had caused the 
 assassination of Francisco Faxardo, celebrated in 
 the annals of Venezuela. 
 
 Luis de Roseas, governor of Venezuela, gave 
 Christoper Cobos only a corps, composed of a 
 hundred^ and seventy Spaniards, and three hun- 
 dred natives to execute this duty, although he had 
 been commanded by the audiencia to place under 
 his orders all the troops at his disposal. Animated 
 by the necessity of effacing the stigma attached to 
 his name, the young Cobos did not hesitate to take 
 the field with this handful of troops: perform- 
 ing prodigies of valour, he subjected the Indians 
 who dwelt near the river Tuy, Unare and 
 Neveri, and built near the mouth of the Salt 
 
m 
 
 rmtisToiMicK roBos. 
 
 101 
 
 River, the town of San Christoval (the name of 
 his patron,) which no longer exists, its inhabi- 
 tants having emigrated to Barcelona, founded by 
 Juan Urpin in 1634. 
 
 In those times of conquest and anarchy, the 
 Spanish generals, who fought at two thousand 
 leagues distance from their sovereign, acknow- 
 ledged no other law than that suggested by then- 
 strength and caprice. Christopher Cobos en- 
 raged at the scanty force Roxas had put under 
 his command, and at his private intrigues to 
 counteract his success, did homage for his con- 
 quest to Rodrigo Nunes Lobo, governor of 
 Cumana, and the metropolitan government 
 approved of the union of the country of the 
 Cumanagotos (the district of Barcelona) with the 
 government of Cumana. From thence it arises, 
 that the governors of Cumana style themselves 
 also governors of Barcelona. 
 
 According to M. Depons, the population of 
 the town of Cumana w T as twenty-four thousand 
 persons in 1802. When I w r as there in 1807, 
 it amounted to twenty-eight thousand and up- 
 wards; and at the end of 1810, it had increased 
 to thirty thousand inhabitants, almost all indus- 
 trious and laborious. M. Depons also states 
 that the population of the united provinces of 
 Cumana, or New Andalusia, and of New Barce- 
 lona, was then only eighty thousand souls, in- 
 cluding that of the capital. But the statements 
 
■HGRHI 
 
 102 
 
 CUMANA. 
 
 I read on the spot, in 1807, declared this popu- 
 lation to be ninety-six thousand persons. 
 
 The town of Cumana has two parish churches 
 and two convents for men ; one belonging to the 
 Dominicans, and the other to the Franciscans. 
 I had occasion to be acquainted with the friars of 
 those two convents during my stay there in 1807, 
 and I found them very worthy characters, liberal 
 and enlightened men, strangers to all ideas of 
 intolerance and persecution. 
 
 There is no edifice in Cumana which strikes 
 you by its magnificence. This town has a theatre 
 much smaller than that of Caraccas, and con- 
 structed on the same plan : it would be suffoca- 
 ting to be in a theatre built in the European 
 fashion; besides, it rains still more rarely al 
 Cumana than at Caraccas. The actors of Cumana 
 are people of colour, who do not declaim in their 
 parts, but merely recite them with a most tiresome 
 monotony. 
 
 Bull-feasts, cock-fighting, and rope-dancing, are 
 the amusements most frequented by the inhabi- 
 tants of this town and the rest of the province. 
 There was no town clock in Cumana four years 
 ago : while M. de Humboldt was in this town, 
 in 1800, he constructed a very fine sun-dial 
 there. When a stranger passes by this dial, if 
 he be in company with a Cumanese, the latter 
 never fails to say, " we owe this sun-dial to the 
 learned Baron de Humboldt." The word sabio, 
 which they employ on this occasion, signifies. 
 
M. DE HUMBOLDT. 
 
 103 
 
 in the mouth of a Creole of the Spanish colonies, 
 both wise and learned. I remarked that they 
 never pronounced the name of this illustrious 
 traveller, without adding- to it the epithet of 
 sabio, and they speak of him with a mingled sen- 
 timent of admiration and regard. They are happy 
 in relating the complaisance with which he shew- 
 ed them him his astronomical instruments, and 
 explained their use. Those who had received 
 letters or notes from him, preserved them care- 
 fully, and esteem it an honour to have had a 
 correspondence with him. These sentiments of 
 the Cumanese for that celebrated man, are equally 
 honourable to their character, and that of the 
 personage who is the object of them. 
 
 The pretty river Manzanares runs through the 
 middle of the town ; there is a very handsome 
 wooden bridge across it : the water in this river 
 has only sufficient depth for very small vessels- 
 Large ships anchor at the Placer, a sand bank in 
 the middle of the port, which is well sheltered. 
 
 Cumana is in 10° 37 N. latitude, and 64° 10' 
 West longitude : its climate is very hot, the ele- 
 vation of the town above the sea level, being only 
 fifty-three feet. Farenheit's thermometer usually 
 rises to 90, and sometimes even to 95 degrees, 
 from the month of June until the end of Oc- 
 tober. In that season it seldom descends to 80° 
 during the night; the sea breeze tempers the heat 
 of the climate, which is otherwise very healthy. 
 From the commencement of November, to the 
 
WP 
 
 104 
 
 CM MAT ft. 
 
 end of March, the heats arc not so great ; the 
 thermometer is then between 82° and 84°, in 
 the day-time, and generally falls to 77° and 
 even 75° during the night. There is scarcely 
 ever any rain in the plain in which Cumana is 
 situated, though it rains frequently in the adja- 
 cent mountains. The hygrometer of Deluc is 
 commonly at fifty degrees there, during the 
 winter, and marks the utmost dryness from the 
 beginning of November to the beginning of 
 June. 
 
 Cumana is built at the foot of a volcanic moun- 
 tain, and subject to earthquakes. This town has 
 no public establishment for the education of youth : 
 it is therefore astonishing to find any knowledge 
 among its inhabitants ; yet, there is some infor- 
 mation disseminated among many of the Creoles 
 of Cumana. They are but seldom sent to Eu- 
 rope for their education ; the most wealthy re- 
 ceive it at Caraccas, and the greater number 
 under schoolmasters, from whom they learn the 
 Spanish grammar, arithmetic, the first elements 
 of geometry, drawing, a little Latin and music. 
 I have remarked considerable talent, applica- 
 tion and good conduct in their youth, and less 
 vivacity and vanity than among those of Caraccas. 
 Not being so rich as the latter, the Cumanese are 
 brought up with principles of economy and indus- 
 try : there are no idlers among them : in general 
 they are inclined to business. Some apply them- 
 selves to the mechanical arts, others to commerce : 
 
■ 
 
 PRICK OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 105 
 
 they have also a great partiality for navigation, and 
 trading with the neighbouring colonies of other 
 nations, and by their activity and prudence make 
 considerable profits with small capitals. Their 
 articles of exportation are cattle, smoked meat, 
 (tassajo) and salted fish, which commodities they 
 have in great abundance. Two pounds of beef 
 are sold at Cumana for twopence-halfpenny ; and 
 twenty-two pounds of salt meat, at from three shil- 
 lings and fourpence to four shillings and twopence. 
 Fish is never weighed there ; some days there is 
 such a quantity caught by the fishermen, that 
 they give ten, twelve or fifteen pounds weight 
 for fivepence. The poor go to the sea-side with 
 maize, cakes and eggs, and barter them for 
 fish. Eggs are the small change in Cumana, 
 Caraccas, and other provinces of Venezuela, 
 where copper coin is unknown ; the smallest piece 
 in circulation being a medio-real in silver, worth 
 twopence halfpenny. If one goes into a shop to 
 buy something worth less than twopence half- 
 penny, they give as change, two or three eggs ; 
 for a dozen of eggs there is worth only twopence 
 halfpenny. That is also the price of a measure of 
 excellent milk, about a quart. A sheep is sold 
 for a dollar ; a fine turkey for twenty or twenty- 
 five pence ;a fowl for fivepence ; a fat capon seven- 
 pence halfpenny to tenpence ; a duck, the same 
 price ; game and wild fowl are frequently sold 
 cheaper than butcher's meat, and all those articles 
 
106 
 
 CHEAP LIVING. 
 
 are still cheaper in the small towns of the in- 
 terior. 
 
 I liv r ed at the best and dearest hotel in Cumana, 
 at a dollar per day, including the expences of 
 my son and servant. They gave us for breakfast 
 cold meats, fish, chocolate, coircc, tea and Spa- 
 nish wine. An excellent dinner, with Spanish 
 and French wines, coffee and liqueurs. In the 
 evening, chocolate. I was well lodged and lighted. 
 I should have expended but half that sum if I 
 had gone to board and lodge in a family. In 
 short, there is not a country in the world, where 
 one may live cheaper than in the province of 
 Cumana. An excellent dinner may be had there 
 for tenpence, not including wine, which does not 
 cost more than fivepence per bottle, to those 
 who buy a quantity of it. Poor people drink 
 punch, which is at a very low rate, for it does 
 not cost above one penny per quart. 
 
 The inhabitants of Cumana are very polite ; it 
 may even be said that they are excessively so. 
 There is not so much luxury among them as at 
 Caraccas ; their houses, however, are tolerably 
 well furnished. They are very abstemious. Those 
 dinners and festivals which form one of the charms 
 of society in Europe, and which, in the British 
 and French colonies are repeated almost every 
 day from the first of January to the last of De- 
 cember, are unknown to the inhabitants of Cu- 
 mana, and the other provinces of Venezuela. 
 
 The retail trade of Cumana is almost entirely 
 
WM . 
 
 NATIONAL REFLECTIONS, 
 
 107 
 
 in the hands of the Catalans, Biscayans, and 
 Canarians : those men are chiefly sailors, who 
 have begun to open shop with a few dollars, and 
 who, in a few years, acquire fortunes by their 
 frugality and industry. If a man of that coun- 
 try lands without a farthing, the first Castalan 
 he meets takes him to his house, gives him work, 
 or recommends him to some of his countrymen. 
 There are many countries in which one brother 
 would not do for another, that which a Catalan 
 is always inclined to do for his countrymen. In 
 this they resemble the Scotch ; but they are not, 
 like too many of the latter, whom we meet in 
 the colonies, arrogant to their inferiors, and ser- 
 vile to their superiors.* The Catalan preserves 
 
 * The occasional reflections in which our author indulges on 
 national character, are certainly no proofs of liberality ; and 
 although not participated in by the Editor, he does not feel himself 
 justified in suppressing them. It is only by collecting the opinions 
 of foreigners, that nations are enabled to estimate their claims to 
 admiration or censure, as individuals look up to the voice of 
 public opinion, and their friends, for the regulation of their con- 
 duct. Whether truth or prejudice has had most share in those 
 charges which Mr. Lavaysse only makes in common with many 
 other writers, it is no more than just to contrast what Mr. Curran, 
 the most eloquent speaker, and distinguished patriot of his age, 
 thought of the Scotch in their own country, with the opinions of 
 these who have only seen them in our colonies, or struggling for 
 emolument and place amongst the no less greedy English and 
 Irish competitors who infest the British metropolis. In a letter 
 to one of his correspondents, from Loudon Castle, that great man 
 represents the Scotch, as " the natural enemies of vice, and folly, 
 
108 
 
 Till] CATALANS. 
 
 in ail the situations in which he is placed by for- 
 tune, a certain air of haughtiness and dignity, 
 that gains him the esteem of every generous 
 mind. 
 
 It was the Catalans who taught the inhabitants 
 of Cumana, and the adjacent provinces, to derive 
 advantage from various local productions; for in- 
 stance, from cocoa nuts, they make oil from the 
 pulp they contain ; with this pulp they also make 
 an emulsion which is substituted for that of almonds, 
 and with which they make very good orgeat, 
 that is sold extremely cheap in their coffee houses. 
 The Catalans were the first who established rope 
 manufactories at Cumana, where they make ex- 
 cellent cables of the bark of the mahet (genus 
 bombaz,) also twine and cords of the aloe, (agave 
 foetida,) &c. 
 
 and slavery ; the great sowers, but still greater wceders, of the 
 human soil. No where,' 11 he adds, " can you sec the cringing hy- 
 pocricy of dissembled detestation, so inseparable from oppression : 
 and as little do you meet the hard, and dull, and right lined angles 
 of the southern visage." And in his masterly defence of Ha- 
 milton Rowan, Mr. C. calls it " a nation cast in the happy me- 
 dium between the spiritless acquiescence of submissive poverty, 
 and the sturdy credulity of pampered wealth; cool and ardent, 
 adventurous and persevering, winging her eagle flight against the 
 blaze of every science, with an eye that never winks, and a wing 
 that never tires : crowned as she is with the spoils of every art, 
 and decked with the wreath of every muse, from the deep and 
 scrutinizing researches of her Hume, to the sweet and simple, but 
 not less sublime and pathetic morality of her Burns!" — Lift: of 
 OiuuN by his son, Vol. I. pages 255 and 26L 
 
^M ■ 
 
 CAJUACO. 
 
 109 
 
 The town of Cumana is defended only by a 
 miserable fort, which commands the town and 
 port To the north-east is the Gulf of Cariaco, 
 a small Mediterranean. Opposite to Cumana, 
 is the Point of Arraya, on which there was 
 once a fort, whose ruined walls alone were stand- 
 ing in 1808. This gulf is twelve leagues long 
 from east to west, and from three to four 
 leagues in breadth throughout its extent. It 
 would be a magnificent port for a navy, where 
 large ships might ride in safety from all wea- 
 thers : batteries of heavy mortars, placed at 
 each side of the entrance, could hinder the 
 most formidable fleets from entering, because 
 ships of the line, in order to enter either the 
 port of Cumana, or this gulf, are obliged, after 
 having made the Point of Arraya, to avoid a 
 sand bank, which runs from that point into the 
 sea for two leagues. 
 
 The Gulf of Cariaco offers in all parts of its 
 coast good anchorage and natural wharfs con- 
 venient for shipping. On each side the land 
 presents two amphitheatres ornamented with the 
 most beautiful and varied vegetation and a culti- 
 vated landscape. At the bottom of the gulf, to 
 the east, is the fine plain of Cariaco, watered by 
 the navigable river of the same name. At a mile 
 and a half from its mouth is the town, or rather 
 the large village of Cariaco, which in the Spanish 
 official papers, bears the name of San Felipe de 
 Austria. 
 
110 
 
 MARINE BIRDS. 
 
 The population of the town was about seven 
 thousand persons in 1807, four thousand inhabited 
 the remainder of the district. Formerly they 
 cultivated only the cotton and cocoa trees ; but 
 my venerable friend Martin de Arestimuno, of 
 whom I shall have occasion to speak hereafter, 
 formed a superb plantation of coffee there, and 
 another of sugar with a distillery for rum. Ma- 
 ny other persons have planted coffee and sugar 
 canes ; among the rest, Messieurs liubio, two 
 enlightened and worthy farmers. In 1807, the 
 governor, Manuel de Cagigal, endeavoured to 
 prevent the distillation of rum, under the false 
 pretence that it would injure the trade in brandies 
 with Spain ; but the true reason was, that the 
 rum trade, one of the English smuggling branches, 
 brought large profits to his excellency. 
 
 Innumerable swarms of marine birds frequent 
 the Gulf of Cariaco, chiefly on the banks of mud 
 situated on the sides of the entrance to the river: 
 nothing can be more agreeable than to see at sun- 
 rise, all those birds issuing by thousands from the 
 mangrove trees, where they pass the night, and 
 disperse over the surface of the water to seek 
 their food : when their hunger is satisfied, some 
 repose on the mud and sand banks ; some 
 swim on the water merely for diversion, while 
 others cover the branches of all the neighbouring 
 trees. I have seen a bank of sand above three 
 hundred yards in length, and the little banks or 
 islands near it entirely covered with these aquatic 
 
^M ^iik^4w^ r ' $&ti({>* ft^^wfr^v*' ^^^^^^m 
 
 T1IEIU VARIETIES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 birds. Those I recognised were flamingoes of all 
 ages and colours, pelicans, herons, boobies, five 
 or six kinds of ducks, of which one is larger 
 than that of India, several kinds of water-hens, 
 a bird as white and as large as a swan, but which 
 has a long beak, red and pointed, longer and 
 more delicate legs, and feet formed like those 
 of a swan t it swims like that bird, but flies 
 much better. I also saw in the same spot, many 
 other birds which I am sure have never been 
 described by any naturalist. Twice I paid the 
 master of the vessel that took me from Cariaco 
 to Cumana, and back again, to remain half an 
 hour at those islets, in order that I might con- 
 template at my leisure those myriads of birds, 
 of such various forms and colours. One of them, 
 which I could not distinguish by sight, in the 
 multitude, uttered plaintive and melancholy notes : 
 at the time that it attracted my attention, Iliad just 
 loaded a small gun, to gratify my son, who re- 
 quested that he might be suffered to fire on a flock 
 of birds that reposed within twenty paces of us ; 
 the plaintive voice of this obtained mercy for all ; 
 Samuel's hands were disarmed ; my sentiments 
 passed rapidly into his feeling and tender mind, 
 being at that time only seven years old. I was 
 then a prey to persecution, and the distress occa- 
 sioned by a most agonizing separation. The 
 melancholy notes of a bird which appeared to 
 resemble those of the turtle-dove in the place 
 
112 
 
 BIND CATCHERS. 
 
 where I drew my breath, awakened all the ideas, 
 the kind or cruel illusions which the word coun- 
 try inspires in the mind of the unfortunate and 
 persecuted who travel in distant and hostile re- 
 gions ! 
 
 The catching of ducks and other aquatic birds, 
 by two Indians in this part of the gulf, was 
 an object of great amusement to my son, and an 
 abstraction to myself. Though this singular and 
 silent chase may have been already noticed, I can- 
 not avoid describing it. In this part of the New 
 World, the inhabitants of the shores of lakes 
 and gulfs, leave .calebashes continually floating 
 on the water, in order that the birds, by being 
 accustomed to see them, may not be alarmed at 
 the sight. When the people wish to catch any 
 of these wild fowl, they go into the water with 
 their heads covered each with a calabash, in which 
 they make two holes for seeing through. They 
 thus swim towards the birds, throwing a hand- 
 ful of maize on the water from time to time, of 
 which the grains scatter on the surface. The 
 ducks and other birds approach to feed on the 
 mnize, and at that moment the swimmer seizes 
 them by the feet, pulls them under water and 
 wrings their necks before they can make the least 
 movement, or by their noise spread an alarm 
 among the flock. The swimmer attaches those 
 he has taken to his girdle, and he generally takes 
 as many as are necessary for his family. Many 
 
HH 
 
 SULPHUROUS MAHSII. 
 
 113 
 
 have no other profession in the neighbourhood of 
 some towns, and daily take multitudes of these 
 birds, which they sell at a low rate, though they 
 are very good food. 
 
 At about a league and a half from the town of 
 Cariaco, and near the road that leads to Carupano, 
 is a lake, or rather a marsh, of about half a league 
 long, by nearly the same breadth, which is the 
 resort of innumerable reptiles, toads, serpents, 
 and crocodiles : it is there also, according to the 
 assertions of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, 
 where the tyger cats go to quench their thirst. 
 It was at ten o'clock at night when I first passed 
 nearthismarsh : itexhaled anhydrogen-sulphurous 
 odour extremely nauseouSj. and phosphoric fires 
 appeared on its surface. A preacher of the Island 
 of Margarita acknowledged to me that the hideous 
 appearance of this lake, had furnished him with 
 some of the imagery of a sermon which I heard 
 him preach at the beginning of Lent in 1807, andof 
 which I shall give a fragment in the description of 
 that island. The inhabitants of the town of Ca- 
 riaco have told me of a frightful animal, which 
 so much resembles the fabulous winged dragon, 
 that I dare not repeat the description they gave 
 me of it, lest I should incur the ridicule of natu- 
 ralists. A great many persons, however, assured 
 me that they had seen it on the borders of the 
 marsh. What can this amphibious animal be ? 
 Perhaps an enormous guana, lizard, or some 
 
 1 
 
^™ 
 
 114 
 
 CARUPANO, 
 
 monstrous reptile of the order of Sauriens. I col- 
 lected petrolium on the brink of this marsh. 
 
 The name of the town of Carupano is not found 
 in the work of M. Depons on the government of 
 Caraccas, nor on the map which accompanies that 
 kind of statistic account, to which the name of 
 Travels has been given. This town and its district 
 merit, however, a place there ; for it is the first 
 met with on the coast, after leaving the Gulf of 
 Paria, and when coming from Europe, North 
 America, or the Brazils. 
 
 The port of Carupano is defended by a battery 
 situated on an eminence. It is a very healthy 
 place, built in the opening of two charming val- 
 lies, watered by two line rivers. The inhabitants 
 divide their time in the occupations of agriculture, 
 some trading concerns, and dancing. It is com- 
 pletely a dancing town. I have seen very fine 
 youths at the balls of Carupano, and many young 
 women, who would be remarkable for their beauty 
 even in our European cities ; but they are beauties 
 entirely strangers to the arts of our coquettes ; 
 beauties such as nature has made them, and who 
 know no laws than what thai unsophisticated deity 
 has given them. 
 
 Carupano and the neighbouring district have a 
 population of about eight thousand persons. There 
 is a considerable trade there in horses and mules. 
 At the foot of the neighbouring hills there are 
 quarries of gypsum (sulphat of lime); so that most of 
 
M. CONSTANTIN. 
 
 115 
 
 the houses in the town are cieled. In going by 
 land from Carupano to Guiria, and the Punta 
 de Piedra, the smiling valley of Rio Caribe is 
 crossed, watered by numerous rivulets: it is the 
 Tempe and Campagna of this country. There was 
 then in the valley of Rio Caribe a remarkable 
 personage : he called himself a Greek, and native 
 of Smyrna: others pretended that he was a Turk ; 
 but of whatever nation he might be, he w 7 as cer- 
 tainly a very worthy man : his name was Con- 
 stantin. When I was with him in 1807, he was 
 eighty years of age, but with the vigour and 
 appearance of a well formed man of fifty, and the 
 vivacity of one of thirty. He had five children 
 by his first marriage, and three by his second wife, 
 who was young and amiable, and with whom he 
 kept a very good house. I was most kindly re- 
 ceived by him. Mr. Constantin is the wealthiest 
 planter in this valley : I was recommended to 
 him by a very respectable man, who lives retired 
 in the solitudes of Cape de Paria, Mr. Closier 
 d'Arcueil, a native of Paris. This gentleman is 
 son of one of the first proprietors of Grenada, and 
 cousin of the virtuous Closier Sainte Marie, legally 
 murdered at Grenada in 1795. 
 
 The town and valley of Rio Caribe have a popu- 
 lation of 4500 persons. M. Depons speaks of 
 Guiria and of Guinima, two villages established 
 by the French and Spaniards, who emigrat- 
 ed from Trinidad, to avoid the vexations of 
 the British Governor. When a description is 
 
 i 2 
 

 
 116 YAGUARAPARO. 
 
 given of the provinces and districts of a country, 
 their chief towns ought not to be omitted. Pun- 
 ta de Picdra, which in 1797 was only a hamlet of 
 fishermen, has become the principal place in the 
 district of Paria, and the residence of a lieutenant 
 governor. Though the town is not yet consider- 
 able, by the number and beauty of its edifices, it 
 is nevertheless a most important spot, from the 
 prodigious fertility of its territory, and its for- 
 tunate position near the mouths of the Guara- 
 piche, Orinoco, and Port Spain. 
 
 The town is situated in a magnificent plain, and 
 on a platform w T hich commands the sea ; from 
 whence there is a view of Port Spain, all the wes- 
 tern part of the Island of Trinidad, the gulf of 
 Paria, and of all the vessels that enter or go out 
 of it. 
 
 At the extremity of this plain, opens the beau- 
 tiful and fertile valley of Yaguaraparo, covered 
 with, plantations of coffee and cocoa : the fertility 
 of its soil, and the mildness of its climate, particu- 
 larly appropriated to the latter plant, have made 
 the fortunes of all the colonists established there. 
 A Catalan sailor settled here, in 1790, when the 
 valley was almost a desart : he began, alone, to 
 fell the woods and plant cocoa trees : in 1797, this 
 man had twenty negroes on his plantation : in 
 1804 he had thirty slaves, and with this small 
 assistance he gathered more than one hundred 
 thousand pounds weight of cocoa. He died in 
 180-1 j intestate, it is said, and the government 
 

 GUIANA. 
 
 117 
 
 took possession of his property. It was managed 
 in 1807 by the surgeon-major of the garrison of 
 Curaana, who deemed himself the proprietor of 
 it. This officer placed a considerable number of 
 slaves on the estate, and told me that he was sure 
 the plantation would render him five hundred 
 thousand pounds of cocoa annually, after six or 
 seven years ! 
 
 We are now arrived on the borders of the 
 Province of Cumana, near the mouths of the 
 Guarapiche and Orinoco. There also, as on the 
 banks of the Ohio, I found Frenchmen and Irish- 
 men thrown on those solitary shores by political 
 persecutions ! 
 
 The inhabitants of the district of Punta de 
 Piedra were unanimous in the praise of their 
 Lieutenant Governor Don Juan Mayoral. If 
 physiognomy can be depended on, I am sure those 
 praises could not be more justly merited. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Governor of Guiana 
 used to extend over the establishments situated 
 within cannon shot, on the left bank of the Ori- 
 noco, at the Paria side. 
 
 In 1808 the British Government established 
 a post between the Guarapiche and Orinoco, 
 near the sea, under pretence of cutting guiacum 
 wood for their navy : they have since erected 
 batteries which command the navigation of those 
 two rivers, and it will hereafter become the Gib- 
 raltar of this part of the globe, if the Venezuelan 
 government should permit them to continue. 
 
118 
 
 < 1 MANACOA. 
 
 The vallies, and above all the banks of the rivers 
 of this part of the province of Cumana, abound 
 in logwood and Brazil wood : they cut those 
 woods at present, so necessary to their manufac- 
 tures, and doubtless find it very convenient to have 
 in their own possession, what they would other- 
 wise be obliged to purchase from foreigners. 
 
 CUMANACOA, or SAN BALTAZAR DE 
 LOS-ARIAS. 
 
 Cumanacoais the chief town of one of the most 
 fertile districts of this province, and is situated in 
 a valley of the same name, at eighteen leagues 
 inland to the south-east of Cumana : the air is 
 healthy, and tolerably cool. The fruits cultivated 
 there, are reputed the best in the province ; but 
 cocoa is its principal wealth. The population 
 of the town and adjacent country is about 
 five thousand souls. Until thirty years ago, the 
 neighbouring country was inhabited by uncon- 
 quered Indians, who made frequent incursions 
 against the Spaniards of this quarter ; but the 
 missionaries have pacified and united them in 
 missions. 
 
 There are springs in the neighbourhood of 
 Cumanacoa which contain salts similar to those 
 of Epsom in dissolution, and other mineral waters. 
 It is very well calculated to become a watering 
 place, like our Plombieres, Bagueres, &c. 
 
 M. de Humboldt, who remained at Cumanacoa, 
 
GROTTO OF GUACHARO. 
 
 119 
 
 to make astronomical observations there, deter- 
 mined its latitude at 10° 16' N. and its longitude 
 at 64° 15' west. 
 
 At twenty leagues further inland, on entering 
 the range of the Bergantin mountains, near that 
 of Turimiquiri, is the famous grotto of Guacharo, 
 in which are millions of a new species of Caprl- 
 mulgus*, thatfdl the cavern with their plaintive 
 and dismal cries. In every country the same 
 causes have produced similar effects on the imagi- 
 nation of our species. The grotto of Guacharo is, 
 in the opinion of the Indians, a place of trial 
 and expiation : souls when separated from bodies, 
 go to this cavern ; those of men who die without 
 reproach do not remain in it, and immediately 
 ascend, to reside with the great Manitou in the 
 dwellings of the blessed : those of the wicked are 
 retained there eternally ; and such men as have 
 committed but slight faults of a venial nature, 
 are kept there for a longer or shorter period, 
 according to the crime. 
 
 Immediately after the death of their parents 
 and friends, the Indians go to the entrance of this 
 cavern, to listen to their groans. If they think 
 they hear their voices, they also lament, and ad- 
 dress a prayer to the great spirit Manitou, and 
 another to the devil Muboya ; after which they 
 drown their grief with intoxicating beverages. 
 
 * Their fat is an article of eomiuerop. 
 
120 
 
 FUTURITY. 
 
 But if they do not hear the wished for voices, 
 they express their joy by dances and festivals. 
 In all this there is but one circumstance that 
 creates surprize, it is that the Indian priests have 
 not availed themselves of such credulity to aug- 
 ment their revenues. Many Indians, though 
 otherwise converted to Christianity, have not 
 ceased to believe in Guacharo : and to descend 
 into Guacharo, is among them synonymous with 
 dying. 
 
 Thus in the majestic forests of South America, 
 as in the ancient civilization of Hindostan; under 
 the harsh climates of the north of Europe and 
 Canada, as in the burning regions of Africa, in 
 all parts the man of every colour is distinguished 
 from other animals by this irresistible foreboding 
 of a future life, in which an Omnipotent Being 
 recompenses the good, and punishes evil doers. 
 Whatever may be the modifications, differences, 
 or absurdities with which imagination, ignorance, 
 and greedy imposture have enveloped this belief, 
 it appears to be one of the strongest moral proofs 
 of the identity of our species, and to be a natural 
 consequence of reflection. 
 
 If the gloom of this cavern, and the mournful 
 cries of the Caprimulgus, which it constantly re- 
 echoes, are adapted for influencing and intimidat- 
 ing feeble minds ; the clear river that runs from its 
 entrance, at the feet of majestic mountains crowned 
 by the most beautiful vegetation, a smiling valley ? 
 together with the eternal spring of the climate, 
 
«>: j ?y-A v.^.-yv^v 
 
 NEW BARCELONA. 
 
 121 
 
 would have made an Elysium of this place, if it 
 had produced a poet. 
 
 I now proceed to describe the province or dis- 
 trict of New Barcelona. This country is bounded 
 on the east by the province of Caraccas, on the 
 west by that of Cumana, properly speaking, and 
 on the south by the Orinoco, which separates it 
 from Guina. To the north is the chain of Ber- 
 gantin, which proceeds from the mountains of 
 Santa Martha, and loses itself in the sea at Cape 
 de Paria. It is thinly inhabited and scantily cul- 
 tivated, but less mountainous than those of Caraccas 
 and Cumana. Its immense meadows feed numerous 
 herds of oxen, horses, asses and mules, and thou- 
 sands of them are exported annually to the neigh- 
 bouring colonies. There is also a great quantity 
 of oxen slaughtered there, of which the meat is 
 smoked, and is an object of considerable trade. 
 The port of Barcelona exported, during the peace 
 of Amiens, and in one year, 132,000 oxen, 2,100 
 horses, 84,000 mules, 800 asses, 180,000 quintals of 
 tassajo or smoked beef, 36,000 ox hides, 4,500 horse 
 hides, and G,000 deer skins. In the environs of 
 Barcelona there are cultivated various alimentary 
 plants, including cocoa, of which there is a great 
 consumption. There are not more exported from 
 this province annually than 200,000 quintals of 
 cocoa, 3 to 4000 quintals of indigo, about 2000 
 quintals of arnotto, and from 250 to 300,000 quin- 
 tals of cotton. The merchandize is packed with 
 much care in ox hides and deers skins of a 
 
122 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 square form, and those coverings are an advantage 
 in trade. Maize is also an article of growth and 
 exportation ; but there is seldom more of it ex- 
 ported annually than 150, to 200,000 sacks, of 
 about 150 pounds each. The inhabitants of the 
 country grow a little rice for their own use, but 
 it has not yet become an article of commerce. 
 
 Although the fisheries furnish abundantly for 
 the consumption of the inhabitants on the coasts of 
 this district, and they derive an article of small 
 traffic with the interior from them, they are very 
 far from being as productive as those of Cumana, 
 and the coasts of the Islands of Margarita, Cu- 
 bagua, and Coche. This district, though its ex- 
 tent is so great, has only two towns, Barcelona 
 and Conception del Pao. In 1G34, Don Juan 
 Urpin laid the foundations of Barcelona, on the 
 left bank of the river Neveri, and at a league from 
 its mouth : the chief place of the establishment in 
 this canton was then the town of Cumanagoto, 
 situated at two leagues higher up the river, wmich 
 is now 7 only a miserable village. Alcedo con- 
 founds Cumanagoto with Cumanacoa, or San Bal- 
 taz de los Arias. As every Spanish town must 
 have a saint for its patron, that of Cumanagoto 
 was named San Christoval de Cumanagoto. 
 
 Previous to the foundation of Barcelona there 
 (existed a town called Maracapano, situated nearer 
 the sea. Though its name is still found in the 
 Dictionary of Alcedo, and on maps which are 
 equally incorrect, even the ruins of it are not to 
 
CLIMATE. 
 
 123 
 
 be found, and the present inhabitants of Barcelona 
 are not quite agreed about the spot on which it 
 was situated. 
 
 Though there is considerable trade at Barcelona, 
 and it contains some opulent commercial houses, 
 the town is badly built ; the houses are of mud, and 
 in general very meanly furnished. The streets 
 are filthy and miry when there is rain, and in fine 
 weather the dust is enough to blind one, however 
 trifling a wind may blow. Alcedo with his usual 
 negligence says, that the climate of Barcelona is 
 more unhealthy than that of Cumana. It is 
 exactly the reverse : the climate of Cumana is 
 very healthy, though hot, because it is extremely 
 dry, and that of the town of Barcelona unhealthy, 
 from the opposite causes. This town had in 1807, 
 a population of 15,000 persons. 
 
 Barcelona is in 10° 6' N. latitude, G7° 4' W. 
 longitude, and twelve leagues from Cumana in a 
 direct line ; but the windings which it is necessary 
 to make to avoid bad roads, make it a journey of 
 twenty hours. It is reckoned ten marine leagues 
 by sea from the port of Barcelona to that of 
 Cumana, and not two leagues, as M. Depons has 
 said : from the former to the latter port there are 
 a great number of islets, frequented by fishermen, 
 but they afford no shelter for large vessels. 
 
 The town of Conception del Pao is built in a 
 plain situated at the other side of the range of 
 Bergantin : the air there is wholesome, although 
 it is very hot and much exposed to heavy rains. 
 
124 
 
 NF-W ANDALUSIA. 
 
 It owes this advantage to the comparative eleva- 
 tion of its scite, which does not permit the water 
 to remain stagnant, that runs into the Orinoco, 
 and Guarapiche. It is an uncultivated country, 
 but abounding in natural pastures which feed 
 numerous herds that are exported by those two 
 rivers, to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. 
 About the middle of the last century, Pao was 
 only a village inhabited by people of colour ; the 
 produce of their cattle having enriched them, the 
 inhabitants of the adjacent countries hastened to 
 settle themselves there. Ten years ago, they re- 
 ceived all possible encouragement from Governor 
 Emparan, and they now reckon three thousand 
 persons inhabiting the little town of Pao. About 
 one thousand more inhabit the savannas in the 
 neighbourhood, where they are occupied with 
 their cattle, and the cultivation of as much cocoa,, 
 maize, and bananas as are necessary for their sub- 
 sistence. The rest of the population of the dis- 
 trict of Barcelona is distributed in six or seven 
 villages, and in the Hales, places where the herds- 
 men alone inhabit. The population of Pao, the 
 villages and savannas, is about twenty-eight thou- 
 sand persons, while the total population of the 
 province of Cumana or New Andalusia, compre- 
 hending the district of Barcelona, is ninety-six 
 thousand souls. 
 
 Historians and geographers have asserted that 
 New Andalusia is a province depending on the 
 government of Cumana, a country which they 
 
CLIMATE. 
 
 125 
 
 did not know where to place. A map that I 
 have before me, places this country between 
 the Orinoco and the Caroni. Many others are 
 equally erroneous on this country. The fact is, 
 that j in political geography, New Andalusia is 
 synonymous with Cuinana. It is therefore neces- 
 sary to say, the province of Cuinana or New 
 Andalusia. There are few countries more va- 
 ried, fertile, or better watered than the different 
 districts of this province. Its mountains on the 
 coast form a magnificent barrier opposed to the 
 sea, and appear to be a rampart placed by nature 
 to secure her favourite country from those hurri- 
 canes or sudden tempests so destructive to the 
 Antilles. Those mountains and hills are crowned 
 with] gigantic and valuable trees, fine shrubs, 
 aromatic plants, flowers that have the brightest 
 and most varied tints, and perfume the atmosphere 
 in every season. 
 
 This country is, in general, very healthy, a 
 few marshy places excepted : its climate is par- 
 ticularly favourable to old persons and women. 
 Here age does not present that horrible train of 
 disease, with which it is accompanied in northern 
 countries : gout, rheumatism, blindness, deafness 
 and corporeal deformity are almost unknown. 
 In that happy climate persons of both sexes enjoy 
 almost to the last moment of life, all their physical 
 and intellectual faculties : there, man is gently 
 extinguished, and does not, as in cold countries, 
 
126 
 
 GUIANA. 
 
 perish a martyr to hereditary disease, or intolerable 
 seasons. 
 
 GUIANA, ou GUAYANA. 
 
 This extensive region which is included between 
 the mouths of the Orinoco and the second degree 
 of North latitude, contains several European 
 settlements, those of the Spanish portion are by no 
 means the least fertile or important. 
 
 Spanish Guiana has for its boundaries the Por- 
 tuguese possessions at San Jose de Marasitanos 
 to the south, New Granada and the Varinas to 
 the west ; those of Cumana, Barcelona, and 
 Caraccas on the north ; and French and Dutch 
 Guiana to the east. The maritime bounds of 
 this country extend one hundred and twenty 
 leagues, from the river Amazons to the northern 
 mouth of the Orinoco. 
 
 Previous to the treaty of peace concluded in 
 September 1801, the Portuguese possessions ex- 
 tended from the mouth of the Amazons to the 
 North Cape, east of the Island of Carpori : the 
 same treaty fixed the river Carapana, as the limit 
 of French and Portuguese Guiana : this river 
 runs into the Amazons in 20' of North latitude, 
 above Fort Macapa. This limit or line of demar- 
 cation follows the course of that river, in running 
 to its source, from whence it continues by the 
 chain of mountains which divide the course of the 
 
CAYENNE. 
 
 127 
 
 rivers as far as the head of the Rio Blanco, supposed 
 to be between the second and third degrees of 
 north latitude. 
 
 France has no other possession in this country 
 than Cayenne, a colony which has always been 
 languishing; from mismanagement, and not by 
 any means owing to the unhealthiness of the cli- 
 mate. It is very far from being as unwholesome 
 as some have described it, for the climate is pre- 
 ferable to that of the Antilles, and the soil much 
 more fertile. The words Cayenne and Guina are 
 evidently derived from the Indian word Guainia, 
 the Marsitan name of the Rio Negro and surround- 
 ing country. Europeans have therefore given the 
 name of Guiana, or Guayna, to all the country 
 situated between the rivers Amazon and Orinoco. 
 
 The language of the Marsitan Indians is as gene- 
 rally disseminated towards the Equator, as the 
 Caribbean tongue is from the banks of the Esse- 
 quibo to those of the Madelaine. 
 
 According to the Spanish historians, Juan 
 Cornepo was the first European who sailed up 
 the Orinoco, and reconnoitred this country in 1531. 
 Sir Walter Raleigh and Robert Dudley visited 
 it afterwards. The chimera of El Dorado also 
 attracted a great number of Spanish adventurers 
 to it. Missionaries were sent there in 1576, who 
 accused the Dutch as being the cause of their 
 success among the natives. 
 
 In 1586, Don Antonio Berreo founded a 
 town, to which he gave the name of San Tome. 
 
128 
 
 SAN TOME. 
 
 on the right bank of the Orinoco ; but the con- 
 tinual wars he had with the Indians, did not per- 
 mit him to establish himself there, This town has 
 subsequently been pillaged by the English, Dutch, 
 and French. In 17G4, it was transferred further 
 from the sea, and at ninety leagues from the 
 mouths of the Orinoco, being the town now 
 known by the name of San Tome de Angostura. 
 
 During the Spanish domination, San Tome was 
 the residence of a governor depending on the 
 captain general of Caraccas in political and mili- 
 tary affairs, and on the intendant of Caraccas for 
 those of finance. It was also the residence of a 
 bishop and chapter. The chapter and its bishop 
 are the poorest ecclesiastics in America. 
 
 There is but one city and five towns in Spanish 
 -Guiana; San Tome, Barceloneta, Santa Rosa 
 de Maruente, and Caicara, which is about a hun- 
 dred leagues westward of San Tome, and San 
 Antonio, forty leagues distant from it. There 
 are, however, missionaries dispersed over this 
 province. 
 
 The town of San Tome had, in 1807, a popu- 
 lation of about eight thousand five hundred per- 
 sons, among whom were three hundred black 
 slaves. This town is pretty well built and paved. 
 Though it is situated in 8° 8' of latitude, and in 
 52° of longitude, and elevated only thirty toises 
 above the level of the sea, it still enjoys a very mild 
 temperature. It seldom happens that Reaumur's 
 thermometer rises above twenty-four degrees, in 
 
rUMATF.. 
 
 129 
 
 the hottest time of the year ; and from the begin- 
 ning of November to the end of April, it rarely 
 rises above 20" during the day, and generally 
 descends to 17° at night. The regular breezes, a 
 great number of rivers and streams which water 
 it, and the immense forests that surround it in 
 almost every direction, are the causes which tend 
 to diminish the excessive heat that seems natural 
 to its latitude and trifling elevation above the 
 sea. The remarks which I shall hereafter offer 
 on the climate of Demarara, will apply equally 
 to that of Spanish Guiana ; but it appears to 
 me, that the temperature and climate of Spanish 
 Guiana are more agreeable, no doubt because 
 the waters of the Aripo, the Caoni, and the 
 Orinoco have more declivity than those of the 
 Demarara and Essequibo. 
 
 It is very strange that Spanish Guiana, which 
 is by far the most fertile country of Venezuela, 
 should be, notwithstanding, the worst cultivated, 
 the poorest and least peopled. I do not believe 
 there exists a country more wholesome, better 
 watered, more fertile and agreeable to inhabitthan 
 that which is situated on one side between the Esse- 
 quibo and the Caroni, and on the other, between 
 theCaroniand Orinoco: this tract is more than 
 forty-live leagues from north to south, and seventy 
 leagues from east to west ; yet in its whole extent, 
 it does not form a sixth part of Spanish Guiana! 
 
 If the Jesuits hatl not founded formerly the 
 missions which are now superintended by the 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 COMMERCIAL POSITION, 
 
 Capuchins, it would still have been covered with 
 forests inhabited by savages and beasts of prey. 
 The manners of the indigenous inhabitants of 
 Guiana will be treated of in another place. I 
 believe their number is about thirty thousand 
 souls ; of whom fifteen thousand are united in 
 missions. The others, such as the Arrooaks and 
 Guaraouns, are independent, and have not em- 
 braced Christianity. It is estimated that there 
 are eight thousand whites dispersed in the vil- 
 lages and huts in the remainder of the province, 
 about six thousand Mestizos or free people of 
 colour, and about three thousand slaves. I have 
 already stated the population of the capital, San 
 Tome, to be eight thousand five hundred persons ; 
 making a grand total of fifty-two thousand. 
 
 The unfavourable commercial position of the 
 port of San Tome de Angustura, is one of the 
 principal causes of the languishing state of agricul- 
 ture and trade in this colony. It is necessary that 
 there should be a commercial town nearer to the 
 sea ; for the swiftest sailing vessels require fifteen 
 days to sail from the mouths of the river to Angus- 
 tura. This port becomes worse every day from the 
 sand banks : there are rocks in that part of the port 
 most convenient for landing merchandize, but 
 these might be easily blown up. The town of 
 Barceloneta, peopled with industrious Catalans, 
 is well placed for becoming a situation of consider- 
 able trade. 
 
 To give an idea of the poverty of Guiana, M. 
 
VOVF.RTY OF GUIANA. 
 
 131 
 
 Demons says, that the tythes of it were farmed out, 
 in 1803, at only four thousand dollars per annum. 
 The same writer adds, that the cattle of the Capu- 
 chin missionaries, of which he calculated the 
 horned beasts only at 150,000, in 1803, paid no 
 tythe, which is true ; but that does not explain 
 why the tythe yields so little in this province. 
 The fact is, that it paid very badly there ; because 
 the inhabitants can easily evade it, placed as they 
 are near large navigable rivers, where they sell in 
 contraband almost all their produce and cattle. 
 
 M. Depons admits, however, that there were 
 exported from 1791 to 179-1, in objects produced 
 from this province and that of Varinas, 10,381 
 oxen, and 3,140 mules, and that there were im- 
 ported 200 negro slaves and 349,448 dollars. 
 
 No one knew better than M. Depons, that not 
 a fifth part of the produce of Venezuela was sent 
 to Spain ; that three fifths of this produce at least 
 were purchased by the English smugglers, princi- 
 pally by those of the Island of Trinidad, and the 
 remainder by the Swedish smugglers of St. Bar- 
 tholomew, and the Danes of St. Thomas's, who, 
 since the peace of 1783, have paid the Spaniards 
 for what they bought of them, in British manufac- 
 tures. M. Depons may have had his reasons for 
 not divulging all those things ; for not saying 
 that, though in no country the fiscal laws have 
 been more rigorous than in the Spanish colonies, 
 there was vet no part of the world where there 
 was so much contraband trade, and where the 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 PLANTS. 
 
 rights of the national commerce were more vio- 
 lated, owing to the absurdity of those laws, which 
 will be examined in a future chapter. 
 
 When by the effects of a liberal government 
 and wise laws, Guiana arrives at that pitch of 
 prosperity, in which the inhabitants can avail 
 themselves of the fertility of its soil, and its pecu- 
 liar natural riches, the numerous navigable rivers 
 which intersect it in every direction, geographical 
 position, &c. it will become the centre and maga- 
 zine of an immense trade, of the importance of 
 which, no one who has not visited the country 
 can form an idea. 
 
 It is to the banks of the Orinoco the inha- 
 bitants of Santa Fe de Bogota will go, to ex- 
 change the productions of their soil, for those of 
 European industry, and for the commodities of 
 North America ; while the first named country 
 will also become the centre of a great trade between 
 Peru and other parts of the world. 
 
 Until now, Spanish Guiana has been a country 
 almost wild. The only object of cultivation being 
 a little sugar, cotton, indigo, arnotto, and excel- 
 lent tobacco, very agreeable for smoking, because 
 it has not the pungency of that plant in northern 
 climates. Of aromatic and medicinal plants, the 
 lignum quassia, and the bark of Angostura, to 
 which the name of Bonplandia trifoliata has been 
 given, will some day or other become great objects 
 of trade. 
 
 The oxen, horses and asses, which weie origi- 
 
WILL) HORSES. 
 
 133 
 
 nally transported from Europe, have increased 
 greatly there, and form immense herds : a great 
 part of them are wild in the savannas and forests, 
 and others are kept in the natural pastures inclosed 
 by the Spaniards, who are occupied in the care 
 of those animals. There are some persons, each 
 of whom possesses a tract of country of five or six 
 leagues square, and is a proprietor of thirty or 
 forty thousand oxen, horses, mules or asses ; but, as 
 it is impossible for them to keep and take proper 
 care of such a great number of beasts from the want 
 of herdsmen, they merely brand the flanks of their 
 animals, occasionally beating* up the forests to 
 examine the cattle which belong to each, and to 
 sell the best. 
 
 But there are thousands of these animals which 
 are wild in the forests, and do not belong to any 
 one. I was enabled to ascertain a fact known to 
 all who have travelled in this country. The horses 
 live there in societies, generally to the number of 
 five or six hundred, and even one thousand : they 
 occupy immense savannas, where it is dangerous 
 to disturb, or try to catch them. In the dry sea- 
 son they are sometimes obliged to go two or three 
 leagues, and even more, to find water. They set 
 out in regular ranks of four abreast, and thus form 
 a procession of an extent of a quarter of a league. 
 There are always five or six scouts who pre- 
 cede the troop by about fifty paces. If they per- 
 ceive a man or jaguar (the American tyger), 
 they neigh, and the troop stops : if avoided, they 
 
131 
 
 THClft SAGAClTt. 
 
 continue their march ; but if an attempt he made 
 to pass by their squadron, they leap on the impru- 
 dent traveller, and crush him under their feet. 
 The best way is always to avoid them, and let 
 them continue their route : they have also a chief 
 who marches between the scouts and the squadron, 
 and live or six other horses march on each side of 
 the band ; a kind of adjutants, whose duty con- 
 sists of hindering any individual from quitting 
 the ranks. If any one attempts to straggle either 
 from hunger or fatigue, he is bitten till he resumes 
 his place, and the culprit obeys with his head 
 hanging down. Three or four chiefs march at 
 the rear guard, at five or six paces from the troop. 
 I had often heard, at Trinidad, of this discipline 
 among the wild horses, and confess that I could 
 scarcely believe it ; but what I have just stated is 
 a fact, which I witnessed twice on the banks of 
 the Guarapiche, where I encamped five days for 
 the express purpose of seeing those organized 
 troops pass. I have met on the shores of the 
 Orinoco, herds of fifty to a hundred wild oxen : 
 a chief always marched at the head and another 
 at the rear of these. 
 
 The people of the country have assured me, 
 that the wild asses, when they travel, observe 
 the same discipline as the horses ; but the mules, 
 though they also live in troops, are continually 
 fighting with each other, and it has not been ob- 
 served that they have any chief. They, however, 
 unite at the appearance of a common enemy, and 
 
VARINAS. 
 
 135 
 
 display still more trick and address than the 
 horses in avoiding the snares which are laid for 
 catching them, and also for escaping when taken. 
 I remember to have seen one of these wild 
 mules escape from a park, where he had been kept 
 at Carupano, by throwing himself on his belly, and 
 feigning to be dead : suddenly he passed his head 
 under one of the bars of the gate, pushed it open, 
 and rushed into the town : above thirty persons ran 
 after him in every direction, and after a pursuit of 
 two hours, they were obliged to give up the 
 chase. It would be too tedious to recount all the 
 tricks and stratagems employed by this animal to 
 escape us : we finished the hunt by laughing at 
 each other, for leaving him at liberty. 
 
 PROVINCE OF VARINAS. 
 
 The town and territory of Varinas were de- 
 tached in 1787, from the government of Mara- 
 caybo ; when there was a portion of the province 
 of Caraccas joined to it, and it was made a sepa- 
 rate government. This province, which previous 
 to this period, had been greatly neglected by the 
 mother country, has since increased considerably, 
 in point of agriculture and population. The town 
 of Varinas had, in 1787, a population of twelve 
 thousand inhabitants. According to M. de Hum- 
 boldt, it is situated in 7° 33 of latitude, and 70° 22' 
 West longitude from the meridian of Greenwich. 
 
136 
 
 PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 This province has only three other towns, which are 
 San Jayme, containing seven thousand souls ; San 
 Fernando d'Apure, six thousand souls. IYL de Hum- 
 boldt places San Fernando in 7° 53' North latitude, 
 and TO 20' W. longitude. Pedraza is situated at 
 the foot of the mountains which separate the plains 
 of Varinas from the province of Maracaybo : this 
 little town had, in 1807, a population of three 
 thousand souls. The total population of this 
 province, comprising those of the towns I have 
 just mentioned, amounted in 1807, to 141,000 
 souls. 
 
 This country is still in its infancy, though its 
 territory is not inferior in fertility to any other 
 part of South America. It is only since the last 
 twenty years that sugar, coffee, indigo and cot- 
 ton have been cultivated there. Formerly the 
 inhabitants grew only cocoa and the provisions 
 of the country necessary for their consumption. 
 Their articles for exportation were cattle and 
 tobacco, famous in every market of the world. 
 
 It is asserted at Caraccas and Trinidad, that 
 the tobacco grown in the neighbourhood of the 
 town of Varinas, is subject to be damaged by a 
 worm, that introduces itself into the roll, and 
 reduces it to powder in a short time. I have, 
 however, bought some of this tobacco, which was 
 in good condition after it had been kept two years, 
 and worthy of its ancient reputation. The fail- 
 ing attributed to it for some years past, in the 
 
INHABITANTS. 
 
 137 
 
 Trinidad and Venezuela markets, no doubt pro- 
 ceeds from some accidental cause, or the negli- 
 gence of those who prepared it. 
 
 The province of Varinas Is watered by nume- 
 rous streams, and several navigable rivers which 
 How into the great Portuguese river, and the 
 Apure, the principal tributary of the Orinoco. 
 
 The inhabitants of this country lead a pastoral 
 life : they live in the pastures, surrounded w T ith nu- 
 merous herds. Though in the midst of abundance, 
 great natural wealth, and all the necessaries of life_, 
 they have not the means of purchasing any thing 
 belonging to the luxury of dress, furniture, and 
 European liquors ; because they have no direct 
 communication with the neighbouring colonies, 
 and being placed in the interior of the country, 
 they are obliged to sell their produce and cattle, 
 at a miserable price, to the smugglers of San Tome 
 de Angustura and of Caraccas. But when the 
 present contest terminates, and freedom of trade 
 follows, it will become one of the richest and best 
 peopled of this part of the world ; for in general 
 its climate is no less healthy than its soil is fertile. 
 There are few indigenous natives in this province : 
 they are almost all assembled in a mission of the 
 Andulusian Capuchins, situated at five or six 
 leagues from San Fernando do Apure. I believe 
 there may be about six hundred of them. Other 
 civilized Indians live with the whites and mestizos 
 in the pastures. There are scarcely six thousand 
 slaves in the population of the province of Vari- 
 
138 
 
 MAKACAYBO. 
 
 nas, and these are only slaves in name; for they 
 live in the greatest familiarity with their masters, 
 and are equally well fed, lodged, and clothed. 
 
 MARACAYBO. 
 
 The town of Maracaybo, or New Zamora, was, 
 until the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 the capital of Venezuela. When the town of Ca- 
 raccas had become the capital of the general go- 
 vernment, the town of Maracaybo was no longer 
 any more than the residence of the governor of 
 this district, which took the name of province. 
 
 New Zamora was founded in 1571, by Alonzo 
 Pacheco, four years after the foundation of Ca- 
 raccas. Coro, as already seen, was the residence 
 of the governors in the time of the Welsers ; but 
 this town remained in the distinct government 
 of Caraccas, when the country was divided into 
 provinces. 
 
 Maracaybo is well built of stone : its climate 
 is healthy though hot. It was calculated in 1807, 
 that it contained twenty -five thousand inhabit- 
 ants, of whom five thousand were slaves. The 
 natives of the town of Maracaybo have, in the Spa- 
 nish colonies, the reputation of being very witty. 
 
 The Jesuits had a college there, which pro- 
 duced some distinguished scholars, and it became 
 the literary town of America; but with that 
 order of clergy, the establishments for public 
 instruction in this province also fell. The Creoles 
 
ME U IDA. 
 
 139 
 
 of Maracaybo, however, preserve a decided taste 
 for literature. But what is the use of literature 
 if not directed towards its proper object, that of 
 promoting civilization and public liberty ? The 
 youth of Maracaybo, who have received from 
 nature great talents and imagination, place their 
 principal glory in distinguishing themselves by 
 cavilling and subtlety of argument. Thus the 
 people of Maracaybo are reputed among their 
 neighbours as deceitful and litigious; but the 
 women have the character of being generally 
 virtuous and much attached to their duties. 
 
 Next to Maracaybo, the most important town 
 of this province is Merida, founded in 1558 by Juan 
 Rodrigues Suare : this town is the seat of a bishop 
 and chapter ; it has also a seminary for young 
 ecclesiastics, and a college which pretends to 
 rival the university of Caraccas. It was, for 
 some years, that of the provincial government, 
 towards the middle of the last century. This 
 town is situated between three rivers, which 
 form an island of its district, and discharge them- 
 selves into the lake of Maracaybo. The position 
 of this town near the mountains, renders its tem- 
 perature very variable : however, the inhabitants 
 assert that by wearing woollen clothes, as good 
 health may be enjoyed there as any where else. 
 
 Truxillowas founded in 1520, by Diego de Para- 
 des, and once considered the handsomest town in 
 this part of America; but it was pillaged and burnt 
 by the pirate Grammont in 1078, who had landed 
 
140 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 eighty leagues from it. All the inhabitants 
 who could not escape, were cut to pieces. The 
 ruins of its buildings are the monuments of its 
 past grandeur. There were twelve thousand 
 inhabitants in it in 1807. This town is situated 
 among the mountains, and therefore enjoys a 
 very mild temperature. In the vallies of its dis- 
 trict are cultivated all the tropical productions ; 
 and on the hills and elevated situations, wheat, 
 vines, and other articles produced in the tempe- 
 rate regions of Europe. Gibraltar is another 
 little town placed near the lake, and on the shore 
 opposite to the town of Maracaybo : it contains 
 three thousand inhabitants. The population of 
 the province of Maracaybo was in 1807, 174,000 
 persons. 
 
 Population of the Provinces of Venezuela, in 1807. 
 
 Caraccas 
 
 Cumana 
 
 Island of Margarita 
 
 Spanish Guiana 
 
 Varinas 
 
 Maracaybo - 
 
 496,772 inhabitants 
 
 9G,000 
 
 16,200 
 
 52,000 
 141,000 
 171,000 
 
 Total 975,972 inhabitants. 
 
 The whites among this population are about 
 200,000, in which number there are scarcely 
 twenty thousand Europeans : the free people of 
 
MARGARITA. 
 
 141 
 
 colour, the mixtures of European, indigenous and 
 African blood, were to the number of 435,000 ; 
 the negro or mulatto slaves 58,000 ; the Indians 
 were about 282,000 : of whom 210,000 were 
 united in missions of practiced trades in the towns 
 and villages. According to a census made in Ja- 
 nuary, 1811, the population exceeded one million 
 of souls. 
 
 ISLAND OF MARGARITA. 
 
 On the 5th of January, 1807, I departed from 
 Carupano, on the coast of the province of Cu- 
 mana, to visit the Island of Margarita. The 
 passage is about thirteen leagues.* Having 
 sailed at six o'clock in the morning in an open 
 boat, we arrived at Pueblo de la Mar about noon. 
 
 On landing I went to the commandant to shew 
 him my passport, and met the most obliging 
 reception from him, as well as from his wife, a 
 young and very pretty Spanish Creole. He told 
 me that he had two Frenchmen established 
 in the town, and that perhaps I might be desirous 
 of seeing them, upon which he sent to conduct 
 me to their houses. They were two Provencal 
 traders, formerly residents in Martinico. They 
 received me with that pleasure which is experi- 
 enced by those who meet their countrymen at 
 
 II is but eight leagues from the island to the continent. 
 
U2 
 
 AN ORIGINAL. 
 
 two thousand leagues from home; an enjoyment, 
 of which a man who has never quitted his native 
 soil to travel in distant countries, cannot form an 
 idea. One of those Provencals had married a 
 woman of the country, carried on a little business, 
 and seemed to be in very easy circumstances. 
 The other was a complete original : by his dress 
 he might be taken for a sailor ; he had no other 
 clothes than a pair of trowsers, blue shirt and 
 a handkerchief on his head. Those two persons 
 lived in the same house, and they invited me to 
 pass the day with them. I was not a little sur- 
 prized to find a great deal of information under 
 the rough exterior of my second host. I inquired 
 how he spent his time, and how, with so much 
 instruction, and a mind so cultivated, he did not 
 die of ennui in that wild place, deprived of the 
 society of men of education. He answered, 
 that he was partly occupied in teaching a little 
 Latin to some young Creoles who were destined 
 for the church, and the rest of his time he employed 
 in learning English and German. He added 
 that in the five years during which he had led 
 this life, he had only two occasions of conversing 
 with Germans, and very seldom with Englishmen : 
 however, by dint of learning words, and of speak- 
 ing from vocabularies, he had succeeded in learn- 
 ing to speak those two languages with tolerable 
 facility. " Having lost the little fortune I made 
 at Martinico, when I have acquired two thou- 
 sand francs, I shall return to Europe, from 
 
THE VIRGIN. 
 
 143 
 
 whence I can go and settle in the United States 
 of America : with my knowledge of the German, 
 English, Spanish and Italian languages, and that 
 of book-keeping, I shall find the means of placing 
 myself advantageously in some large commercial 
 town.' 1 Such was the project of M. Isnard, the 
 name of this persevering polyglott. 
 
 My two countrymen invited me after dinner 
 to take a walk on the beach : while there, I saw 
 a number of persons assembled in the gallery of 
 a house situated on the sea shore : we went into 
 it, and I was presented to the master, an old 
 man of eighty years of age, and very active. He 
 was occupied with some young girls, in dressing 
 a figure of the Virgin, which was to make its 
 appearance in the evening (it was twelfth day,) 
 at the benediction. " Well, my friend," said the 
 old Spanish creole to me, " I'll lay a wager you 
 have never seen a Holy Virgin more magnifi- 
 cently and elegantly adorned than mine ? You 
 see on her dress all the lace and the finest ribands 
 of these young ladies. Admire that beautiful crown 
 of pearls ! There are as many in it as there are days 
 in the year." I reckoned them, and there were 
 really three hundred and sixty-five beautiful 
 pearls. I applauded his zeal highly. " At last," 
 said he, " I am happy to find a Frenchman who is 
 a good catholic : we have had some of your coun- 
 trymen here already,sailors, and certainly heretics. 
 I heard them say, for I understand a little French, 
 that it was a great pity to put so many fine pearls 
 
144 
 
 SULTANAS. 
 
 on a statue : oh los demonios ! los hereticos ! Oh 
 the devils, the heretics ! Can any thing be more 
 agreeable to God, than ornamenting the imma- 
 culate Virgin, his mother!" 
 
 A moment afterwards, the Holy Virgin was 
 placed on a bier, from whence hung several rose 
 coloured ribbands, and each of the living virgins 
 who were with the old Spaniard, held one of 
 those ribands : the figure was thus carried by 
 four churchwardens, and received at the church 
 door by the priest, the proprietor of the statue 
 held the censer. 
 
 When the ceremony was over, I returned to 
 his house, chatting with the Creole virgins of the 
 procession. The freedom of their conversation 
 and manners surprized me. I inquired of my 
 countrymen who those young girls were ; and 
 they informed me that four ofrthem were the 
 sultanas of the old beau, who was extremely 
 jealous : he kept them locked up at night, 
 and had them watched during the day by two 
 of his negroes ; this did not, however, prevent 
 them from having lovers and intrigues among 
 the travellers who visited the port ; a system 
 which allowed the two inspecting negroes to live 
 in the midst of luxury. The other vestals of 
 the train followed the same profession. Those 
 people firmly believe that their devotion to the 
 Virgin Mary, and the absolution of their priest, 
 expiate all their sins, even to robbery and murder : 
 full of these ideas, they live strangers to all mora- 
 
A PROJECT. 
 
 "145 
 
 lity, and give themselves up without constraint 
 or remorse to all the brutality of their appetites. 
 
 In walking along the beach, I met those 
 French sailors, the heretical despisers of the Vir- 
 gin's statue. By my appearance, they also took 
 me for a seaman, and soon became as free with 
 me, as if we had known each other for many 
 years : they informed me of a truly piratical 
 scheme which they had just formed : it was sim- 
 ply that of carrying off the Virgin's crown of 
 pearls during the night, and depositing it on 
 board the privateer, then lying at anchor in the 
 roadstead. All I could say to dissuade them 
 from this scheme had no effect : I then assumed 
 an air of authority, and made them believe I was 
 a French officer going to Caraccas on govern- 
 ment business, and that if they committed such 
 a base action, I would accuse them to Admiral 
 Villaret, governor of Martinique, and to Gene- 
 ral Ernouf, governor of Guadaloupe. My me- 
 nace had the desired effect, and the crown of the 
 Madona del Pueblo de la Mar was suffered to deco- 
 rate the Virgin ! 
 
 After having dined with my countrymen, the 
 Provencals, I departed for Pompatar, the prin- 
 cipal port of the island ; my son, servant, and 
 self were each mounted on a mule, which is the 
 only mode of conveyance in this island. A fourth 
 mule carried my baggage, among which were two 
 large flasks full of old Catalan wine ; but being 
 badly tied on, one of them fell to the ground and 
 
 L 
 
14G 
 
 POM PATAU. 
 
 broke in the middle of the town, or rather the 
 village of Pueblo de la Mar. I immediately saw- 
 five or six Creole women run with coitis* to 
 gather up the spilt wine, even what was on the 
 ground, and drinking it with an avidity that 
 induced me to suppose they had never tasted 
 wine before. The inhabitants of this place are 
 very poor, as are the greater part of those on 
 the island: they are as fond of their country as the 
 Barbadians, but not so vicious. As in Barbadoes, 
 I did not hear of those abominable mothers who 
 offer their daughters to strangers for a pecuniary 
 consideration. 
 
 The melancholy ideas which had constantly 
 haunted me, since my departure from Trinidad, 
 acquired a still more dismal tint on viewing the 
 desolate scene here, which seemed to lie under a 
 malediction. J saw nothing around me but cactus 
 arborescens, some mimosas covered with thorns, 
 and plants whose leaves were full of prickles and 
 points, all of which grew on sandy soils. Here 
 and there I met with a few goats, some lean and 
 sorry mules and asses, which having lost their 
 hoofs, had lamed themselves in trying to graze 
 on the leaves and flowers of those vegetables ; but 
 the humming birds, and the harmonious notes of 
 other tropical birds, diverted my attention occa- 
 sionally from this gloomy spectacle. At length, 
 after a journey of an hour and a half, we arrived at 
 
 Cups made of calcbashes cut in two. 
 
A CLERICAL GAMBLEK. 
 
 147 
 
 Pompatar, and put up at the house of a Corsican 
 sailor, to whom I was recommended. I remained 
 in this island until the first week of Lent.* One 
 day about four o'clock in the afternoon, being 
 wholly unoccupied, I went into a house where 
 there were billiards and games of hazard : I saw 
 an old Spanish priest brought to the door in a 
 sedan chair, who had a gold cross embroidered on 
 his cossack on the left side: he was supported 
 into the gaming room by his two negro bearers. 
 This old man could scarcely crawl along, in con- 
 sequence of a fit of the gout. He took a place 
 among the gamesters, who were there, as in all 
 other countries, the most worthless of the com- 
 munity. Other players were the officers of three 
 French privateers, and some English smugglers, 
 whose vessels were at anchor in the roads of Pom- 
 
 * The Editor is persuaded that the following passages will not fail 
 to arrest the attention of every thinking mind; for surely it is 
 impossible to contemplate without emotion, the striking picture 
 here introduced, of the abandoned profligacy and disgusting 
 hypocrisy, which all who have visited those unhappy countries 
 acknowledge to be the characteristics of the Spanish and 
 Hispano-American priesthood. Would to Heaven ! that this 
 powerful exposition of practices, at once so insulting to the 
 common sense of mankind, and so derogatory from the beautiful 
 simplicity of True Religion, may assist the glorious efforts of a 
 free and enlightened press, in tearing off the flimsy veil with 
 which bigotry and self-interest have contrived to shroud truth 
 and reason from the deluded many in other quarters of the globe. 
 But, alas ! the regions that are yet bound by the chains of papal 
 superstition, are not the only theatres whereon the religious 
 Tartuffe is still permitted to play a too prominent part. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 A SERMON. 
 
 patar. I inquired who this old priest was, and 
 heard that he was the principal officer of the 
 Inquisition, and the most inveterate gamester of 
 the island, who passed all the time in which he 
 was not engaged by the functions of his holy office 
 in this receptacle. In spite of the horror in which 
 I have always held such places, I remained there 
 until six o'clock in the evening, for in travelling 
 everything should be seen. The inquisitor having 
 risen from his seat at six o'clock, announced that 
 he was going to preach his Lent sermon, and that 
 after the sermon he would return and resume his 
 place. I followed this strange kind of preacher 
 to church, to hear what could proceed from such 
 unhallowed lips. The subject of his sermon was 
 purgatory ; and I give a specimen of it, which 
 merits notice, as it will give an idea of the religious 
 opinions and instruction of the country. 
 
 " When any of ye, my brethren, becomes sick, 
 he hastens to send for a physician, and spares no 
 expence to obtain relief from his sufferings and 
 effectuate his cure. And what are corporeal suf- 
 ferings of the most painful kind, which we expe- 
 rience in this inferior world, in comparison with 
 the dreadful torments by which souls detained in 
 purgatory are afflicted ? Nothing, my brethren, 
 nothing ! The inspired writers of the holy Roman 
 church assure us, that the torments which are 
 suffered in that place of expiation and purifica- 
 tion, are, in every respect, equal to those of hell ; 
 with this sole difference, that in purgatory, angels 
 
BLASPHEMY. 
 
 149 
 
 are the executioners of divine vengeance, and the 
 souls detained there feel a certainty that their 
 sufferings will have an end. But that termina- 
 tion, when does it take place ? For a very small 
 number it is at the end of a few days ; for others, 
 in some months! others, after many years: in 
 short, it is prolonged to many centuries, accord- 
 ing as the venial sins they expiate, are removed 
 from, or approach to the nature of mortal sin. 
 However, your kind and tender mother, the 
 holy Roman church, august spouse of Jesus Christ, 
 to whom alone he has confided the care of your 
 souls, and without the pale of which there is 
 nought but error and eternal damnation ; this 
 good and tender mother has conferred on all her 
 ministers the power of the keys ; that is to say, my 
 brethren, that of shutting and opening the gates 
 of purgatory, and of paradise. Thus it is, that 
 through the merits of the indulgences granted by 
 our most holy father the pope, the bishops, and 
 by the blessed sacrifice of the mass, we can at 
 all times open the gates of purgatory and para- 
 dise, and introduce into the seat of eternal felicity 
 souls purified by the holy fire. 
 
 " Oh ! how adorable is the mercy of our 
 Saviour! Oh! how precious is that power which 
 he has conferred on his church ! but how ungrate- 
 ful you are for so much kindness ; how insensible 
 to the soft sentiments of pity and of sympathy for 
 your suffering neighbours and friends ! 
 
 " The church declares to you by my mouth, 
 
160 
 
 PURGATORY. 
 
 that the pains of purgatory are not inferior to 
 those of hell, and that their duration alone makes 
 the difference. I shall sketch to you, my brethren, 
 the picture of those sufferings. There are felt at 
 the same time the extremes of heat and cold ; 
 that is to say, that whilst one has, for instance, 
 the feet and hands frozen, the other parts of the 
 body are a prey to the devouring fire. Horrible 
 serpents introduce themselves into the bowels and 
 entrails of some, whilst their neighbours are cover- 
 ed with nauseous reptiles which suck their blood , and 
 disgusting toads eject their scum and urine on the 
 faces of others ! They are also tormented with 
 the most excruciating hunger and thirst ! ! ! Such, 
 my brethren, are the frightful torments experi- 
 enced by those of your relations and friends now 
 there ; such is also the fate that awaits almost 
 all of you ; and I venture to say all, unless I can 
 suppose that you possess the purity and innocence 
 of angels at the moment your souls shall be sepa- 
 rated from your bodies. 
 
 " It is, however, still in your power to put an 
 end to these cruel calamities, and to permit those 
 unhappy beings to enjoy the celestial beatitude; 
 which is, you know, my brethren, by taking indul- 
 gences and causing masses to be said for their 
 deliverance. And yet, how negligent you are of 
 this pious duty! Ah, wretches! stony hearts! 
 the same fate awaits you ! God grant that your 
 children, that your neighbours, when you die, 
 may have as little compassion on you, and forget 
 
HYPOCRISY. 
 
 151 
 
 you as soon, as you shew lack of pity and remem- 
 brance of those who are gone before you !" 
 
 At this pathetic morsel of the sermon, there was 
 nothing to be heard in the church but groans and 
 blows on the breast. Four churchwardens were 
 busily employed, two carrying about indulgences 
 for sale, and two others receiving money for saying 
 masses. When the distributers of indulgences 
 passed me, I took two of them, one for purgatory, 
 and the other to have leave to eat meat and eggs. 
 The latter was very necessary to show my hosts, 
 and enable me to eat meat without reproach. 
 
 Two days afterwards I went to Assoncion, the 
 capital of the colony : there I saw the inquisitor, 
 who was walking on a terrace with another priest ; 
 he saluted me kindly, and invited me into his 
 friend's house. " Well," said he, " I saw you the 
 evening before last at church ; I was charmed with 
 your attention: you bought some indulgences, 
 this was really edifying in a Frenchman ! But 
 then, tell me sincerely, were you satisfied with 
 my sermon V — " I could not be otherwise, most 
 reverend father : above all I admired the fertility 
 of your imagination, and the frightful picture of 
 purgatory. They must be heretics or infidels 
 who would not take indulgences and cause masses 
 to be said, after hearing a sermon so hideously 
 pathetic !" 
 
 Though my reply was pronounced in a most 
 serious tone, the old inquisitor burst into a fit of 
 immoderate laughter, and of the most malignant 
 
152 
 
 A LAV SERMOX. 
 
 kind. " I venture to say, that in your own mind 
 you make a good jest of my sermon, and say to 
 yourself, oh, the mountebank! the impostor!" 
 u By no means: on the contrary I have the greatest 
 respect, most reverend father, for all you utter," 
 " You are only ridiculing me ; but what the devil 
 should I preach to those ignorant and vulgar 
 beings who were my audience? The pure lan- 
 guage of the gospel w T ould be as unintelligible as 
 that of reason to their brutish minds. These dis- 
 gusting and frightful images, of toads, reptiles, 
 serpents, icy cold, and devouring flames, can alone 
 move their coarse faculties, and are very well 
 adapted to their limited understandings." — " Since 
 you speak to me with so little reserve, most reve- 
 rend father, will you permit me to reply to you in 
 the same manner ?" "Most certainly," replied the 
 old man. " Do you not believe, it often happens 
 that many of your congregation, shocked at the 
 absurdity of your purgatory, finish by the opinion 
 that the whole doctrine of Christianity is only an 
 imposture ? What happens then ? You had 
 taught them the moral duties, founded on this 
 belief j which they despise and reject, and they 
 renounce the practice of duties prescribed by the 
 gospel and reason, the same day in which they 
 cease to believe in those dogmas. If you would 
 limit yourself to instructing them in evangelical 
 morality, they would be less vicious, because they 
 would then believe in principles, which far from 
 being revolting to common sense, have nothing 
 
A CIIAUACTLK. 
 
 153 
 
 but what is agreeable and consoling 1 to a well dis- 
 posed mind, when united with a good judgment, 
 For the greater part of those who persevere in 
 their faith, confess freely that they make their 
 religion consist in outw T ard ceremonies and trifling 
 observances. You have given so much impor- 
 tance to those external practices, that it is in them 
 most of your flock place their religion. They 
 serve as a covering to hypocrisy, vices, and even 
 to crimes in many others. I know a devotee 
 who is the most vain, violent, malignant and 
 envious of mankind : he has passed his life in 
 pining at the prosperity of his neighbours, slan- 
 dering them, quarrelling with his wife, and sub- 
 mitting to all her caprices. This man hates his 
 children, and obliges them by every kind of ill 
 usage W abandon their home : yet this is a sancti- 
 fied man, who goes to church two or three times 
 each day, and would believe himself damned if 
 he were to eat meat on Friday, &c. His wife was 
 the most refined hypocrite from the age of twelve : 
 at that period she was turned out of a convent 
 for a most perfidious and base action. She, 
 too, has played the saint all her life, and under 
 that mask has imposed on weak minds; and has 
 always been seconded by rogues and hypocrites, 
 w T ho represent her as an angel. It is true that she 
 has enriched more than one of them with the pro- 
 perty of her family, which she has reduced to 
 poverty. Her son happening to surprise her one 
 day, she fearing that he would discover it to his 
 
154 
 
 ADVICE. 
 
 father, employed all her influence with her hus- 
 band, who was weak-minded and passionate, to 
 render his son odious to him. Oppressed with ill 
 usage, the young man was obliged to leave his 
 country. Some time afterwards, having perceiv- 
 ed that her daughter was acquainted with the 
 same fact, she did all in her power to turn the 
 girl's father against her. At last, the daughter 
 was stabbed by a maid servant. This crime was 
 accompanied with the most dreadful circum- 
 stances. 
 
 u You know, reverend father, that bigots are 
 generally reputed malignant, egotistical and de- 
 ceitful ; yet those are the three vices against 
 which Jesus Christ has warned us. Why do you 
 not preach continually to the faithful the par- 
 don of injuries, charity, and sincerity ? The 
 practice of those virtues, I know, requires grea- 
 ter efforts over ourselves, than abstinence from 
 flesh-meats in Lent, or a conformity to frivolous 
 ceremonies. I see that you have a mind too well 
 formed, and too observing, not to be aware 
 that a great number of believers think they ex- 
 piate all their vices, and render themselves agree- 
 able to God, by the exercise of these practices. 
 Kmploy your eloquence to destroy this baneful 
 error, to unmask the hypocrites ; thunder against 
 them, as Jesus Christ did against the Pharisees; 
 instruct young people, who are naturally sin- 
 cere and susceptible, that it is possible to become 
 agreeable to Heaven, and estimable among men. 
 
INDULGENCES. 
 
 155 
 
 only by the practice of those virtues, which con- 
 sist in rendering our fellow creatures better and 
 more happy." 
 
 Here ended my sermon. The inquisitor con- 
 fessed frankly that he thought as I did ; " but," 
 added he, " if I were to preach according to your 
 principles, what difference would there be be- 
 tween me and a Protestant preacher ? I have no 
 desire to become a reformer, I would lose my time 
 in that vocation, with a people so ignorant and de- 
 praved as my flock. The most rational and use- 
 ful thing I can do, is to instruct them according 
 to the principles of the belief in which we have 
 been brought up." 
 
 As bulls and indulgences formed a topic in 
 the sermon of the Margarita preacher, I think 
 that in displaying the virtues attributed to them 
 in the Spanish colonies, I shall fulfil the duty I 
 have imposed on myself of depicting the man- 
 ners, religion, and intellectual acquirements of 
 the inhabitants of the countries I have visited. 
 I know that what I am about to relate w T ill 
 displease certain persons, who twenty years ago 
 would have thought I had spoken with too much 
 moderation; and others, whose intentions I re- 
 spect much more than their knowledge. I do 
 not, nor do I wish to belong to any party or fac- 
 tion : those to whom I am well known, know 
 how opposite to my disposition it is to insult any 
 person whatever. But in describing a country 
 so little known to Europeans, a country which 
 
156 
 
 BULLS. 
 
 is on the point of becoming so conspicuous in 
 the political world, I ought not to omit any 
 thing that may contribute to complete the descrip- 
 tion of its inhabitants. 
 
 The bulls of indulgences, as every one knows, 
 derive their origin from the crusades. Pope 
 Alexander VI. made a crusade of the conquest of 
 America, by granting indulgences to those who 
 engaged in it ; and though for a long time war has 
 not been carried on against the natives, still in- 
 dulgences are annually sent to Spanish America. 
 
 The titles of these bulls are as follows : Bull of 
 the living ; Bull of the dead ; Bull of white-meats 
 and eggs ; Bull of composition.* 
 
 The reader will not perhaps be displeased 
 to be informed of their miraculous properties : 
 I shall begin with that called the common bull of 
 the living. 
 
 In the first place, all the grace and favour of 
 
 * A Spaniard whom I have met since this work was put to press, 
 has told me I had forgotten the bull of the Cruzada ; a bull by 
 which the Popes granted a great number of indulgences, privileges 
 and exemptions in this and the other world, to those who buy 
 them. This bull is sold at two reals and a half (65c/.) to the com- 
 mon people, the rich pay for it in proportion to their fortunes. 
 It renders annually to the King of Spain £'170,000, of which 
 the New World pays one half. It was granted to the Kings of 
 Spain and Portugal to assist them in making war against the 
 Mahometans of Africa and Asia; and as for a longtime those 
 wars have ceased, the produce of the bull of the Cruzada has serv- 
 ed or was deemed to serve in aid of the expences of wars against 
 the Indians who refused to embrace the Catholic religion. 
 
BULL OF THE LIVING. 
 
 157 
 
 Heaven, that can be desired, is attached to its 
 possession : with this bull in the pocket, and 
 faith as to its power in the head, a firm believer 
 cannot fail to obtain whatever he demands from 
 Heaven ; and if it should happen that his peti- 
 tions were not heard, it is not, as may well be 
 supposed, the fault of the bull, but the insuffi- 
 ciency of his faith. In such a case, it is neces- 
 sary to buy and re-buy other copies of the bull, 
 until what is intreated of Heaven be obtained. 
 A volume would not be sufficient to explain and 
 enumerate all its virtues ; I shall limit myself 
 to indicating the most valuable. 
 
 The fortunate possessor of the bull of the liv- 
 ing, if he had murdered his father, mother and 
 children, if he were guilty of incest and of crimes 
 the most outrageous to nature, has only to seek 
 a priest, who, at the sight of this miraculous pa- 
 per, cannot refuse him absolution ; when suddenly 
 he becomes reconciled to Heaven, and his con- 
 science remains as tranquil, as far removed from 
 remorse, as that of Caesar Borgia, when, furnished 
 with the previous absolution given to him by his 
 father, he departed on an excursion to assassinate 
 or poison some prince of his time. Blasphemies 
 against God, atheism, &c. are also pardoned in 
 those who buy this bull. There is but one crime 
 (without doubt, the worst of all crimes,) incre- 
 dulity in the oracles of the Vatican, vulgarly 
 called heresy, which resists their power. 
 
 He who buys the bull of the living, enjoys the 
 
158 
 
 P IMC liS. 
 
 inestimable advantage in a hot climate, of being' 
 able to hear the masses which are said every day 
 in these countries, one hour before sunrise ; to 
 have it celebrated at his own home when the 
 church of his parish is interdicted; to be buried in 
 consecrated ground, if the church-yard is inter- 
 dicted ; to eat meat on fast days, and all the 
 meals required by the appetite on days of 
 abstinence, saving some exceptions which the 
 present Pope has commanded by his bulls of 
 January 1, 1804. 
 
 He who buys the bull in Spanish America, 
 gains certain indulgences of the greatest impor- 
 tance in the world to come, of which the unhap- 
 py European Catholic can only avail himself by 
 making a journey to Rome. But what appears 
 most wonderful in this bull, is, that notwith- 
 standing all that is promised by the acquisition 
 of one copy, yet he who buys two of them ob- 
 tains double advantages : a mysterious virtue of 
 the greatest value to rich believers ! 
 
 The tariff of this bull is proportioned to the 
 rank and wealth of the faithful. 
 
 FIRST CLASS. 
 
 For viceroys, captains general, their wives, and 
 each of their full-grown children, fifteen dollars. 
 
 SECOND CLASS. 
 
 For bishops, inquisitors, abbots, priors, canons, 
 dukes, marquisses, counts, and other noblemen ; 
 
BULL OF THE DEAD. 
 
 159 
 
 for members of the audiencia, general officers, 
 colonels, corregidors, alcaldes, &c. ; as also per- 
 sons having a capital of twelve thousand dollars ; 
 even for persons who having only a capital of 
 twelve hundred dollars, arc yet alcaldes or mayors 
 of villages, three dollars. 
 
 THIRD CLASS. 
 
 The bull of the living costs one dollar and a half 
 to each person having a capital of six thousand dol- 
 lars, without any civil or military employment. 
 
 FOURTH CLASS. 
 
 The poor who desire to avail themselves of the 
 advantages attached to this bull, may obtain it 
 at the moderate price of two reals and a half, 
 about one shilling. 
 
 After the bull of the living naturally comes 
 that of the dead : it is a real passport, by virtue 
 of which a soul goes direct to Heaven, without 
 having been purified by the fire, and other tor- 
 ments of purgatory. As soon as a man dies, a 
 relation or friend goes to a priest to buy a bull, 
 on which is written the name of the deceased, 
 and at that instant his soul flies, as pure as that 
 of an angel, to the asylum of the blessed. The 
 wealthy, and persons in easy circumstances, pay 
 six reals for this bull, about half a crown, and the 
 poor two reals and a half. 
 
 I have more than once heard the poor in this 
 
160 
 
 RELIGIOUS IMPOSTURE. 
 
 country lament, and utter the most frightful 
 shrieks at the death of their relations ; the grief 
 for their loss was trifling in comparison with that 
 felt by knowing they were in purgatory, from 
 the want of this trifling sum for delivering them. 
 They run about in every direction, begging alms 
 with tears, in the hope of procuring as much 
 money as may enable them to buy bulls for re- 
 leasing the souls of their relations from purgatory. 
 I have more than once had the happiness of calm- 
 ing their grief, relieving a soul from that state, 
 contributing to the comforts of a Spanish priest, 
 and of attracting to myself a thousand benedic- 
 tions, for a quarter of a dollar. 
 
 Yet let it not be supposed that these bulls and 
 indulgences dispense with the saying of masses 
 for the dead. Alas ! there are many venial sins 
 that have a strong resemblance to mortal ones ! 
 Masses only, and masses by hundreds, can, in this 
 case, mitigate the anger of the great Judge : who, 
 affected by these numerous sacrifices, consents to 
 treat an equivocal sin as a venial one. In all the 
 churches of this country there are pictures repre- 
 senting heaven and purgatory : in a corner of the 
 picture is a priest saying mass ; at the side are 
 people giving money for the celebration of mass, 
 and souls starting out of purgatory when masses 
 have been said for them. They are received by 
 the archangel St. Michael, who is depicted hold- 
 ing a pair of scales in his hand, one of which is 
 full of the money for the masses, and appears to 
 
BULL OF COMPOSITION. 
 
 161 
 
 sink, whilst the red hot souls, like boiled lobsters, 
 throw themselves into the other scale, from which 
 they fly to Heaven ! 
 
 THE BULL OF WHITE MEAT AND EGGS. 
 
 All the world knows that arsenic is not more 
 injurious to the body, than eggs and milk to the 
 soul during Lent : but as there are stomachs 
 which, in that time of abstinence, cannot do 
 without milk and eggs, the Roman church dis- 
 penses with its observance to persons who buy 
 this bull. It has, in its kindness, established four 
 rates, by which all the faithful, poor or rich, may 
 profit by this indulgence. The greatest person- 
 ages pay six dollars each, the second class three 
 dollars, the third class one dollar and a half, 
 and the poor three reals. 
 
 THE BULL OF COMPOSITION. 
 
 Of all possible bulls, this is without doubt the 
 most wonderful, and that of which the moral re- 
 sults are the most evident. Pope Alexander VI. 
 was very worthy of being the author of it ; but 
 that which 1 cannnot comprehend is, that the said 
 pope having had virtuous and enlightened pon- 
 tiff's for his successors, they did not desist from 
 sending such a bull to America : so much do men 
 stickle for their authority and wealth, whatever 
 may have been their origin ! 
 
 Persons who are little versed in these matters, 
 
 M 
 
102 
 
 A NEW DOCTRINE. 
 
 will find a difficulty in believing that this bull has 
 the virtue of rendering the robber or usurper of 
 the property of others, the legitimate proprietor. 
 The author of the bull had stipulated as a con- 
 dition in it, that the thief should not know the 
 person he had robbed : thus, a pickpocket who 
 in a crowd steals a watch or a purse, he who robs 
 on the highway or in a house, becomes legitimate 
 proprietor of what he has stolen, provided he 
 knows not whom he has plundered. The com- 
 missary general of the holy crusade published at 
 Toledo, in 1758, very curious instructions for 
 the faithful of Spanish America; instructions 
 which singularly extend the faculties of the bull. 
 Never did casuist or Jesuit imagine any thing 
 more ingenious for calming consciences troubled 
 with remorse : nothing can be more lucid and con- 
 clusive than the following reasonings of the casuist 
 of Toledo. All our property coming from God, 
 who has a right to deprive us of it, and give it to 
 others by whatever means he may deem proper to 
 use, it is evident that our most holy father the 
 Pope, who represents God on earth, ought also 
 to have the right to legitimate the possession of 
 such property. It is that which is obtained by 
 employing in pious works a part of what has been 
 acquired by fraud or violence, and it is the con- 
 fessor who regulates amicably with his penitent 
 the quota for those pious works, or in other words 
 the portion for the church !" The bull of compo- 
 sition costs two dollars and a quarter without dis- 
 
U)l> V.7. DM AGUIltRK. 
 
 163 
 
 Unction to every one ; but there are objects stolen, 
 of which it is not possible to become proprietor, 
 without buying fifty bulls. 
 
 A passage, remarkable for the generosity 
 and nobleness of its sentiments, occurs in the edict 
 of the commissary general of the holy crusade, 
 dated Madrid, September 14th, 1801. u The 
 price (of bulls) is somewhat raised, owing to the 
 new expences of government, and the necessity 
 of redeeming the royal bonds, which a scarcity 
 of money had caused to be issued in time of war !" 
 A statement of what the bulls produce to the 
 clergy and exchequer will be found in another 
 chapter. 
 
 The Island of Margarita, which was disco- 
 vered by Columbus in 1498, was granted by 
 the Emperor Charles V. to Marceto de Villalo- 
 bos in 1524: it was in 1561, the theatre of the 
 robberies and cruelties of the famous Lopez de 
 Aguirre.* This island gave birth to Francisco 
 
 * Lopez de Aguirre, a Basque, was an audacious robber, who 
 spread terror in South America, about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, during the civil wars in Peru, between the partizans of 
 Pizarro and Almagro. He had been sent by the viceroy Gon- 
 zales Pizarro to explore the navigation and country near the 
 river Amazons, under the orders of Don Pedro d'Orsua. The 
 banditti who composed this expedition, murdered Orsua. because 
 he was a moral man, and wanted to restrain them with in the limits 
 of their duty. They proclaimed Lopez d'Aguiire their chief, and 
 gave him the title of king. After having ravaged the kingdom of 
 New Grenada, the Island of Trinidad, and that of Margarita, 
 the countries of Venezuela, Santa Martha, &c. Aguirre became 
 the executioner of his accomplices, of whom he daily put some to 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 FAX A It DO. 
 
 Faxardo, celebrated in the annals of Venezuela, 
 for his heroic virtues and humanity. He was the 
 son of a Spaniard of the noble family of Faxardo, 
 and of Donna Isabel, daughter of Charayma, 
 cacique of the tribe of Guaiqueris, who inhabit 
 the vallies of Mayna, in the province of Caraccas. 
 The chronicles of that country, and Oviedo y 
 Ban os, the historian of Venezuela, represent this 
 Indian lady, as one of those women whom nature 
 occasionally produces, to command men by the 
 ascendency of their genius. 
 
 I regret much that the limits and plan of this 
 work do not permit me to recount all that Fax- 
 ardo and his mother did for civilizing the Indians, 
 and subjecting them more by persuasion than 
 force to the Castilian government. This extra- 
 ordinary man, who was destitute of education, 
 but in whom nature had united the most sublime 
 virtues, great talents, and heroic courage ; 
 after having rendered the highest services to his 
 countrymen and to the Castilian monarch, was 
 
 death, because he fancied nothing but conspiracies against him ; 
 they all, with the exception of one, abandoned him at the battle of 
 Borburata, and went over to the royal camp, crying, " God *av»- 
 the king !" The commandant, Garcia de Parades, granted them 
 pardon in the name of his sovereign. Reduced to despair, he 
 addressed these words to his only daughter, who accompanied 
 him in his travels : " Commend your soul to God, for I am going 
 to take your life, that you may never have the shame of being 
 called the daughter of a traitor;" and a moment afterwards he 
 shot her in the breast with his musket. While wandering about 
 pursued by despair and remorse, he was taken, shot and quar- 
 tered, after having requested a few minutes respite, to make 
 important discoveries for the interest? of hi* sovereign. 
 
MARGARITA. 
 
 165 
 
 thrown out of favour and forgotten; a Victim 
 to the jealousy of base and contemptible calum- 
 niators. 
 
 Faxardo built at the port of Caravellada, near 
 La Guayra, a town, to which he gave the name 
 of Collado, in honour of the governor of that 
 name. It was he also who discovered the gold 
 mine of San Francisco, which gained him the 
 hatred of the inhabitants of Tocuyo, who also had 
 mines. The Governor Collado, jealous of the 
 glory of Faxardo, exiled him to the town to 
 which he had given his name ; and which it 
 soon lost, to resume that of Caravellada, as if to 
 punish the governor for his mean jealousy. Since 
 that time La Guayra has become the principal 
 port of Caraccas, while Caravellada has dwindled 
 into a village inhabited by fishermen. 
 
 Though the soil of Margarita is arid and un- 
 productive, this island soon became populous, as 
 the pearl fishery attracted numerous navigators. 
 The Dutch, jealous of its prosperity, burnt and 
 destroyed Pompatar, the principal town in 1662. 
 
 The colony of Margarita was for a long time 
 only a district of the province of Cumana, and 
 governed by a chief who had the title of lieu- 
 tenant governor, under the orders of the Gover- 
 nor of Cumana. It is about twenty-five years 
 since the Spanish cabinet made it a separate go- 
 vernment, owing to the importance of its posi- 
 tion, both in a military and commercial light. 
 However, the Governor of Cumana, who was 
 
106 
 
 VILLAGK8. 
 
 himself subordinate to the captain general of Ca- 
 raccas, preserved the title of military inspector 
 of the Government of Margarita, which was the 
 reason of its being considered as a dependency to 
 that of Cumana, before the late revolution. 
 
 The Island of Margarita has three ports, the 
 most important is that of Pompatar, situated on 
 the south-east coast. It is a large and fine 
 basin, in which vessels are defended from winds 
 and tempests: its entrance is protected on one 
 side by a fortress, and on the other by batteries. 
 Those are the principal fortifications of the island : 
 there is a considerable contraband trade there 
 with the English and French colonies, &c. and 
 also with Cumana. 
 
 Pueblo de la Mar is another port, or to speak 
 more correctly, an open roadstead ; it is a place 
 of little trade, and is situated at a league and a 
 half westward of Pompatar. Pueblo del Norte 
 is, as its name indicates, a village situated in the 
 northern part of the island : a coral reef renders 
 the entrance of this port difficult to mariners 
 who are not accustomed to it. Two batteries 
 defend its entrance against privateers. Near this 
 port is a village inhabited only by fishermen. 
 
 The vallies of San Juan, Santa Margarita, and 
 Los Robles, have each a village which bears their 
 name. Assoncion is the capital of the island, 
 and the residence of the governor. This little 
 town is pretty well built, although its inhabitants 
 are not wealthy ; but there is every appearance 
 
PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 167 
 
 of comfort and industry there. It has two parish 
 churches, and a convent of recollets. During 
 Lent in 1807, 1 attended a ball and festival given 
 by the Governor Gaspar Cagigal. There were 
 two hundred persons at table, among whom I 
 observed several very pretty women, well made, 
 and dressed with an elegant simplicity. Many 
 priests and friars were also at the festival : my 
 old friend, the inquisitor, was the most conspicuous 
 of them all, and made himself singularly agree- 
 able. He was dressed in a beautiful habit of black 
 silk, with embroidery and green ribbands, and a 
 gold cross embroidered on his mantle. The other 
 ecclesiastics were also in cassocks of black silk, 
 and the father guardian of the recollets had a 
 gown of puce-coloured taffeta, and flesh coloured 
 silk stockings. This friar is a Creole of Caraccas, 
 a very fine man, witty, learned, and benevolent, 
 but a great dandy, like almost all the natives of 
 Caraccas. 
 
 The agriculture of the island scarcely suffices 
 for the maintenance of its inhabitants. Maize, 
 cassava, and bananas are their principal resources : 
 the bananas are excellent, but very small, owing 
 to the aridity of the soil, and dryness of the cli- 
 mate. The inhabitants cultivate in small propor- 
 tions, and for their own consumption only, all 
 the productions of the Antilles, the sugar cane, 
 coffee and cocoa trees, &c. ; they rear a great 
 many goats and sheep, which, though lean, give 
 delicious milk, owing to the aromatic herbs on 
 
168 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 which they feed. They have all kinds of fowl at 
 a very trifling price, and have a little trade in 
 them. Living is still cheaper at Margarita than 
 at Cumana or Caraccas. I have bought a capon 
 there for fivepence, a dozen of eggs for two- 
 pence halfpenny, two bottles of milk for the 
 same, a fish of ten or twelve pounds for the same, 
 a turkey for one shilling, a lamb of two months, 
 for fifteen pence, &c. The fishermen sell or ex- 
 change their fish for cakes of maize, bananas, 
 cassava bread, &c. I know of no inn, pro- 
 perly speaking, in this island ; but a stranger 
 is received in every house there when he 
 offers to bear a part of the expenses. My coun- 
 trymen would not conform, in regard to me, 
 with this custom of the country: having re- 
 fused to receive any remuneration for the kind 
 and generous hospitality with which they received 
 me. 
 
 The climate of Margarita is very healthy, it 
 is there that persons go, who have contracted 
 obstructions and other diseases in the humid and 
 unwholesome parts of the Island of Trinidad and 
 the continent. This island has only three ri- 
 vulets, which, however, are sufficiently large to 
 turn mills, when such are established : their 
 waters are limpid ; that of the little river which 
 runs by the town of Assoncion, and which in 
 some places passes over a bed of amphibolic 
 schistus, contains sulphurated iron, magnesia, &c. 
 The inhabitants prefer drinking water from 
 
FISIICKY. 
 
 169 
 
 ponds, though it is always turbid. The first time 
 they presented this water to me at Pompatar, I 
 refused it with disgust; but I was assured that it 
 was more wholesome than rain water, and they 
 laughed at the grimaces I made. The rich have 
 filtering stones ; others drink as they draw it, 
 and do not find any bad effects from it. This 
 water contains a great quantity of calcareous 
 marl. 
 
 The fisheries produce the principal object of 
 trade at Margarita : they are placed at the 
 Islet of Coche, which belongs to government. 
 Two merchants of Margarita had the privilege 
 of this fishery in 1807, and they carried it on 
 at Coche: the men who were employed in 
 it, were Indians of Margarita. It was not 
 freely, but by order of government that those 
 natives worked in the fishery, at the scanty 
 pay of a real (five pence) per day, and bread of 
 maize or cassava. M. Depons is wrong in say- 
 ing that they give them only maize bread for 
 their entire food, I have been twice at the 
 fishery of the brothers Maneyro, the most con- 
 siderable of the two, and they ate as much fresh 
 or salt fish as they chose ; more than three 
 hundred Indians of both sexes and all ages, were 
 employed there in 1807. 
 
 The quantities of fish caught are incredible. 
 Twice a day they draw a seine of two hundred 
 feet long, and it seldom happens that at each drag 
 they have not at least ten to twelve quintals of 
 
170 
 
 SALT WORKS. 
 
 fish. This net sometimes contains so many, that 
 they are obliged to cut the meshes, in order to let 
 some of the fish escape which they are unable to 
 haul on shore. It would be too tedious to de- 
 scribe the different kinds which are taken : the 
 most common is the mullet of the Caribbean Is- 
 lands, which the Spaniards call lissas : this fish has 
 not been well described ; it resembles a herring. 
 
 I have always been surprized that the contirou, 
 and balahou, another non-descript fish, are never 
 caught on this coast, nor on those of Trinidad 
 and Tobago. It is not the centriscus scopolax, 
 or the blower, as some writers have believed. 
 The balahou has certainly the same snout, but 
 its body is much longer. Those fish are com- 
 mon at the Antilles and even at Grenada, which 
 is only thirty leagues distance from Trinidad. 
 They are sometimes caught, but very rarely, out- 
 side the Dragon's mouths. 
 
 On the coast of Trinidad, Tobago, and those 
 of South America, are found many kinds of fish 
 which do not exist at the Antilles. It is also re- 
 markable that the Antilles are deficient in a great 
 number of species of vegetables and animals that 
 are found in Trinidad, Guiana, and the adjacent 
 provinces. The observing naturalist is struck 
 with this difference in countries so near each 
 other, and of which the climate is almost the 
 same. 
 
 The salt works w T ould be lucrative objects for 
 Margarita, if salt were not so very cheap in all 
 
POPULATION'. 
 
 171 
 
 those countries. A barrel of salt, not purified, 
 weighing about three hundred pounds, is sold 
 for about twelvepence halfpenny at Margarita. 
 Poultry, wild fowl, goats or kids, sheep ham- 
 mocks, and beautiful cotton stockings are arti- 
 cles of exportation. 
 
 This island is divided into two parts, which 
 communicate with each other by an isthmus or 
 natural causeway, that is scarcely more than 
 from eighty to one hundred paces broad, and in 
 some parts, from ten to twelve feet only above 
 the level of the sea. 
 
 The mountain of Macanou is the most elevated 
 of this island : it is above two thousand feet high, 
 according to M. de Humboldt, who measured 
 it trigonometrically, and is composed of mica- 
 ceous schistus. It is an important point for 
 navigators to make, who go from Europe or 
 from North or South America to Cumana, Bar- 
 celona and La Guayra: as they are obliged to sail 
 between Margarita and the Islet of Coche, to 
 avoid running the risk of being carried to leeward 
 by the currents. 
 
 Margarita had, in 1807, a population of eight 
 thousand whites, five thousand five hundred mix- 
 ed blood, one thousand eight hundred Indians, 
 and about nine hundred slaves, making a total of 
 10,200 persons. This island is sixteen marine 
 leagues in its greatest length, six in its greatest 
 breadth, in some parts only two or three leagues 
 broad, and its surface is thirty-one square leagues. 
 
172 
 
 C O T T O X P L A N T A T I O X . 
 
 After remaining six weeks at Margarita, I 
 
 was necessitated to freight a vessel, for which I 
 paid one hundred and fifty dollars, to take us to 
 Guadaloupe : it was a small decked bark of eight 
 tons burden : contrary winds drove us to a desert 
 island, called Blanquilla, situated at eighteen 
 leagues north west of Margarita, where we 
 anchored and remained three days. This island 
 is nearly three leagues in length, and a league 
 and a half broad ; though it is represented as much 
 smaller on the maps. Its soil is a white tufa (de- 
 composed pumice) sandy and sterile. It has, on 
 the northern side, some rocks of little elevation, 
 of gneiss or flaky granite. Its vegetation con- 
 sists of cactus, mimosas, and thorny shrubs : there 
 are no vegetables but such as grow on the sea 
 coast and the most arid parts of the province of 
 Cumana. Its surface is undulated, and towards 
 the center is a platform elevated about two hun- 
 dred feet above the sea. This island contains wild 
 cattle, which are very savage ; probably because 
 they are incessantly hunted. In order to kill 
 them, the hunters gain a small eminence that 
 commands a pond of water to which they resort 
 to drink. There are also a great number of wild 
 dogs : in the day-time they avoid a man ; they 
 do not bark, but at night howl dismally. These 
 animals feed on lizards and other reptiles. 
 
 At the beginning of the French revolution, a 
 planter of Guadaloupe went to settle in this 
 island with a score of negroes, to form a cotton 
 
DKIWKTUKE. 
 
 173 
 
 plantation there ; but the Spanish government, 
 who would not permit any one to fix himself there, 
 drove him away. There are a great many parts 
 of this little island very proper for cultivating 
 cotton. 
 
 Having sailed early on the morning of the 
 third day after our arrival at this dreary spot, 
 a vessel hove in sight and gave chace to us : in 
 consequence of which we determined to return 
 to Margarita, and it was with the greatest diffi- 
 culty this object could be effected. Unwilling 
 to run the risk of capture a second time, and 
 by no means satisfied with the character of the 
 master whose vessel I had hired, I formed the 
 resolution of quitting her, and returning to Cu- 
 mana, where I fortunately found a ship bound 
 to Guadaloupe : we accordingly embarked and 
 reached that island after a passage of four days. 
 
171 
 
 MANNERS \M> CUSTOMS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Manners and Customs. — Various Casts. — Conquistadores. — Creoles. 
 — Idea of Nobility. — Refutation of De Paw's doctrines. — Mental 
 Qualifications of the Creoles. — Reflections on Concubinage. — 
 Parental Affection of the Creoles. — Account of the Guahiros. — 
 Quadrupeds. — Traits of Manners. — Dress, &c. at Caraccas. — Singular 
 Fashion at Cumana. — Anecdote of an Indian Female. — Remarks on 
 several Animals. — Paca. — Pecary. — Catalogue of Birds. — Insects. — 
 Trees and Shrubs. — Anecdotes of the Boa Strictor. — Remarks. — 
 Vegetable World. — M. de la Barrere's Herbal. — Reflections. — 
 Geological Attributes of Trinidad. — The Sugar Cane. — Introduction 
 and Mode of cultivating the Otaheite Cane. — Fattening Qualities of 
 the Cane. — Suggestions. — Proposed Improvements in Sugar Planta- 
 tions. — The Cocoa Tree. — Nutritious Virtues of Cocoa. — The Tree 
 described. — Epidendrum Vanilla. — Coffee. — Thoughts on its cul- 
 tivation — Mode of planting Coffee. — And various Hints on the Sub- 
 ject. — Podocarpus. — A Reflection. — Geological Observations. 
 
 Four casts compose the population of this 
 country, like those of the other Spanish colonies: 
 the whites, Indians, negroes, and people of colour 
 or mixed race. These casts are subdivided 
 into whites born in Europe, vulgarly called Ga- 
 chupines ; white Creoles, descendants of Euro- 
 peans ; Mestizos, a mixture of whites and Indians; 
 Zamboes, a mixture of Indian and negroes; and 
 of mulattos, a mixture of whites and negroes. 
 
 The Spaniards born in Europe consider them- 
 
CREOLES. 
 
 175 
 
 selves as a superior class to other whites: to have 
 been born in Europe is a kind of nobility in the 
 Spanish colonies. Not that the whites born in the 
 new world have pretensions to illustrious birth. 
 In the government of Caraccas, as in the other 
 Spanish colonies, almost all the whites pretend to 
 be descended from the ancient Conquistadores; 
 but whatever importance they may attach to this 
 origin, they are not the less considered by the 
 other casts as inferior to the Europeans, for this 
 plain reason, that the latter are appointed by the 
 sovereign to nearly all the lucrative and impor- 
 tant places. 
 
 The Creoles of the French colonies were much 
 better treated ; they not only enjoyed the pri- 
 vileges of the Europeans, but it was sufficient to 
 be born of a white family to enjoy all the pri- 
 vileges of persons born of noble families. 
 
 The colonial institutions founded by the 
 ancient Spanish government, were only calcu- 
 lated for disseminating and maintaining distrust 
 and hatred among the different casts which di- 
 vided, rather than composed, the population of 
 those countries. To divide for the purpose of 
 governing, was the moral resource employed by 
 the ancient Spanish government for retaining its 
 colonies in the yoke. Thus, you looked in vain for 
 that frank, generous, hospitable, and heroic cha- 
 racter in the Spanish Creole, which so eminently 
 distinguishes the Creoles of the British and French 
 colonies from other modern nations. 
 
17G 
 
 CREOLES. 
 
 It is not that nature has refused to the Creoles 
 of the Spanish colonies the gifts of the heed and 
 heart : they have, in general, a great deal of wit 
 and penetration, and foreigners acknowledge their 
 integrity in commercial affairs ; but among them- 
 selves there reigns a spirit of suspicion, jealousy 
 and etiquette, which banishes cordiality from 
 their societies. They scarcely speak of any thing 
 but law suits, while the colonies swarm with 
 barristers and attornies. These two professions are 
 almost the only career left open to the ambition of 
 the Creole youth, who show too great a propen- 
 sity for the subtleties of legal chicanery. A great 
 number become priests or monks : a white family 
 in which there are three or four sons, would think 
 itself dishonoured, if one of them did not embrace 
 an ecclesiastical life. Formerly a great- many 
 nuns were professed ; but from the irregularities 
 which have occurred in convents, and the perver- 
 sion of morals that has taken place in them, the 
 monks, for some years past, have found great 
 difficulty in recruiting them from young women 
 of respectable families. 
 
 The army has been opened for some years to 
 the youth of the Spanish colonies. Charles III. 
 established colonial regiments on the plan of those 
 of France. Boldness and activity are the charac- 
 teristics of the Spanish as well as the British and 
 French Creole. The institution of colonial regi- 
 ments and of militia in the Spanish colonies, wasre- 
 ceived therefore with transport: an epaulette and a 
 
PREJUDICES. 
 
 177 
 
 pressible charm for all Creoles : the sight of those 
 decorations make the heart palpitate in a young 
 Creole of fourteen or fifteen years of age ; he 
 scarcely breathes, and sighs only for the moment 
 when he may put them on ! 
 
 The Spanish government, in forming colonial 
 regiments, did not imitate the unjust and absurd 
 regulation of our ancient monarchs, by which no 
 man of colour could arrive at the rank of an officer ; 
 it had the good sense not to insult and stigmatize 
 collectively a numerous class, degraded in the 
 British and French colonies, by prejudices and 
 laws as unreasonable as they are unjust and im- 
 politic. In the Spanish colonies, for some years 
 past, officers have been selected from among the 
 people of colour. 
 
 In no place, however, have the prejudices of 
 birth and the word nobility, so much influence as 
 in the Spanish colonies : three fourths of the white 
 families call themselves noble. Almost all pre- 
 tend to be descended from the ancient Conquis- 
 tadores, or officers employed in the conquest of 
 those regions. The province of Caraccas reckons 
 among its inhabitants, six titled personages (Ti- 
 tulos de Castilla,) three counts and three mar- 
 quesses. 
 
 The high notions which the Spanish Creoles have 
 of the nobility of their extraction, does not pre- 
 vent the family of a young Creole lady, rich and 
 well educated, from thinking itself honoured in 
 having an European Spaniard for a son-in-law, 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 PRIVILEGES. 
 
 although unknown, penny less, and frequently 
 without education. This prejudice began to 
 diminish some years past, and it changed into a 
 commencement of aversion to Spain. Somos 
 Americanos y no Gachupines ;* " we are Ameri- 
 cans, and not.Spaniards," the Creoles of Venezuela 
 and other Spanish possessions will frequently ex- 
 claim in a tone of ill-humoured haughtiness. 
 
 There is not a single instance of a white Creole 
 of the provinces of Venezuela, having been guilty 
 of assassination : I have been assured that this 
 crime has never been committed there, excepting 
 by Andalusians, or the Zamboes. 
 
 The slaves in Venezuela, and the other Spanish 
 possessions, enjoy a privilege unknown in the 
 French and English colonies : it is that of oblig- 
 ing their masters to liberate them, on their paying 
 the sum of three hundred dollars. The slave 
 treated with injustice or cruelty by his master, 
 has a right to carry his complaint to the judge, 
 who may order that he be sold to some other mas- 
 ter of known humanity. 
 
 No well informed man now believes in the 
 ridiculous paradox of De Pauw, who asserts that 
 all the American races are of a degenerated and 
 inferior order ; it would result from his ex- 
 travagant system, that man and animals are as 
 
 * They have given to Europe the nickname of Gaehupina, and 
 to Europeans that of Gachupines : they also call Europeans Cha- 
 pctoues. 
 
roMiwiusoss. 
 
 179 
 
 much subjected to the influence of soil and climate, 
 as the plants which vegetate there, and have no 
 organs of loco-motion. The picture he gives of 
 the physical and mental imbecility of the Ameri- 
 can species, is only a false and coarse caricature.* 
 In the temperate and cold climates of America, 
 man has in no respect degenerated from his Euro- 
 pean ancestor. In some parts of that continent, 
 he is, perhaps, physically and morally superior. 
 
 * A French writer, M. de Bercy, who has lately published his 
 opinion on the comparative virtues of Europeans and Americans, 
 observes, " Those whom we are accustomed to call barbarians and 
 savages, are infinitely less entitled to these epithets than ourselves, 
 notwithstanding the refinement and civilization we boast. Equally 
 if not. more exempted from prejudice, the inhabitants of America 
 neither create factitious wants, or seek imaginary sources of hap- 
 piness ; they do not encourage either spies or informers : in that 
 country, you are not shocked with the sight of magistrates, who 
 ought to be the guardians of religion and morality, stimulating the 
 vile and wicked to betray innocence, or hurry into crime. There, 
 the oath of a perjured miscreant, is insufficient to consign a 
 respectable character to the walls of a prison, much less ensure 
 his ultimate condemnation. Their tranquillity is not disturbed by 
 the incessant calls of the tax-gatherer, or their feelings mortified 
 by the inequality of conditions. 
 
 "More just than the Europeans, the people of America only 
 arm to repel aggressions, and not to forge fetters for their fellow- 
 men, to immolate by crusades and assassinations, like those of 
 (he fifteenth century, and the day of Saint Bartholomew, or in 
 just and necessary wars, such as those which have so often desolat- 
 ed Europe, either for the aggrandizement of some families and 
 their factious adherents, or with a view of suppressing liberal 
 principles, and imprescriptible right."- Ed. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 MEN OF GENIUS. 
 
 If ever the American can put all his faculties 
 in motion, I do not hesitate to predict that he will 
 surpass the European. He is, in fact, a new man, 
 and a new character, like the great country in 
 which he is born. 
 
 Partial or ignorant writers have said that the 
 American Islands have never produced a man 
 distinguished in literature and the fine arts ; but 
 Martinico, for instance, did it not give birth to 
 the late M. du Buc ? Could he have been an 
 ordinary person, I allude to Blanchetiere Bel- 
 levue, who, never having left that colony before, 
 nor received a literary education, at the age of 
 thirty-six, appeared like a meteor in the con- 
 stituent assembly, where he was admired for 
 his captivating eloquence, and the variety of his 
 knowledge? The celebrated physician Lamure 
 was a Creole. France, Spain, and Great Britain, 
 reckon among their celebrated existing characters 
 a great number of Creoles ; and yet those countries 
 aren a manner but newly born. 
 
 Those who have had the means of observing 
 the youth from these regions, who are sent to 
 Europe for their education, have had the justice 
 to declare, that they are eminently adapted for 
 all the sciences and arts ; and that, in general, 
 they surpass the common run of Europeans in 
 the justness and clearness of their ideas ; which is 
 the principal indication of good taste, and the 
 characteristic of true genius. It is true, the 
 greater part of them neglect to cultivate their 
 
MO HALS. 
 
 181 
 
 talents, when they return home : I well know 
 that the heat of the climate inclines them to indo- 
 lence ; but it must also be acknowledged that 
 there is no institution in those colonies which sti- 
 mulates men to improve their intellectual facul- 
 ties. The wealthy live in pleasures and indolence, 
 whilst those who wish to augment their fortunes, 
 have their minds continually bent on that object. 
 Add to these causes, the excessive tendency 
 which is felt in this climate for sensual plea- 
 sures ; the necessity of commanding" the negroes, 
 beings who are usually stupid and stubborn, the 
 management of a gang of whom absorbs the 
 attention of the most active and intelligent man ; 
 it may then be conceived why, in the present 
 state of things, it is so difficult to be occupied 
 with success, in cultivating the arts and sciences, 
 which, of all other occupations, require so much 
 time, tranquillity, retirement and independence. 
 In Europe the Americans are constantly ac- 
 cused of possessing bad morals ; but what is it 
 that hypocrisy and prudery would have us under- 
 stand by good and bad morals ? In my opinion 
 good morals consist principally in a benevolent 
 disposition, in the practice of that virtue, which, 
 according to the expression of the divine author 
 of the gospel, expiates a multitude of sins. To 
 have good morals, or to be virtuous, which appear 
 to me synonymous, is to perform our duties well, 
 by contributing as much as lies in our power to 
 render our fellow T creatures good and happy. A 
 
182 
 
 CONX'UBINAGE. 
 
 good father or mother, whose whole conduct 
 tends to render their children happy ; a good son, 
 husband or neighbour, those who relieve the ca- 
 lamities of others by all their means, are, I think, 
 virtuous beings, and entitled to the praise of pos- 
 sessing good morals. 
 
 But by good morals, a certain class of men 
 understand exclusively the abstinence from sen- 
 sual enjoyments ; or, at least, that they should 
 be carefully concealed ; for according to those 
 modern Pharisees, to sin in secret is not to sin 
 at all ! 
 
 Heaven forbid that I should declare myself an 
 apologist for concubinage! And where is the iron- 
 hearted man who can contemplate without agoniz- 
 ing emotion, the hospitals in which deserted chil- 
 dren swarm; those interesting and unfortunate 
 victims, who should cry vengeance against the 
 brutal insensibility of the parents who brought 
 them into existence! But it must also be con- 
 fessed, to the honour of the prudent Europeans, 
 that their libertinism is conducted with great 
 mystery : among them, the grand point is not to 
 be virtuous, but to conceal their vices, and above 
 all things that it should not injure their fortune. 
 Concubinage, it is true, is common in the colo- 
 nies ; but what is such a fault, when compared 
 with adultery ? That indeed is the vice, which 
 when not sufficiently stigmatized by public 
 opinion, is most degrading to a people. Where- 
 ever it is frequent, none of those fine family aiFec- 
 
ADULTERY. 
 
 183 
 
 lions can exist, which are the sources of happiness 
 and the social virtues. The cohabitation of a 
 colonist with his housekeeper, is a kind of left- 
 handed marriage; and even when it happens 
 that he dissolves that connection, he preserves 
 a great regard for his children and makes their 
 happiness one of his chief objects. 
 
 Adultery* is very rare among them, and there- 
 fore the Creole wives are the best of mothers. 
 
 I have no hesitation in asserting with all impar- 
 tial persons who have inhabited the colonies, that 
 the colonists far surpass the inhabitants of the most 
 primitive countries of the old world, in conjugal 
 and paternal affection, and consequently in filial 
 piety, generosity, beneficence, courage in adver- 
 sity, sincerity, good nature and hospitality : all 
 these virtues generally disseminated among them, 
 
 * The original legislators who created the morals of nations, 
 did not omit to class adultery among the most odious crimes : 
 " thou shaltnot commit adultery," the divine legislator has expressly 
 said in the decalogue. It is remarkable that he has not placed 
 on the scale of prohibition the sexual sins among unmarried 
 persons. In a less solemn injunction, incontinency is, it is true, 
 prohibited among them as a fault ; but the God of Israel signalize* 
 and stigmatizes adultery as an excessively odious crime. It was 
 held in great horror by the ancient nations, especially the Romans, 
 in the best times of the Republic. The elder Cato seeing young 
 men going to visit courtezans, said to them, "^Courage, my friends: 
 go and see the girls, but do not corrupt married women !" In Eng- 
 land a man is at liberty either to sell his wife, if guilty of a faux 
 pas, or he may sue for pecuniary damages in a court of justice; 
 as if domestic happiness and personal honour were also legitimate 
 objects of commercial speculation! !! 
 
184 
 
 PATERNAL TENDERNESS. 
 
 have in the free and cordial disposition of these peo- 
 ple, an antique tint, which, since the latter years of 
 the age of Louis XIV. and the shameful times of the 
 Regency, have quite vanished from our manners. 
 
 If the Creole women are the best of mothers, 
 their husbands are generally good fathers. We 
 do not see among them such egotistical and heart- 
 less fathers and mothers, as are but too frequent- 
 ly met with in Europe ; people who think they 
 do enough for their children, in bequeathing 
 them what they have not been able to dissipate 
 in this world, and cannot carry with them to the 
 other. Such monsters are unknown to the New 
 World ; and therefore filial piety is there equal 
 to paternal tenderness. 
 
 The Creole father thinks, with reason, that he 
 has a great duty to fulfil to his children; that his 
 first care should be to place them in society, in a 
 situation at least as fortunate as that in which he 
 was placed by his own father : in a sphere as re- 
 spectable as that in which he finds himself. There 
 is nothing more admirable in social order, than 
 the ardour with which a Creole father exercises 
 his industry to increp.se his fortune. " I have a 
 necessity to work, in order to augment my pro- 
 perty ; I have a host of children, who did not 
 ask me to bring them into the world :" an ex- 
 pression trivial in appearance, but full of seiise 
 and affection, and which is well placed in the 
 mouth of an American father. In those coun- 
 tries there are found even bachelor uncles who 
 
MATRIMONY. 
 
 185 
 
 are animated with the same kind affection for 
 their nephews. Thus the Creole enjoys the 
 pleasures of life, as soon as he becomes capable 
 of it, whilst a great number of Europeans, to use 
 a vulgar expression, obtain bread only when they 
 lose their teeth ; thanks to the hard-hearted 
 stupidity of their parents ! 
 
 Creoles generally consult only their taste, and 
 seldom think of fortune, in forming a matri- 
 monial union : it is common among them for 
 a wealthy man to marry a woman without for- 
 tune ; it is still more so, to see a rich heiress 
 choose for her husband a man who is pennyless ; 
 and it is also very common to see a young couple 
 marry without any other property than mutual 
 love. They are young, and can make a fortune, 
 say their worthy parents. In those countries 
 w T here labour and industry are not disgraceful, 
 and where every active and industrious person is 
 sure to succeed, it often happens that such persons 
 acquire independent fortunes. The Creoles think 
 with reason, that in the choice of an union that 
 ought to last for life, on which depends the hap- 
 piness or misfortune of two individuals, and of 
 those whom they may bring into the world, it is 
 the affections of the parties which, above all, 
 should be consulted. Thus it happens very seldom 
 that parents are seen to oppose the inclinations 
 of their children^ provided there be nothing dis- 
 honourable in their choice. It is due to the 
 Creoles, to say they arc particularly delicate on 
 
186 
 
 UU A IJIUOS. 
 
 this point, and the women quite as much as the 
 men. Nothing, for instance, would induce a 
 young Creole lady to marry a man deemed a 
 liar or a coward. 
 
 I shall terminate this sketch of the manners 
 of the different tribes and casts which inhabit the 
 Caraccas, by a few remarks on the Guahiros, of 
 whom I have already spoken, and who inhabit the 
 mountains of Merida, and the banks of the Riode 
 la Hache. The Spanish writers of this age, as well 
 as the English and French who have copied them, 
 speak of them as of a horde of ferocious robbers, 
 who have resisted all the efforts made for civilizing 
 them. The Spanish geographers rank them among 
 the Indios bravos, a name which they give to all 
 the tribes they have not been able to subject. 
 The Spanish historians of the sixteenth century, 
 relate that the Guahiros were, at that period, 
 the friends of the Spanish inhabitants of Trux- 
 illo ; that the missionaries had converted almost 
 all of them to Christianity; that they shewed 
 more capacity and taste than the other Indians for 
 the arts of civilization, in which they had made 
 a rapid progress in a few years. But the liber- 
 tinism of the inhabitants of Truxillo caused 
 bloody quarrels between them and the Guahiros. 
 The former did not desist from debauching their 
 wives. One day a gang of Spaniards had the 
 audacity even to go and carry them off by force 
 from one of their villages. The nation or the 
 tribe of Guahiros rose unanimously to revenge 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 
 
 18? 
 
 this outrage : tho warriors entered Truxillo, 
 sword in hand, and made great slaughter among 
 the inhabitants. They declared solemnly that 
 they renounced the religion of men so corrupt, 
 for that nothing was sacred to them. All the 
 efforts made by the Spanish missionaries, since 
 that period, to reconcile them to their nation, 
 have proved fruitless ; and they have remained 
 implacable enemies to the Spanish name. Every 
 time in which Spain and Great Britain have been 
 at war, the British government has profited of 
 this antipathy, to excite the Guahiros to commit 
 hostilities against the colonists of the province of 
 Maracaybo, which is the cause of its depopula- 
 tion. The Guahiros, however, are more civiliz- 
 ed than the other Indians, their neighbours ; they 
 cultivate their land, weave stuffs of cotton and 
 wool for their clothing : they also rear herds 
 of cattle, which form objects of a very consider- 
 able trade between them and the English in 
 Jamaica ; they receive in payment spirituous 
 liquors, fire-arms, and gun-powder. All their 
 warriors are mounted. They are the true Caribs, 
 possessing their tall stature, manly, haughty and 
 independent character. 
 
 Almost every species of European quadruped 
 which has been transported into those countries 
 have become wild, and multiplied excessively in 
 the forests which abound in the necessary means 
 for their subsistence. The horned cattle and the 
 horse have not preserved the beauty of the Spa- 
 
188 
 
 HORSES AND DOGS. 
 
 rush oxen and the blood horse, no doubt from the 
 little care that is taken of them ; but the ass has 
 become larger and more handsome. 
 
 The horses of Buenos Ayres and Chili, however, 
 rival those of the finest breeds in Europe. The 
 goat is smaller than the European, but its flesh is 
 better, and it yields an abundance of delicious 
 rnilk. The sheep when taken care of, equals the 
 finest species in Spain. At Margarita I have seen 
 sheep and wethers whose wool was excellent, as 
 is also the meat of the latter. Swine are not so 
 large as in Europe, but are more prolific ; and 
 their fresh meat is more delicate and easy of di- 
 gestion than that of the European hog. 
 
 It seems certain that the dog did not exist here 
 previous to the arrival of Europeans, and it is a 
 remarkable circumstance, that those which in- 
 habit the forests with the savages, who are exces- 
 sively fond of them, have lost the faculty of bark- 
 ing : they make a plaintive howling like wolves. 
 I have had dogs of the breed of the shepherd's dog 
 and of the mastiff, of which the sire and dam were 
 littered in Europe, and yet they did not bark, but 
 howled. It is true that I then lived almost en- 
 tirely in the midst of forests. Yet the dogs in 
 the towns and villages bark like the dogs in 
 Europe. The shepherd's dog in this country 
 becomes a very good sporting dog. 
 
 In a country so vast as the Caraccas, one so re- 
 cently civilized, and in which some parts present 
 only the first rudiments of civilization, it must be 
 
LUXURIES. 
 
 189 
 
 expected that there exists a great difference be- 
 tween the manners and customs of the inhabitants 
 of towns and those of the country parts, and even 
 those of the town of Caraccas, for instance, and 
 of the inhabitants of the smaller towns and vil- 
 lages. The luxury of European capitals is found 
 in the town of Caraccas, and a refinement or 
 exaggeration in their politeness, which partakes 
 of the Spanish gravity, and the voluptuous man- 
 ners of the Creoles. It may be said that their 
 manners are a mixture of those of Paris, and the 
 large towns in Italy ; the same taste for dress, 
 sumptuous furniture, ceremonious visits, balls, 
 shows, music, and even for painting, which is 
 in its infancy. The inhabitants of Caraccas and 
 the other towns, however, seldom dine with each 
 other, and are very temperate ; but they fre- 
 quently give collations, in which meat is never 
 introduced, but chocolate, coffee, tea, cakes, sweet- 
 meats and Spanish wines. It is on such occasions 
 that they display their porcelain and fine glass. 
 The women, both old and young, appear at them 
 in all their finery ; and the men seem to rival the 
 ladies in the brilliancy of their dresses and gallan- 
 try. This is peculiar to the town of Caraccas. 
 
 I remarked a very odd custom among the wo- 
 men of Cumana; they wear neither veils nor 
 gloves : thus, with the most agreeable and expres- 
 sive shapes and countenances, they have a copper 
 colour. While at Cumana, I offered several pairs 
 of gloves for herself and daughters, to a lady, to 
 
190 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 whom I was under some obligations. She accept 
 ed them, but mentioned that neither she nor her 
 daughters could wear them ; that it was not the 
 custom in Cumana ; that any young lady seen 
 with gloves and a veil, would be deemed a fantas- 
 tical coquette, whom no one would marry, and 
 that such fooleries were only fit for the belles and 
 fops of Caraccas ! Whilst speaking of the Carae- 
 cas fops, I should not omit to mention, that it is 
 not unusual to see the portraits of their mistresses 
 suspended from their necks by gold chains, in 
 about the same manner as a Parisian or London 
 beau wears a glass to assist his sight, injured no 
 doubt by the study of novels and late hours ! 
 
 I cannot conclude the subject of Indian man- 
 ners without relating an anecdote, which will 
 give an idea of their modesty. It is known that 
 those of the warm climates of South America, 
 among whom civilization has not made any pro- 
 gress, have no other dress than a small apron, or 
 kind of bandage, to hide their nakedness. A 
 lady of my acquaintance had contracted a kind- 
 ness for a young Paria Indian woman, who was 
 extremely handsome. We had given her the 
 name of Grace : she was sixteen years old, and 
 had lately been married to a young Indian of 
 twenty-five, who was our sportsman. This lady 
 took a pleasure in teaching her to sew and em- 
 broider : we said to her one day, " Grace, you are 
 extremely pretty, speak French well, and are 
 always with us : you ought not, therefore, to live 
 
CAVIA PACA. 
 
 191 
 
 like the other native women, and we shall give 
 you some clothes. Does not your husband wear 
 trowsers and a shirt ?" upon this she consented 
 to be dressed. The lady lost no time in arranging 
 her dress, a ceremony at which I had the honour 
 of assisting. We put on a shift, petticoats, stock- 
 ings, shoes, and a Madras handkerchief on her 
 head. She looked quite enchanting, and saw her- 
 self in the looking-glass with great complacency. 
 Suddenly her husband returned from shooting with 
 three or four Indians, when the whole party burst 
 into a loud fit of laughter at her, and began to joke 
 about her new habiliments; Grace was quite abash- 
 ed, blushed, wept, and ran to hide herself in the 
 bed-chamber of the lady, where she stript herself of 
 the clothes, went out of the window, and returned 
 naked into the room ! A proof that when her hus- 
 band saw her dressed for the first time, she felt 
 a sensation somewhat similar to that which an 
 European woman might experience who was sur- 
 prised without her usual drapery. 
 
 There remains but little to say on the quadru- 
 peds of this country, which have been almost 
 all described by naturalists, especially the late 
 M. Sonnini, and latterly by M. de Humboldt. 
 BulFon, who had endeavoured to couple the fe- 
 male cavia paca with the hare, was not well ac- 
 quainted with its organization. The paca is 
 called lapo in the Island of Trinidad and Spa- 
 nish Guiana. I had remarked the singularity 
 of the several parts of the male, and describ- 
 
192 
 
 SONNINI. 
 
 ed them in the Island of Trinidad, in 1797, 
 not being aware that M. Sonnini had published 
 observations on the same subject. He says, that 
 the member of the paca is armed with two carti- 
 laginous hooks, like that of the agoutt : I have 
 seen four of them, and his observation is only 
 true in regard to the latter. The paca is a very 
 handsome animal, and easily domesticated : it is 
 also very cleanly. It is rather larger than a hare, 
 has a thick body, and is generally fat, the flesh 
 of it is good food. From its birth to the age of 
 four or six months, the hair, naturally of a deep 
 red, is spotted with white, but after six months 
 those spots disappear. 
 
 I am surprised that Sonnini, who lived four 
 years in Guiana, and who asserts he had often 
 hunted there, did not remark that the paca is 
 amphibious ; or, at least, that when pursued 
 by the hunters he dives under water, where he 
 remains several minutes without rising to the sur- 
 face, which I have frequently witnessed ; its lungs 
 also resemble those of the otter. M. Sonnini is 
 wrong when he denies that there are several spe- 
 cies of pacas, as the physician Laborde wrote to 
 Bufifon : I have seen at Trinidad, and San Tome 
 de Angostura, two of those animals perfectly re- 
 sembling the paca, but much larger and more 
 rugged : they were as large as pointer dogs, and 
 had been caught, one in the Orinoco, and the 
 other on the banks of the Guarapiche. Those 
 animals have a strong inclination for frequenting 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 
 
 193 
 
 water, and do not live long in a domestic state : 
 they feed on fish, and the plants which grow 
 on the borders of the sea and rivers. Their hair 
 is of a deeper red than that of the paca cavia of 
 Linnaeus, which feeds only on grain and roots. 
 
 In this country there are found six species of 
 opossum, vulgarly called manicous, though that 
 to which naturalists have given this name, does 
 not exist in South but North America. 
 
 The opossums of Venezuela are, first, the di- 
 delphis opossum ; second, the crab opossum, or 
 didelphis mursupialis ; third, the marmoset, di- 
 delphis marina; fourth, the touan, didelphis 
 brachiura; fifth, the cayopollin, didelphis dor- 
 sigera, or philander of Surinam, didelphis coy- 
 ollia ; sixth, the yapoch, or little otter of Guiana, 
 of Buffon. 
 
 The females of all these opossums, excepting 
 that of the didelphis murina, or marmoset, have 
 under the belly a membraneous pouch, where they 
 deposit their young as soon as they are littered ; 
 but I am very much surprised at not finding in 
 Buffon and his editors, as well as other writers, 
 any mention of an extraordinary circumstance 
 in the organization of the opossum ; which is, that 
 they have the member turned towards the tail. 
 
 Trinidad and the provinces of Venezuela have the 
 Agouti, known to all persons who have been at the Antilles. 
 Two species of small deer, the Cervus Americanus, and 
 the mangrove stag, which lives in marshy places. They 
 are as common in Trinidad as on the continent, but they 
 do not exist in the lslaud of Tobago. 
 
194 
 
 QUADRUPEDS. 
 
 A species of Porcupine, called Couandou by the Mar- 
 sitah Indians ; this is the Hystrix prehensilis of Linnams. 
 
 Two species of lizards, known in the country by the 
 names of Dragon and Guana. 
 
 Armadillos, remarkable for their lamellated shell, Genus 
 Dasypus. 
 
 Two species of Ant-bears. 
 
 The water-dog, or dog of the woods : A Didelphis ; 
 The Didelphis Philander is common at Trinidad. 
 
 The Tiger-cat, or Jaguar of New Spain : Ledru says 
 that he never attacks man ; he is wrong, and confounds 
 the Tiger-cat with the Jaguar. The same writer is also 
 mistaken when he says that there are numerous herds of 
 wild swine in the forests of Trinidad : the European hog has 
 not become wild at Trinidad as in the Antilles, perhaps be- 
 cause it has encountered the Pecary in the woods, vulgarly 
 called the wild American hog. These wage a cruel war 
 against the former. The Pecary must certainly be a differ- 
 ent species from swine, as they do not breed with them. 
 From various experiments I have seen made, I can assert 
 this fact without fear of contradiction. Externally the 
 Pecary resembles the swine, but there exist differences in 
 their organization as observed by many naturalists. 
 
 The external difference, most characteristic of the Pe- 
 cary, is a gland on the dorsal spine, between the flesh 
 and the skin: it is nearly an inch in diameter; above 
 this gland there is in the skin a little hole of about two or 
 three lines diameter, from which exudes a yellowish 
 matter which has the smell of musk. Though this animal 
 defends itself with a great deal of courage when attacked 
 by the hunters, it is easily tamed ; it caresses a man, and 
 follows him like a dog : it is very cleanly, and prefers 
 elevated situations. 
 
 The Mapurito ; when disturbed it emits an insupportable 
 stench. 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 195 
 
 The Musk Rat, or Piloris of the Antilles ; Mus Pilo- 
 rides, Gm. 
 
 The SwallowerorCrab Rat; Ursus cancrivorus. Cuvier. 
 The lazy Sloth ; Bradypus Didactylus. 
 
 Amphibious Mammi/eres. 
 
 The Lamantin or Sea-cow ; Trichecus manaius Austra- 
 lia. Gm. ; the Saricorian Otter, and the Brazilian Tor- 
 toise. 
 
 M. de Humboldt has lately published the natural his- 
 tory of the monkies of this country, in his Observations on 
 Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. 
 
 Birds of the Sea Coast. 
 
 The brown Pelican ; Pelicanus fuscus. Gm. 
 
 The lesser American Vulture, or the scald-necked Vul- 
 ture ; it feeds on carrion, flies in flocks, which are gene- 
 rally led by the King Vulture, Vultur Papa ; the little 
 American Vulture has been improperly classed among sea 
 fowls : it is true that they are sometimes found on the 
 shore, in search of carrion; but far greater numbers of 
 them are seeu in the interior, and always in flocks. 
 
 The King of the Vultures, Vultur Papa, is always at 
 the head of flocks of birds commonly called Ravens, 
 which pretended raven is the naked breasted vulture, 
 the Uruba (Vultur aura) of South America. This bird 
 feeds on carrion. It is remarkable that when the Vultur 
 Papa arrives at the head of his troop, near a carrion, all 
 the vultures make a circle round the banquet, except two 
 or three that place themselves as sentries on trees and 
 trunks of trees. When the king has satisfied his hunger, 
 he flies away, uttering a cry, and goes to place himself as 
 a sentinel. Then all the troop, not excepting the sen- 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 QUADRUPEDS, 
 
 tries, fall on the carrion, which they devour with great 
 voracity ; after which they repose and sleep, until their 
 chief gives them the signal for departure. 
 
 There is in the more elevated situations of the province 
 of Caraccas a bird which partakes of the eagle and the 
 vulture, but it is larger than either. I believe this bird 
 has never been described by any naturalist. Us legs and 
 wings are very long : it is handsome, but extremely 
 rare. It has, as well as I can recollect, a tuft of red fea- 
 thers on the head, and a stately gait, though somewhat 
 heavy. Its plumage is red, bluish, green and yellow. I 
 never saw more than two of them at Trinidad, one living, 
 the other stuffed, they were brought from the mountains of 
 Cumana. When I was in that province, in 1807, 1 offered 
 in vain two hundred dollars to procure one of them alive, 
 and four hundred dollars if a male and female were 
 brought to me. The French Creoles settled in the country, 
 have given it the name of King of the Vultures, to distin- 
 guish it from the bird they call King of the Ravens, and 
 which naturalists term King of the Vulture, or Vultur 
 Papa. 
 
 The first bird that attracted my attention at arriving on 
 the shores of the Gulf of Paria, was the Pelican, the Pele- 
 canus Fuscus of naturalists. It often rests its extended 
 wings on the branches or trunks of trees which float on the 
 coast, and when it is seen in that situation at a distance 
 of half a league, and even sometimes at a league, an 
 illusion in optics causes it to be mistaken for a boat under 
 sail. I have at other times thought it was a sentry on the 
 shore, when distant about a quarter of a league. 
 
 Those birds feed on fish ; they pass a part of their time 
 in flocks on rocks in the vicinity of the sea, and the re- 
 mainder in the water. When they see fish they fly at 
 an elevation of about twenty-five or thirty feet, the 
 fish then approach the surface to feed on their excre- 
 
THE VAMPIRE. 
 
 197 
 
 merits, when those voracious birds pounce on them like fal- 
 cons on their prey. It is a wonderful thing to observe with 
 what dexterity this bird, apparently so unwieldy, swallows 
 a great number of fish; he fills a large bag, which forms 
 a part of his throat, from whence he swallows them when 
 hungry. 
 
 The Lancet Bat or Vampire, genus Philostome, has been 
 very well described by M. de St. Hilaire, member of the 
 French Institute, and professorof zoology. ButTon, wishing 
 to explain how the Vampires suck blood, without causing 
 to persons asleep that degree of pain which could awaken 
 them, suspects that it is with the tongue, and not the teeth, 
 that they make the incision ; and he is right. I think 
 Azzara, otherwise so exact, is incorrect, when he says, 
 they wound in biting, and not in pricking. I have been 
 pierced more than once by these animals whilst sleeping, 
 without feeling the least pain, and their pricking perfectly 
 resembled that of a lancet, which has given rise to their 
 name in Trinidad. I cannot do better than copy the 
 description of this organ given by the learned zoologist 
 St. Hilaire. " Its tongue, whose breadth is to i(s length as 
 one is to six, is partly flat above and rounded below. In 
 comparison by its length and narrowness, with the tongue 
 of the ant-bear, it also resembles the latter in the faculty 
 the phyllostomos have of thrusting it out entirely : its sur- 
 face is slightly and regularly shagrined. There is seen quite 
 near its extremity an organ of suction : it is a cavity of 
 which the center is filled with a raised point, whose bor- 
 ders are formed by eight protuberances of a less elevation 
 than that of the center."* 
 
 The frigate : Pelecanus aquilus. Gm. 
 
 The common booby; Pelecanus sula. Gm. 
 
 The diver, or castagneuse : Colymbus dominions. Gm. 
 
 * It is not improbable that this singular organ may have sug- 
 gested the ingenious instrument used for cupping. — Ed. 
 
198 
 
 BIRDS, 
 
 The teal: Anas dominica. Gm. 
 
 The great water-hen of Cayenne : Fulica Cayennen- 
 sis. Gm. 
 
 The egret : Ardea gazetta. Gm. 
 
 The gold plover : Charadrius Pluvialis. Gm. 
 
 The flamingo : Phcenicopterus. 
 
 A species of caprimulgus which lives in the caverns of 
 rocks washed by the sea. 
 
 Land Birds. 
 
 The little red ara : Psittacus uracanga. Gm. 
 
 The great ara. (Macaw.) 
 
 The green and red parrot of Cayenne: Psittacus ochro- 
 cephalus. Gm. 
 
 The courow parrot : Psittacus cestivus. Gm. 
 
 The collared parrot : Psittacus Alexander. Daud. 
 
 The red banded parrot: Psittacus Dominicensis, 
 Daud. 
 
 The black headed maipouri parroquet : Psittacus me- 
 lanocephalus. Gm. 
 
 The tufted green pecker. 
 
 The variegated or Jamaica pecker : Picus Carolinus, 
 Lath. 
 
 The red-breasted couroocon : Trogon curucui. Gm. 
 
 The humming bird of Tobago: Trochilus Tabaci, 
 Gm. 
 
 The green and gold humming bird : Trochilus viridis- 
 simus. Gm. 
 
 The brown and yellow blackbird : Turdus aurantius' 
 Gm. 
 
 The toucan, with yellow breast and black beak; another 
 toucan with yellow breast and beak. 
 
 The screech owl: Strix fiammea. Buffon. 
 The white collared swallow : Hirundo Cayennensis- 
 Buffon. 
 
'^'tffcftfc 
 
 BIRDS AND INSECTS. 
 
 199 
 
 Three species of wild pigeons, called also in the country 
 Paouy. These birds live in pairs, in a state of marriage 
 like the turtle doves : they only lay two eggs for each 
 hatching. They also fly in flocks, and are easily tamed. 
 
 The katraca and the parraka are very common in those 
 forests. The first is also as plentiful in the island of Tobago 
 as on the continent, but there are none of them in Trinidad ; 
 though frequently taken there they have never bred. 
 
 The ring dove. 
 
 Three varieties of turtle doves. 
 
 The white woodcock. 
 
 Three varieties of wild ducks. 
 
 The following insects were collected by the naturalists 
 of the expedition commanded by Captain Baudin. 
 
 The bull cassida: Cassida taurus. Fab. 
 
 A variety of the rustic may-bug : Melolontha rustica. 
 Fab. 
 
 An insect which seems to be the Longimanus of Fabri- 
 cius ; reddish brown, humpy body, coppery and spiny, 
 wings striped with six yellow transverse bands, thighs 
 armed with one hook; cylindrical head, excepting at the 
 base, where the eyes are placed. 
 
 The spotted fisher : Horia maculata. Fab. 
 
 The hemorrhoidal bee : Apis hemorrhoidalis. Fab. 
 
 The cordiform bee : Apis cordata. L. 
 
 The dentated bee: Apis dentata. L. 
 
 The variegated bug : Lygceus varicolor. Fab. 
 
 The tuberculated ant : Formica tuberculata. Encyc. 
 41. 
 
 The American wasp : Vespa Americana. Fab. 
 
 The phosphoric fire-fly: Fulgora phosphorea. L. 
 Turtles are rather abundant on the northern coast ; 
 they come on shore from April to September. 
 
 In the forests, which have such an imposing aspect, 
 there are found the greater part of the trees that embellish 
 
200 
 
 PLANTS. 
 
 those of the Antilles, the borders of the Orinoeo, and Term 
 Firma. 
 
 Botanists also specify in the island of Trinidad, 
 
 The Aspen rush : Cyperus haspan. Rottb. 
 The hexandric commeline: Commelina hexandra. 
 Aubl. 
 
 The yellow leaf ginseng : Panax chrysophylla. 
 
 Vitex capitata. Yahl. 
 
 Juslicia secunda. Vahl. 
 
 Solanum hirtum. Vahl. 
 
 Cestfum latifolium. Vahl. 
 
 Allamanda cathartic a. L. 
 
 Macrocneum coccineum. Vahl. 
 
 Frcelichia paniculata. Willd. 
 
 Spathodea corymbosa. Vent. 
 
 Bobinia rubiginosa. Poiret. 
 
 Lupinus villosus. Willd. 
 
 Glycine picta. Wiild. 
 
 Begonia humilis. Dry. 
 
 Taberncemontana ondulata. Vahl. 
 
 Tapogomea tomentosa. Aubl. 
 
 Croton gossypifolium. Vahl. 
 
 Tragia corniculata. Vahl. 
 Tontalea scandens. Aubl. 
 
 All the trees mentioned in the description of Tobago, 
 are to be found in Trinidad. 
 
 The above list contains the result of my obser- 
 vations on those departments of the natural his- 
 tory of Venezuela, and the Island of Trinidad. 
 There are in the last named island many kinds of 
 serpents, some of which are exceedingly large, 
 but not dangerous to man : two species of vipers, 
 but so scarce and timid, that I never heard of any 
 accident from them: it is, however, said that 
 
BOA NTllICTOR. 
 
 201 
 
 the serpent called mapipi, is dangerous ; but it 
 must be very rare ; for I who have been much in 
 the woods, never saw it. 
 
 There are three species of Boa : I saw one of 
 fifteen to nineteen feet in length, and some have 
 been seen on the continent of forty-five feet long. 
 That which is most remarkable in this gigantic 
 reptile, is the manner in which it devours the fowls 
 and quadrupeds that fall, as it may be said, into 
 his sphere of enchantment. When a hen, pintada, 
 paca, or fawn passes near the Boa, the bird or 
 animal is immediately seized with convulsions ; 
 it ruffles its feathers or bristles its hair, and stands 
 still, without attempting to fly, until this slow 
 and enormous reptile seizes it by the head. The 
 serpent then emits a whitish and viscous slime 
 on the body of its victim, and swallows it slow- 
 ly at its leisure. If the prey be somewhat 
 large, the monster doubles itself up, contracts its 
 length, and becomes the thicker as it is full. It 
 is then obliged to repose to digest the food, or 
 rather because it is too full to be able to move or 
 crawl. When in this state, a child who was not 
 frightened at its hideous appearance, might kill 
 it with a stick, or cut it in pieces with a sword, as 
 I have seen done by the young Indians and ne- 
 groes, who would on such occasions appear 
 delighted at vanquishing the monster. 
 
 It should be mentioned here, that Dominica 
 is the only island of the Antilles (not including 
 
202 
 
 NOXIOUS ANIMALS'. 
 
 Trinidad and Tobago) in which the Boa is found, 
 but they are not so large as those of Trinidad and 
 continent : it is aiso worthy of remark, that the 
 quadrupeds, reptiles , and even the birds of the 
 Island of Trinidad, are smaller than those which 
 belong to the same species on the neighbouring 
 continent. 
 
 Innumerable multitudes of toads spread over 
 the country at night, which break its stillness with 
 their croaking. Myriads of fire-flies appear soon 
 after night-fall, and glitter in every direction. 
 Those who write the natural history of this island 
 ought not to forget the industry of the parasol ant, 
 or omit describing the bold habits of its magnifi- 
 cent birds, and their nests suspended from the 
 branches of trees ; which probably gave to the 
 American savage the idea of hammocks ; a wide 
 field will also be opened for describing the ele- 
 gant and endless variety of its butterflies. 
 
 All those insects and reptiles, some disgusting, 
 others brilliant, concur, each according to its 
 organization, in the great designs of nature. All 
 aid in purifying the atmosphere by absorbing the 
 hydrogen and azotic gas, of which the super- 
 abundance would inj ure the health of the nobler 
 species. The whole coast of Venezuela shines 
 with the white, blue, scarlet, purple and orange 
 enamels of the most brilliant shells. They are 
 the same species I have observed in the islands of 
 Tobago and Trinidad. 
 
VLGl'.TATION. 
 
 203 
 
 Vegetable World. 
 The kind of varied life which my destiny oblig- 
 ed me to lead in the colonies, the civil wars and 
 frequent sea voyages, required by the nature of 
 my business, added to my decided taste for 
 travelling, long and painful sickness, caused more 
 by moral affections and bodily fatigue, than by 
 the climate ; the want of books and communi- 
 cations with learned men, in a country where 
 they are very scarce, and where there are no 
 occupations but the accumulation of wealth, 
 and the enjoyment of physical pleasures : all these 
 causes united, have prevented me from devoting 
 myself to the study of botany, as much as my in- 
 clination would lead me. I led, however, rather 
 a sedentary life during the four last years of my 
 residence in the Island of Trinidad, in which I 
 was principally occupied with agriculture. From 
 the commencement of the revolution, I have been 
 connected with two botanists of the first eminence : 
 M. de la Barrere, a distinguished officer of engi- 
 neers, who had gone to settle in Trinidad, whilst 
 it belonged to Spain, and who still resides there ; 
 and the worthy and learned Mr. Alexander An- 
 derson, founder of the magnificent botanical gar- 
 den in the Island of Saint Vincent, the richest 
 garden of America and Asia ; where he has assem- 
 bled all the plants of the equinoxial regions, and 
 even those of the regions vulgarly termed tem- 
 perate ; such as tea, &c. With these estimable 
 men I made many excursions in the forests 
 
204 
 
 M. DC BAKUEKE. 
 
 of Trinidad, occupying myself with opening com- 
 munications and paths, studying the rocks and 
 physical geography of the country, whilst they 
 botanized. 
 
 M. de la Barrere, in 1793, and after a year's 
 residence in Trinidad, had discovered two hun- 
 dred and forty plants that do not exist in the 
 Antilles, which he visited, and of which he has 
 formed three new species, according to the Genera 
 Plantarum of our celebrated De Jussieu. It is a 
 great loss to botany that other occupations have 
 withheld him from that science, which he would 
 have enriched with numerous discoveries, if he 
 had been able to attend to it alone. M. de la 
 Barrere has, however, formed a magnificent her- 
 bal of the Antilles and the Island of Trinidad, in 
 duplicate. Why does he not send it to Europe? M. 
 de Jussieu, and other learned men, who have not 
 forgotten him, and who preserve their old attach- 
 ment for him, request, through me, that he will 
 send his duplicates to the learned and generous 
 Mecsenas of natural history, Sir Joseph Banks ; 
 it will be as usefully placed for the sciences with 
 him, as if it were in the Museum of the Garden 
 of Plants at Paris. The study of the sciences, 
 and the learned societies, have this noble advan- 
 tage over other human institutions, that instead 
 of the misfortunes of war diminishing the atten- 
 tion and respect which the truly learned of dif- 
 ferent nations entertain for each other, they even 
 inspire those sentiments with more energy and 
 
VEGETATION. 
 
 205 
 
 vivacity, by the mutual desire and necessity for 
 communicating their ideas, projects and disco- 
 veries to each other, in order to accelerate the 
 progress of scientific researches. 
 
 The Island of Trinidad presents, in some de- 
 gree, to the geologist and botanist an abridg- 
 ment of Guiana, and the countries comprised 
 in the various provinces of Venezuela ; such as 
 those situated on one side between a part 
 of the Cordilleras, of the Andes, and other 
 ranges of mountains which proceed from them, 
 and on the sea coast, between the mouth of the 
 river Amazons and that of the Madalena. Plu- 
 mier, Jaquin, Margraf, Aublet, Sonnini, and other 
 naturalists have given descriptions of the animals 
 and vegetables of this region ; and the most learn- 
 ed of modern travellers, Baron de Humboldt, in 
 the relation of his travels, where all is novel, 
 where he has gone through the whole circle of 
 the sciences, from astronomy down to zoophites, 
 has, during almost five years in which he travel- 
 led over different countries of America, extracted 
 more of the secrets of nature, and made more 
 discoveries, I believe, than all the men of sci- 
 ence who had visited those regions before him. 
 It is principally to these works I refer those 
 who are desirous of becoming more minutely 
 acquainted with the natural history of the 
 temperate and equatorial climates of America, 
 and particularly of the vegetable world. They 
 will see, that whilst this extraordinary man cal- 
 
20G 
 
 VEGETATION. 
 
 culated the movements of the heavenly bodies, 
 observed the physical structure of the globe, 
 noted meteorological observations, dissected birds, 
 quadrupeds, reptiles, fish, studying the remains 
 of Mexican and Peruvian antiquities, languages 
 unknown to the ancient world, the history 
 and manners of the indigenous natives, and 
 made a statistical work on those countries, which 
 alone would suffice for acquiring the highest re- 
 putation, they will see, that those prodigious 
 labours which he has executed in such a short 
 space of time, and as if he had merely flown 
 over the surface of the New World, yet left suffi- 
 cient time to this Leibnitz of his day, to discover 
 and describe about two thousand two hundred new 
 plants !* And it is a most honourable circumstance 
 for the French language, that this illustrious fo- 
 reigner has adopted it in publishing his works. 
 
 My affairs in the colonies not having permitted 
 me to attend to vegetables, excepting in their 
 connexions with agriculture, arts and commerce, 
 I shall limit myself to speaking of those of which 
 the cultivation is an object of industry with the 
 inhabitants of Trinidad, and the otherp rovinces 
 of Venezuela. It is natural, in the first place, to 
 speak of the sugar cane, which is the principal 
 source of colonial wealth. 
 
 The aboriginal inhabitants did not cultivate it 
 
 * He formed a herbal, during his travels, of six thousand 
 plants. 
 
SUGAR CANE. 
 
 207 
 
 when Columbus discovered the New World. It 
 even seems to be proved that it did not exist 
 there at that period. The Mexicans had no 
 knowledge of sugar ; but they made a syrup 
 from the juice of the agave, a species of pine- 
 apple, also from that of the maize stalk, and of 
 the honey of bees. Yet the culture of the sugar 
 cane has been practised from the most remote 
 antiquity in the East Indies and China. From 
 Africa, it passed into Spain, and from the Ca- 
 nary Islands to San Domingo, from whence it 
 was transplanted to the other colonies. Accord- 
 ing to Oviedo Valdes, the first sugar plantation 
 was established at San Domingo in 1520, and in 
 1535, there were already thirty of them there. 
 The Canary sugar cane was still exclusively culti- 
 vated in the colonies in 1791, under the name of 
 the Creole cane. It was to the discovery of the 
 Islands of Otaheite, in 1759, by the celebrated 
 Bougainville, that we owe the cane now culti- 
 vated in the colonies, and to which has been 
 given the name of Otaheite cane. This navi- 
 gator transported it to the Isle of France, in re- 
 turning from his voyage round the world : it 
 was cultivated in the botanical garden of that 
 island, from whence it was brought, in 1788, to 
 that of Cayenne, by Mr. Martin, a French bo- 
 tanist, who also sent some of it to Martinico, 
 where it was kept as an object of curiosity in the 
 public garden, at the town of St. Pierre, and in 
 that of a French officer, M. Passerat de la Cha- 
 
208 
 
 SUGAR CANE. 
 
 pelle. These are facts which have come to my par- 
 ticular knowledge, because I arrived at Martinico 
 at the end of the year 1791. The following is a 
 note supplied to me by a person whose testi- 
 mony is unexceptionable.* 
 
 " With respect to the Otaheite canes," (says 
 M. du Buc,) " In 1790, there was a tuft or two 
 of them in the Government Gardens at St. 
 Pierre : I believe the plant had come from the 
 botanical garden of Cayenne. A M. de la Cha- 
 pelle, planter, of Fort Royal, was the first who 
 cultivated it in his grounds, and he praised it 
 excessively ; but as his experiments were on a 
 very small scale, and he was known to be in the 
 habit of exaggerating, his assertions were not 
 much credited. However, in the month of June, 
 1790, when M. de Damas, then at the head of the 
 colonists, went to pacify the town of St. Pierre, 
 after the massacre of the men of colour which 
 took place on the day of Corpus Christi, many 
 of the planters took specimens of this plant from 
 the government garden, and planted it in their 
 own grounds. In the years 1791 and 1792, it 
 increased exceedingly. In 1793, the disturb- 
 ances and emigration of the planters suspended 
 its progress, but in 1794, it became the more 
 rapid, as each having to plant his plantation anew 
 
 * M. L. A. Du Buc, deputy from Martinico to the Emperor 
 Napoleon, and son of the celebrated M. Du Due, formerly 
 intendant of the colonies. 
 
VJTAHE1TE CANES. 
 
 209 
 
 made use of these canes, the superiority of which 
 was confirmed, and they procured it from those 
 who had already a few beds of it. From this 
 moment it was an object of trade : a mule's load 
 of it being sold for two and three dollars. The 
 propagation was so rapid, that in 1798, it might 
 be said, there were none of the old canes remain- 
 ing 1 in the island. 
 
 " I need not inform you how we manage to 
 accelerate the increase of the Otaheitecanejs : with 
 a few load*, I plauted (he tenth of a square bed ; 
 this was cut in four or five months, and each cut- 
 ting gave as much cane as would plant five or six 
 beds. This second nursery at the end of four or 
 five months more, multiplied six fold in cutting, 
 without prejudice to the first, which still produced: 
 thus you will perceive that three or four squares 
 would be soon planted, and continue so to an 
 indefinite extent.'" 
 
 For two years past there have been no other 
 canes cultivated in the colonies than those I have 
 described, because they are longer, thicker, and 
 give more juice than the Creole cane. They have 
 a great advantage over the latter, which is, that 
 they may be cut in ten months after they have 
 been planted. The planters in easy circumstances, 
 however, cut them only every fourteen months, 
 and they then give a third more produce than 
 the Creole cane of the same age. 
 
 Various persons, and Depons among others, 
 have slated that the above cane degenerates in 
 
210 
 
 OTAHEITE CANES. 
 
 America ; that tho sugar extracted from it is not 
 of such a good quality as that of the Creole cane; 
 that it liquefies partially on the voyage, &c. These 
 are errors now acknowledged by all the colonists. 
 There are in the colonies, as every where else, a 
 set of plodding men, who oppose useful disco- 
 veries with all the weight of their prejudices, 
 vanity and ignorance : these men refused to culti- 
 vate the Otaheite canes for four or five years ; but 
 at present, when they see them yield a third 
 more sugar than the Creole cane, their interest 
 has forced them into its cultivation. It has 
 also the advantage of the refuse giving more fuel, 
 of giving very considerable produce during ten 
 years, in grounds of ordinary fertility, and for 
 fifteen or sixteen years in a fertile soil ; whilst it 
 is necessary to replant the Creole cane every two 
 years in middling ground, and every four or five 
 years in the best land : this is an inestimable ad- 
 vantage in a country where labour is so dear. 
 
 But what renders this vegetable still more 
 precious, is the flexibility of its organization ; or 
 in other words, the property it has of accommo- 
 dating itself to various temperatures, much more 
 than the Creole cane. It is known thr*t the latter 
 scarcely gives any sugar, and that it is necessary 
 to replant it every year, if it be required to de- 
 rive any produce from it in countries where Reau- 
 mur's thermometer descends, for some months 
 only, below 15°. It is not so with the Otaheite cane. 
 In Louisiana the cultivation of the sugar-cane 
 
PRODUCTION OF SUGAR. 
 
 211 
 
 had been almost abandoned, previous to the 
 French revolution, because the Creole cane gave 
 scarcely any sugar. The emigrants from San 
 Domingo introduced that of the South Sea island, 
 and although it does not produce as much there as 
 in the Antilles, still its cultivation is much more 
 profitable than that of the Creole cane. Now 
 the climate of Louisiana is not much warmer than 
 that of Provence, Lower Languedoc, and a part 
 of Spain ; it is not so hot as in the kingdom of 
 Naples : it is certainly more humid, and the sugar 
 cane requires moisture ; but is it not possible, in 
 the south of Europe, to supply the want of at- 
 mospheric humidity by irrigations? These are, 
 I may venture to say, reflections worthy of the 
 attention of government. It has been proved 
 that the sugar cane of Otaheite may be advan- 
 tageously cultivated in the southern countries of 
 Europe which I have mentioned, in every part 
 where the grounds may be watered in dry seasons. 
 I ought not to omit mentioning, that the sugar of 
 Louisiana is not inferior to that of the Antilles : 
 there is no other used in the United States, where 
 it does not cost, when refined, more than seven- 
 pence halfpenny per pound. 
 
 In Lower Louisiana it is reckoned that an acre 
 of land gives in an average one thousand pounds 
 of sugar yearly, two hundred and fifty pounds of 
 cotton, two hundred pounds of tobacco, thirty 
 bushels of maize, or twenty bushels of wheat. It 
 is not surprising that such an enormous difference 
 
 p 2 
 

 212 
 
 M. l)E ( OSSIONV 
 
 in the value of the crops has made the planters 
 in Louisiana prefer the cultivation of sugar to all 
 other produce, in that part of their province 
 which is fit for it. It is the same in Mexico and 
 various parts of Venezuela, where previous to the 
 French Revolution this culture was unknown. 
 It is to the ruin of San Domingo, and the misfor- 
 tunes of our other colonies that it has been intro- 
 duced there, and even that of coffee, which before 
 the above event had been grown only for domes- 
 tic use and in very few places. Thus, in a few 
 years, and when peace is re-established, sugar, the 
 most agreeable and the most wholsome* of vege- 
 table productions, will also become one of those 
 which may be procured on cheaper terms. 
 
 Mr. de Cossigny, a landed proprietor in the 
 Isle of France, presented in 1799, to the Agricul- 
 tural Society of Paris, a memorial, and has since 
 presented others, on the means to be employed for 
 naturalizing in the south of France, the sugar 
 
 * Those wliohave boon in the colonies know that the negroes 
 belonging to sugar plantations, grow fat during the time of mak- 
 ing the sugar, although they then work harder and sleep loss than 
 in any other time of the year. It is because they eat a great 
 deal of sugar, and drink plenty of syrup ; they are scon to dip 
 (heir salt fob, meat, and all their food in the hot syrup. The 
 mules and other animals employed on those sugar plantations also 
 fatten in the sugar harvest, for the skimmings of the sugar pans are 
 given to them ; and yet they arc made to work hard at that time ; 
 whereas during the remainder of the year they are allowed to 
 ■'raze at liberty in the savannas. 
 
COMPARISONS. 
 
 213 
 
 cane, indigo, and cotton. If the results have not 
 corresponded with the expectations of this learned 
 colonist, so zealous for the interests of his country, 
 it is, I believe, because he was not furnished with 
 the means of making his experiments on a scale 
 sufficiently extensive. Besides, at that period 
 the Otaheite cane was scarcely known in France. 
 I believe it is even still unknown in Europe, that 
 it yields a third more of sugar than the Creole 
 cane, and that it produces abundantly in places 
 and climates where the Creole cane scarcely 
 yields any thing. Chance having enabled me to 
 discover in 1803, at Trinidad, an Otaheite cane 
 on a mountain elevated nearly eighteen hun- 
 dred feet above the level of the sea, I cut it in 
 pieces and took it home : it was rather more 
 than twelve feet long and two inches in diameter ; 
 that is to say, it was as well grown as those that 
 are produced in the warmest parts of the island ; 
 although it had sprung up, I know not how, in 
 the middle of mountain weeds. I pressed the 
 juice from it, and it gave me nine ounces of very 
 good raw sugar. I felt convinced, on that 
 occasion, the Creole canes would scarcely grow 
 in this place, or that they would be very stunt- 
 ed, and contain either very little, or very bad 
 sugar; for it is well known in the colonies that 
 this plant does not thrive in cool situations, ele- 
 vated more than sixteen hundred feet above the 
 sea, where the thermometer seldom rises above 
 17°, and is generally at 14° or 15" of Reamur. 
 
214 
 
 NATURALIZING PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Some days afterwards I returned to the same 
 mountain, and planted eight Creole and as many 
 South Sea canes ; thirteen months afterwards I 
 went to cut them ; three of the Creole canes had 
 but seven joints, the others only four or five ; they 
 had scarcely eight or nine lines of diameter in 
 their thickest joints. I had their juice boiled, and 
 by dint of ashes and lime, I extracted four ounces 
 of raw sugar from them, of the most inferior 
 quality. The Otaheite canes yielded as much 
 and as good sugar as those which grew in tho 
 warmest districts of the island. I kept my experi- 
 ment secret, as well as some others which I made 
 on tropical productions, as it was my intention 
 not to make them public until my return to 
 France. I then concluded that the South Sea cane 
 is endowed like the Creoles with great flexibility, 
 and that it may be advantageously cultivated in 
 climates less hot than those situated between the 
 tropics. 
 
 It was then also that I conceived the idea of 
 communicating to various persons in the United 
 States and France, the scheme of naturalizing 
 in the southern countries of Europe the pro- 
 ductions of the tropics, by transporting them, at 
 first to the Azores, or the Canary Islands, where 
 the climate is in the mean between that of the 
 torrid zone and the south of France, Italy and a 
 part of Spain. I was desirous that they should be 
 cultivated in those intermediate regions with care 
 during three or four years, and that from thence 
 
%%& ■/®wk&mtt$ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 
 
 COUNT 1)E BOUGAINVILLE. 
 
 215 
 
 they might be transplanted into Provence. I am 
 convinced that by this means the Otaheite cane 
 may be naturalized with us, and also other pro- 
 ductions of the equinoctial regions ; which for our 
 agriculture and commerce would be an advantage 
 on which it is useless for me to dilate, while it 
 must greatly diminish the profits of our rivals. 
 
 One day when the late Count de Bougainville was 
 walking about the Garden of Plants at Paris, in 
 1807, he saw the Otaheite canes in the hot-houses : 
 "these are some of my breed," said he to M. Thouin, 
 the professor ; " pray give me one to plant in my 
 garden." The cane was accordingly sent, but his 
 gardener forgot to place it in a hot-house during 
 the winter, nor did the Count even tell him 
 what plant it was. The gardener supposed it to 
 be some curious reed, and merely stuck it in a heap 
 of manure by the side of a wall. The Count walk- 
 ing in his garden in the beginning of the summer 
 of 1808, recognized his Otaheite cane very healthy 
 and large. Convinced by this experiment that it 
 can endure the winter, even in the climate of 
 Paris, he had several joints of it cut and planted, 
 all of which produced very fine tufts of canes. 
 
 I shall not enter on the details of the cultivation 
 of this important plant, or on the process of ex- 
 tracting the sugar : a great many treatises have 
 been written on the subject. The best is, un- 
 doubtedly, that of M. Duthrone, a physician and 
 planter of St. Domingo : he was, I believe, the 
 first who had sugar pans made of copper, broader 
 
216 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED. 
 
 and shallower than the iron caldrons which are 
 chiefly used in the sugar plantations: by their 
 width and shallowness, they save both fuel and 
 time, because the syrup boils and changes sooner 
 into sugar in those boilers than in the former ones 
 which are much deeper. In them the syrup is 
 stirred and skimmed more easily, which diminishes 
 the labour of the refiner. It is also remarked 
 that the sugar made in those pans has a lighter 
 and more agreeable colour, than that which has 
 been boiled in iron. When an iron caldron 
 breaks, or becomes perforated, it is necessary to 
 destroy the masonry of the furnace to replace it 
 with another, which wastes much time, and some- 
 times spoils several quintals of syrup ; but when 
 a copper caldron meets this accident, there is no 
 further trouble than in soldering a patch on it, 
 which can be done in half an hour. These and 
 many other reasons might be cited to induce the 
 Spanish cultivators to abandon the use of iron 
 caldrons as the English planters have both at 
 Jamaica and in almost all their other colonies. 
 
 There might be many other improvements made 
 in the cultivation and boiling of sugar. The cogs 
 of the mill wheels, for instance, which are now used 
 frequently break, and it is necessary to unhang 
 them, in order to put new ones in ; causing a con- 
 siderable loss of time and money. In 1803, I pro- 
 posed to Mr. Robley, of Tobago, to substitute iron 
 ones welded into a rim of the same metal ; if the 
 cog should be broken, it would be sufficient to 
 
m&r&sv 
 
 cocoa tkel:. 
 
 217 
 
 take oil' the rim, and introduce a new one ; which 
 might be the work of half an hour, or of an 
 hour at the utmost. When I left my plantation 
 in Trinidad, I intended to have made rims with 
 cogs on this plan. 
 
 The tree which produces cocoa, (theobroma 
 cacao J, is the principal object of cultivation in 
 those of the Spanish colonies which are situated 
 in hot climates, and particularly in the provinces of 
 Venezuela, where it is of a superior quality. " The 
 extreme fertility of the soil," says M. de Hum- 
 boldt, " and the insalubrity of the air, are in 
 Southern America and Asia, two inseparable cir- 
 cumstances. It is observed that the more the 
 agriculture of a country increases, the more the 
 forests diminish ; and that the more the soil and 
 climate become dry, the less the plantations of 
 cocoa succeed." The observation of M. de Hum- 
 boldt is strictly true : still it must be said, that there 
 are districts in the provinces of Venezuela, and the 
 island of Trinidad, which though not unhealthy, 
 produce very good crops of cocoa. The vallies 
 of Arragoa in the province of Caraccas, those 
 of Cariaco, Carupano, of Rio Caribe, and the 
 banks of the river Caroni in Spanish Guiana, 
 produce excellent cocoa in abundance : and those 
 countries are not unwholesome, for their inhabi- 
 tants enjoy good health, and are subject to fewer 
 diseases than aged persons in Europe, or the in- 
 habitants of Barbadoes, Antigua, Sainte Croix, 
 
218 
 
 S1NGULAU DISEASE. 
 
 and some of the Caribbean islands which have 
 no rivers, and are subject to much drought. In 
 the continental regions I am describing, and which 
 are watered by many streams, a great number of 
 navigable rivers, arid a multitude of rivulets which 
 w T ould be termed rivers in France, the atmosphere 
 is continually refreshed by the evaporation of 
 those running waters, which at the same time that 
 they invigorate and fertilize vegetation, preserve 
 the inhabitants from certain disorders, to which 
 those residing in countries where the climate is too 
 hot and dry for the European race are subject. 
 The inhabitants of Barbadoes, Tobago, and other 
 islands, where, in some years there is scarcely any 
 rain, are subject to a disease in the alimentary 
 canal, which finishes by paralizing that organ. 
 The patient loses the faculty of digestion ; and 
 sees himself consuming away without a remedy. 
 This disease is incurable when it has made some 
 progress, and the only mode of curing it at its 
 commencement, is to send the patient to a cold 
 climate. The English physicians attribute this 
 malady to the extreme dryness and heat of the 
 climate. Perhaps they might also add to the 
 spices, brandied wines, the rum and other spiritu- 
 ous liquors, which their countrymen often use to 
 such an inordinate excess. The unhealthy parts 
 of the new world are, as every where else, marshy 
 places, and where water has not a sufficiently rapid 
 course : such countries are, it is true, generally 
 

 COCOA TREK. 
 
 219 
 
 very fertile ; but there are also in those some 
 places which are, at the same time, well watered, 
 fertile, and very healthy. 
 
 The cocoa tree is the favourite object of agri- 
 culture in the ci-devant Spanish colonies. Their 
 neighbours, the English and French colonists, 
 assert that they, prefer the cultivation of this plant 
 to that of all others, because it requires scarcely 
 any labour, and that an agreeable nap may be 
 taken under its shade. This consideration may 
 have its weight with many, in the preference 
 which the Spanish colonists give in growing the 
 cocoa tree. 
 
 Cocoa was unknown to the inhabitants of the 
 old world, until the discovery of the new. It 
 was the favourite nourishment of the indige- 
 nous inhabitants : the cocoa bean served for small 
 money in Mexico, as eggs and cocoa nuts are now 
 passed in Caraccas and Cumana. At first, and 
 after the conquest, the taste for cocoa or chocolate 
 passed from America to Spain, where the opulent 
 would sooner do without bread than chocolate. 
 We owe the introduction of this luxury, as agree- 
 able as it is wholesome, to the monks, who were 
 great admirers of good things ; it was they who 
 first brought it into use in France. Could it have 
 been that Linneeus coincided in opinion with 
 them, when he gave it the religious name of 
 Theobroma, divine beverage ? 
 
 The cocoa tree bears fruit in four years after it 
 has been planted, the following year still more, 
 
COFFEK. 
 
 and increases in fecundity until the ninth or 
 tenth year, when it is in full bearing. Its fruit 
 resembles somewhat the pine tops; but it never 
 grows higher than twelve or fifteen feet. It is 
 useless for me to describe its botanical character- 
 istics, which are well known to all persons conver- 
 sant in that science. Those who wish to be 
 informed as to the mode of cultivating it, can 
 satisfy their curiosity by reference to the second 
 volume of M. Depons' Travels in the Eastern 
 Part of Terra Firma. 
 
 It is impossible to speak of cocoa without think- 
 ing of vanilla, the epindendrum vanilla, of which 
 the odoriferous fruit is used for givingthe former a 
 delicious perfume. This parasitical plant is culti- 
 vated in the hot countries of Mexico ; but it is 
 collected wild in the provinces of Venezuela and 
 Trinidad, where it would produce considerable 
 gain to the inhabitants, if they gave themselves 
 the trouble of cultivating it. M. de Humboldt 
 has very properly ridiculed the opinion of certain 
 grave and ignorant persons, who pretend that 
 vanilla injures the nerves. It is with this opinion 
 as with that of certain parents, who tell their chil- 
 dren that they should not eat too much sugar, 
 because it spoils the teeth ! It is known that 
 vanilla is a stimulant equally wholesome and 
 agreeable. 
 
 Previous to the French revolution, coffee was 
 not cultivated in the Spanish colonies as an article 
 of commerce. The American and European 
 
■ 
 
 EDICT OK CHARLES II [. 
 
 221 
 
 Spaniards scarcely ever used that article, which is 
 so deservedly esteemed among us : when they 
 are asked a reason for it, they reply gravely, 
 that it heats the blood : the British and French 
 colonists assert that it is from indolence the Span- 
 ish colonists do not grow the coffee tree ; and cer- 
 tainly there is no colonial agriculture that requires 
 so much pains, and such assiduous care from the 
 beginning to the end of the year, as this plant ; 
 which would never have agreed with the slothful 
 habits of the Spanish colonists, as they were thirty 
 years ago. However, the edict of free trade 
 issued by Charles III. at Madrid, in 1778, deve- 
 loped the moral faculties of the colonial Spaniards 
 in all their activity and energy, which until then 
 had laid dormant. It is from that period we may 
 date the efforts they have made for adopting the 
 agriculture of the British, French, and Dutch 
 colonies. Venezuela owes to Don Bartholomeo 
 Blandin the first example of this branch of culti- 
 vation, with which the perseverance of a French- 
 man enriched Martinico and other parts of 
 America, at the commencement of the last cen- 
 tury. In 1784, Blandin devoted his capital and 
 plantations at Chacao, situated at a league from 
 the town of Caraccas, to the cultivation of coffee. 
 The soil on which he formed his plantations is not 
 well adapted for this plant : however, by dint of 
 attention and industry he succeeded in forcing 
 nature to a certain degree. A priest of the Ora- 
 tory, named Sojo, established coffee plantations in 
 
222 CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 
 
 the neighbourhood of those of M. Blandin. The 
 ruin of St. Domingo, consummated by the insur- 
 rection which took place in 1790, leaving a great 
 void in the markets of the old world, was the 
 principal cause that induced the colonists of 
 Venezuela to apply themselves to its cultivation ; 
 and from 1793 until the peace of Amiens, there 
 have been a great number of large plantations of 
 coffee formed in various parts of Venezuela, as 
 also in the islands of Porto Rico and Jamaica. 
 It was the French who emigrated from St. Do- 
 mingo that introduced the culture of it into those 
 islands. 
 
 This plant cannot be advantageously cultivated 
 in countries situated beyond twenty-five degrees 
 of latitude ; as the climate of the Bermudas, 
 though in 32° 35 is too cold for it during the 
 winter. ^ For the same reason, it is wrong to 
 persist in cultivating it in those parts of Vene- 
 zuela, which by their elevation above the sea, have 
 a temperature of 12° or 10° of Reaumur's thermo- 
 meter: that which agrees best with the coffee 
 tree, seldom rises above 20°, and never descends 
 below 10°. Under this degree of heat, it will 
 cease to produce ; which is the reason why it is 
 useless to think of introducing it even into the 
 warmest parts of Europe. This plant thrives 
 best in a mild and rather moist temperature: the 
 excessive heat of the sun does not agree with it, 
 and it flourishes in the vicinity of forests and 
 rivulets. In St. Domingo, Martinico and Guada- 
 
CULTIVATION OF C0FFEF. 
 
 2*23 
 
 loupe, it is only cultivated on the hills; but ex- 
 perience has proved in Venezuela, Trinidad, 
 Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo, that it thrives 
 equally well in the plains, when placed in a pro- 
 per soil. 
 
 Cold and hard argillaceous earths, and also the 
 sandy clay that lies on a bed of marl, are not lit 
 for coffee plantations • for at the end of twelve 
 or fifteen years the tree would no longer produce, 
 and would perish on such soils. It is best placed 
 in black deep arable ground which retains the 
 humidity well. If there be a quantity of small 
 stones in such ground, the tree becomes still more 
 productive. In Venezuela, the proper mode of 
 cultivating coffee was not well known in 1807: 
 the above is the manner adopted by the most in- 
 telligent French planters. 
 
 The plantations of coffee trees succeeded only in 
 places where the woods have been felled : the 
 grounds called savannas in those countries (natural 
 meadows), or those which have been planted with 
 sugar, cotton, or indigo, are not fit for the coflee 
 tree, as they have been too much dried by the sun. 
 
 Formerly coflee trees were planted toocloselv in 
 the French colonies at the distance of only four 
 feet, so that their branches intermingled and 
 injured each other. The influence of light and 
 air on vegetation was not well understood then. 
 Mr. Bruley, of St. Domingo, has written a sen- 
 sible treatise on their cultivation, of which I shall 
 give an extract in this place. 
 
221 
 
 CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 
 
 " To procure the coffee plant, they went 
 under the whole trees, and dug- up the young 
 plants produced by the fall ofllie ripe fruit, which 
 were transported from one plantation to another : 
 after having cut off a part of their roots, they 
 were placed in holes dug purposely for them. 
 This method is defective; a great part of the 
 plants obtained in such a manner, independently of 
 the mal-conformation that miVht have occurred in 
 them, under the old coffee tree, had, besides, the 
 defect of never having been exposed to the sun's 
 rays ; therefore the planter had not a certainty 
 of success in their growth. It was frequently 
 found that planters had to renew their planta- 
 tions for several successive years, before they 
 became regular. 
 
 " I avoided this inconvenience by a practice 
 which many planters have adopted since. I sowed 
 at a distance of six inches, in regular rows, and in 
 ground prepared for that purpose, certain grains 
 of coffee : this became a nursery, which I watered 
 and took great care of ; and from thence I took 
 the young coffee plants necessary for making 
 my plantations. When it was necessary to remove 
 them from the nursery, care was taken to moisten 
 the earth well, and then with a single cut of the 
 spade, the young coffee tree was raised, with 
 the mass of clay that surrounded its roots. 
 
 " It may be easily imagined that the coffee 
 plants thus transplanted from the nursery to the 
 holes destined to receive them, suffered no alter- 
 
^H 
 
 CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 
 
 226 
 
 ation or hindrance in their vegetation, and con- 
 sequently the plantations were regular. Very- 
 few plants required to be replaced ; none were 
 defective in their structure ; while all were ac- 
 customed to a scorching sun : I mitigated its 
 effects on the earth in which those young trees 
 were planted, by placing heaps of pebbles close 
 to them, which preserved the moisture of the 
 ground even in the driest time of the year. All 
 those coffee trees had the advantage of being 
 more flourishing, stronger, and bearing sooner than 
 those of my neighbours, planted at the same time, 
 according to the old method. I am assured that 
 these plantations, though neglected like all those 
 of St. Domingo, are still fine." 
 
 I have already said that the coffee trees were 
 planted too closely together in the French colo- 
 nies : they were placed at four feet asunder, and 
 in all kinds of ground. This circumstance was 
 the cause that good crops were obtained only in 
 poor land. It is now understood that they 
 should be planted at distances of seven or eight 
 feet in a good soil. They are also planted in 
 triangle or in quincunx, by which a sixth part 
 of the ground is saved. The deeper the vegeta- 
 tive mould is, the deeper the holes should be dug ; 
 but if the good soil be shallow, care must be 
 taken that the holes be not too deep, because the 
 plant will die when the roots reach the volcanic 
 ashes or tufa. 
 
226 
 
 ORINOCO NUTMEG. 
 
 Coffee trees produce but little unless their 
 growth be impeded by cutting* : they are cut at 
 two feet and a half on middling soils, and at four 
 and a half or live feet on very fertile grounds. This 
 plant produces some fruit in two years after it 
 has been planted: it produces still more in the 
 third year; in seven years it is in full bearing, 
 and lives to seventy and eighty years, when in a 
 proper soil and well cultivated. I shall not enter 
 into further details on its cultivation, which 
 would be no novelty to the inhabitants of our 
 colonies, and totally unnecessary to an Euro- 
 pean reader. There is, however, in what I have 
 said, and in that which I have quoted from M. 
 Bruly, information which will not be useless to 
 many planters in the Spanish colonies where this 
 subject is not yet well understood. I also wish 
 to recommend them to plant their nurseries of 
 coffee plants under the shade of bananas, and to 
 transplant them, as they practise with their 
 cocoa trees, to the shade of the erythrina, which 
 they call la madre del cacao, mother of cocoa. 
 I shall say nothing of the plants that produce 
 cotton, arnotto, indigo, which are all cultivated 
 in Venezuela, and yield superior qualities there. 
 
 They have in their exportable commodities, 
 a grain of two lobes, which the people of the 
 country call puchery, or pichurim, and to which 
 the French Creoles have given the name of the 
 Orinoco nutmeg, because it has an aromatic 
 odour very similar to that of the oriental nutmeg. 
 
■Hni 
 
 A MEDICINE. 
 
 227 
 
 I have never been able to see the tree that pro- 
 duces this grain, which grows near the banks of 
 the Rio Negro, and is sold at a very low price in 
 the country. It belongs to a species of laurel. 
 
 Mr. Richard told me he had found one in French 
 Guiana, the fruit of which, as described by him, 
 appeared not to differ from that used in com- 
 merce. Why do not the inhabitants of Vene- 
 zuela cultivate it at home ? Since the flavour of 
 its fruit is such an agreeable aromatic when wild, 
 it is presumed that it would acquire a more supe- 
 rior quality if domesticated. I have found that 
 a decoction of it mixed with sugar and magnesia, 
 is a powerful remedy in the disease known by 
 the name of dry cholic, which makes such havoc 
 among the negroes, and even sometimes among 
 the whites in the Antilles. Combined with sugar 
 and a small quantity of opium, it is an excellent 
 remedy for tenesmus and dysentery. The Swed- 
 ish and Danish physicians tell wonderful things 
 of it.* 
 
 One day when I was going from my plantation, 
 situated on the north side of Trinidad, to Port Spain, 
 accompanied by M. de la Barrere, and when ex- 
 hausted with fatigue, sickness, and vexation, I 
 rested near a cascade which rushes from the moun- 
 tain of Las Cuevas, my indefatigable companion 
 was collecting plants above me ; I heard him 
 
 * This is a very common spice in the Brazils and Portugal, 
 where it is called Noz Nosgada, and sold very cheap. — Ed. 
 
 Q 2 
 
a*8 
 
 YEW TREK. 
 
 suddenly exclaim, " what do I see ! is that a yew 
 tree ? pray come and look at it. I have tra- 
 versed," said M. de la Barrere, " the woods and 
 mountains of this island a hundred times, and 
 never met with a tree that had the appearance of 
 this one :" it was in full bloom. 
 
 We had some Indians with us, who climbed 
 like squirrels : one was sent up to gather some 
 of the fruit and blossoms : he soon threw dow T n 
 plenty of them. The berry of this tree is larger 
 than that of the yew, Taxus baccata, and of a 
 taste at once rough and sweet ; its flowers do not 
 differ from those of the yew baccata, otherwise 
 than in being larger and purplish ; but its leaves 
 narrow and thick, are rather lancet shaped than 
 blunt, which is the reason that M. de Jussieu 
 considers it to be a Podocarpus, or species ap- 
 proaching the yew. The yew, or Podocarpus of 
 Las Cuevas, is taller and thicker than that of 
 Europe : we saw one of about sixty feet high, 
 and four or five others appeared to be from forty 
 to fifty feet in height. The thermometer, in the 
 shade, is generally between sixteen and eighteen 
 degrees on the mountain of Las Cuevas : there is 
 scarcely sufficient coolness there to keep alive 
 some arborescent fern, which have neither the 
 height nor thickness of those which grow 
 in Guadaloupe on the tops and sides of the 
 Souffriere, Matouba, and Mont d'Or. Still it is 
 an interesting circumstance for the geography 
 of plants, to see a yew, or a species so nearly 
 
I ■■ . . ■■ m0 ■■ Jptc 
 
 CASCADES. 
 
 229 
 
 allied to it, which exists in ten degrees of latitude, 
 at about two thousand feet only above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 This phenomenon can only be explained by 
 the numerous rivulets which meander in the 
 range of Las Cuevas, and by the breezes of the 
 north wind that come from the direction of North 
 America, and which, from the month of No- 
 vember to the beginning of April, produce such 
 a coolness in the more elevated parts of this 
 island, that it is not uncommon for Reaumur's 
 thermometer to descend to 12°, an hour after 
 the sun's setting: I have seen it at 11° half an 
 hour before sun-rise. 
 
 While surveying the surrounding scenery, 1 
 recollected an expression made to me six years 
 before, by the learned Walker^, when I spoke to 
 him of the forests of South America : " Oh ! what a 
 fine sermon those forests are!" said he. On this spot 
 all conduced to grave and melancholy meditation. 
 From the point on which we stood, I saw five 
 cascades precipitating their waters over each 
 other. 
 
 To the east, I saw and heard the sea rushing 
 with fury into the caverns of Las Cuevas ; it was 
 calm to the west, and in the Gulf of Paria : what 
 a true emblem of human life ! It is in this 
 vast silence of the forests, this calm of nature, 
 
 * Professor of natural history at Edinburgh. 
 
230 
 
 GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 that the virtuous man whose mind is wounded 
 by persecution and misfortune, should go to 
 meditate and soothe his soul. It is there, that in 
 the innocent society of the vegetable world, and 
 by observing its mysterious laws, he may con- 
 template on one summit, bananas, balisiers, ma- 
 hogany, cedar, the fern, and yew, which, though 
 natives of different sites and temperatures, vege- 
 tate on the same point of our planet, without 
 hot houses, or other stimulus from human aid, 
 whilst man often exists only to torment his fellow 
 creature ! 
 
 Geological Observations. 
 
 The great range of mountains in Guiana and 
 Venezuela, which runs east and west, is com- 
 posed of gneiss and micaceous schistus, in which 
 are found chrystals of quartz. The micaceous 
 schistus {glimmers chief er of Werner) makes a 
 transition sometimes into talcous schistus, and 
 the decomposition of this latter substance gives 
 a greasy appearance to the soil. There is also 
 found in the ridge of mountains on the coast, 
 between Punta de Piedra and Guiria, near Cape 
 de Paria, at a league from the sea, a blueish 
 calcareous stone, similar to that which M. de 
 Humboldt designates under the term of the Alpine 
 calcareous stone (alpenkalkstein.J This rock is 
 rather hard, and veined with white calcareous 
 carbonate chrystallized : it rests on coagulated 
 
^kSfVi'lV. ' 
 
 H| ■ 
 
 GEOLOGICAL OBSERVA I'lONS. 
 
 231 
 
 clay with pebbles of the primitive rocks. I found 
 near Carupano, outside the Gulf of Paria, and in 
 Ihevallies of the coast mountains, lamellated gyp- 
 sum near the beds of rivers, and in places they 
 had abandoned. 
 
 On leaving the foot of those mountains and 
 the mouth of the Orinoco, to coast the sea shore to 
 the river of Amazons, there seems to be no other 
 substance than a vegetative argillaceous earth, 
 deep and fertile, without rocks or pebbles. All 
 the coasts of this country, from the mouth of 
 the Orinoco, to the Lake of Maracaybo, are 
 primitive. The part of that country which is 
 low, and almost every where on the same level, 
 has been formed evidently by the ruins of moun- 
 tains, and the sediment of the waters of the Ori- 
 noco, which are thrown back on the coast bv 
 the force of the waves and currents. Those 
 alluvial and marshy earths are every day more 
 and more covered with mangroves frhizophora 
 mangle,) which thrive in the sea, or on its 
 shores, in those climates. It is evident that in 
 this part of the world, the land encroaches con- 
 tinually on the sea, and thus marine shells are 
 found at some distance from the coast, and in 
 places that the sea has recently abandoned. Such 
 is the coast south-west of the Island of Trinidad, 
 and that situated towards the right bank of the 
 Orinoco. 
 
 Near the mouths of the Orinoco there are only 
 grounds inundated and covered with mangroves, 
 
232 
 
 VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. 
 
 and other trees natural to the sea shore, and not 
 a single rock in that multitude of islets covered 
 with various kinds of palms, and inhabited by 
 the Guaraouns. But on the borders of the sea, 
 between the Guarapiche and the Orinoco, there 
 are found fragments of quartz, rounded quartzose 
 pebbles, and shingle of rocks composed of various 
 colours, such as green, yellow, red, blue, &c. The 
 magnetic needle indicates the presence of iron in 
 almost all those pebbles and rocks. 
 
 In short, the Amazons, the rivers of Cayenne 
 and Surinam, the Demarara, Essequibo, and all 
 the other streams that discharge themselves on 
 this coast, enable it to advance continually on 
 the sea, and imperceptibly augment the territory 
 of Trinidad ; so that it may be predicted that 
 the Gulf of Paria will some day be no more than 
 a channel through which the waters of the Ori- 
 noco and Guarapiche will be conveyed to the 
 ocean. The course of the currents which con- 
 tinually form and increase this coast, is from 
 south-east to north-west, from the mouth of the 
 Amazons to beyond Cape de Paria. 
 
 This country has been almost every where 
 convulsed by volcanoes ; but the volcanic effects 
 there do not resemble those of Europe, owing 
 to the difference of geological constitution. Here 
 is found gypsum, which abounds in sulphur ; 
 elsewhere pyrites mingled with all kinds of 
 rocks, even with the granitic rocks ; bituminous 
 muriatic argile, petrolium or asphaltum. The 
 
HBS 
 
 >1INES. 
 
 233 
 
 rains of sea water which frequently fall on this 
 soil heated by a burning sun, and which are de- 
 composed in it, nourish the volcanoes, that send 
 forth eruptions of argillaceous mud, and sulphu- 
 rated hydrogen. 
 
 The gold mines in this country are so unpro- 
 ductive that they have been abandoned. There 
 are no other mines now worked there, than 
 those of copper at San Felipe de Aroa. I have 
 never heard, and M. de Humboldt has no know- 
 ledge of tin mines in Venezuela, which a public 
 paper mentioned some time ago. 
 
234 
 
 INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE, 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Industry and Commerce of the ci-devant Spanish Colonies compared 
 with those of England, France, Holland, &c — Lord Chatham's 
 opinion of Colonial Manufactures — Impolicy of encouraging them, 
 
 — Most adviseable System for Governments to pursue Barbarous 
 
 Policy of the Spanish Cabinet with regard to the Colonies Juice of 
 
 the Agave. — Absurd and oppressive Mode of Taxation. — Reflections. 
 — Guipuscoa Company. — Edict of Free Trade. — Prohibitions of the 
 Spanish Government. — Remarks on the Work of M. Depons. — Con- 
 traband Trade of English Merchants. — Facts and Observations re- 
 lative thereto. — Panegyric on the Custom House, and Revenue 
 Laws of Great Britain. — Remarks on the Colonial System of France, 
 and Consequences of the prohibitory Regulations of Spain. — List of 
 various Duties, Imposts, &c. — Privileges accorded to French Set- 
 tlers in the Spanish Colonies by the Family Compact. — Annual 
 Amount of Exports from Venezuela. — Concluding Remarks. 
 
 Whilst the British, French and Dutch colonies 
 in America had arrived at the highest degree of 
 prosperity which each of them could attain, re- 
 latively to the degree of prosperity enjoyed by 
 their respective parent states, the Spanish colo- 
 nies, which are so superior to them in extent and 
 beauty, in the salubrity and variety of their cli- 
 mates, and by all the riches which are lavished 
 there in the three great departments of natural his- 
 tory, languished, in a state of misery and stagna- 
 tion, bordering on the barbarity in which the 
 
H SB 
 
 LORD CHATHAM. 
 
 235 
 
 semi-civilized nations of Asia and Africa are still 
 plunged. The original cause of this state of 
 things is found in the exclusive system of com- 
 mercial companies, to which they had long been 
 sacrificed ; and since the abolition of those com- 
 panies, in the impossibility Spain found herself 
 with the absurd laws which oppressed her com- 
 merce, to export the raw materials of her co- 
 lonies, or manufacture them, at the same time 
 that she prohibited their being manufactured by 
 the colonists at home, or to sell them in their 
 crude state to the neighbouring nations. 
 
 All nations have had more or less of this 
 jealousy ; but other states have possessed the 
 necessary means or industry for supplying the 
 wants of their colonies. Previous to the great 
 revolution which liberated North America, 
 Lord Chatham declared in Parliament, that 
 it ought to be prohibited to the colonists, under 
 the most severe penalties, to spin a single 
 thread or forge a nail. By this hyperbolic ex- 
 pression he meant to prove, that commerce and 
 navigation would experience a great check, if the 
 Americans were permitted to work their raw 
 materials ; which a great number of English 
 vessels were employed in bringing from those 
 colonies, the profits of which maintained a multi- 
 tude of seamen, the nursery of the navy, at the 
 same time that they caused their manufacturing 
 towns to flourish, whose wealth was disseminated 
 
236 
 
 M. DU BUC. 
 
 by all the channels of industry among every class 
 of citizens. 
 
 And it must be confessed that the chief part of 
 the colonies have been, or are still in a state 
 in which it would be injurious to subtract a 
 portion of their population, to be employed in 
 the refinements of manufacturing' industry ; be- 
 cause those very objects may be furnished to 
 them on much better terms from the East 
 Indies and Europe ; countries where, on account 
 of their great population, workmanship is at a very 
 low price. Thus it was seen, about thirty years 
 ago, at Martinico, that M. du Buc, a man of other- 
 wise good sense and considerable talents, lost in 
 a short time more than two millions of francs 
 (eighty thousand pounds), by having attempted 
 to establish sugar refineries in that island. Since 
 the Americans of the United States have become 
 an independent people, they have had the wisdom 
 to avoid diverting their population from agricul- 
 ture to manufactures : they find it more profit- 
 able to carry the raw produce of their soil to Eu- 
 rope and to India in their own vessels ; by which 
 their merchants and mariners gain considerable 
 freight ; which bring home to them in exchange 
 the manufactured merchandizes of the old world, 
 and which do not cost them so dear as if they had 
 been wrought among themselves, notwithstand- 
 ing the duties established by congress on all kinds 
 of merchandize imported from foreign nations, 
 
w$m 
 
 SPANISH l'OLICY. 
 
 237 
 
 duties which form nearly nine tenths of the 
 revenue of this economical government.* 
 
 It should not be concluded from the above, 
 that certain branches of industry ought to be in- 
 terdicted to the colonists : such prohibitions are 
 calculated only to render governments odious. A 
 wise administration leaves trade to find its own 
 level, and does not imitate the ancient Spanish 
 ministry, who, although their nation had neither 
 the means nor industry to consume, nor to trans- 
 port to other countries the productions of those 
 beautiful and immense colonies, still less to pro- 
 vide for their wants, yet would not permit them 
 to establish manufactories there, or to procure a 
 great number of the most necessary and agree- 
 able objects sought for by wealthy people from 
 their neighbours ; such as stuffs, furniture, jewels, 
 liquors of India and Europe, nor even the uten- 
 sils for agriculture and the mechanical arts. All 
 those conveniences have long been interdicted to 
 the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies, who had 
 the vexation and shame to see themselves wretched, 
 ragged, and almost as naked as savages, whilst 
 their neighbours, the English, French, Dutch, 
 
 * This assertion of the author is not borne out by late com- 
 munications, from which it appears that both the American peo- 
 ple and government have seriously turned their attention to the 
 establishment of manufactories, which, according to the old 
 system of transatlantic bombast, are to rival those of Europe, 
 particularly England, in the course of a very short period, if 
 they do not already realize that pleasing dream. — Ed. 
 
238 
 
 OBSTACLES TO COMMERCE. 
 
 and even the Portuguese, though in a country far 
 less abundant in natural and metallic riches, 
 lived in the midst of comforts, enjoyments, and 
 luxury. 
 
 Volumes might be filled in recounting the 
 absurd acts of the ancient Spanish govern- 
 ment, which had for their object those line 
 but] unfortunate colonies. It is known that all 
 the productions of Europe and Asia grow ad- 
 mirably well in Mexico, Peru and Caraccas, 
 according as the ground is elevated above the sea, 
 or approximating to it. The inhabitants of those 
 countries have been able and willing to cultivate 
 the productions of Europe, and from the com- 
 mencement of the last century, the olive and vine. 
 The government of the mother country put ob- 
 stacles in the way of such cultivation, even so far 
 as to prohibit it. The Peruvians and Mexicans 
 paid very little attention to those prohibitions, and 
 the government not feeling itself sufficiently strong 
 to enforce such iniquitous measures, shut its eyes 
 on their disobedience. However, in 1802, on 
 the representations of the merchants of Cadiz, 
 who informed His Catholic Majesty that the cul- 
 tivation of the vine and olive tree in Mexico, 
 injured the interests of his good city of Cadiz, 
 an order was sent to the viceroy, Don Joseph de 
 Yturrigarray, to cause all the vines and olive 
 trees there to be extirpated. That prudent gover- 
 nor took upon himself to avoid putting such a 
 barbarous order into execution, the consequences 
 
m02&ti§^M ii|w|^ 
 
 COMMERCIAL MONOPOLY. 
 
 239 
 
 of which might have led to the immediate inde- 
 pendence of Mexico. The rapacity of a company 
 of traders knows neither shame nor limits, when 
 they acquire too much influence with a govern- 
 ment, as may be seen in the conduct of the Bri- 
 tish and Dutch East India Companies. 
 
 The reader has just seen that the merchants of 
 Cadiz would have caused the destruction of the 
 vine and olive in America ; but there is also ano- 
 ther indigenous plant, the juice of which ferment- 
 ed, has been the favourite beverage of the Mex- 
 icans from the earliest antiquity. The maguay, 
 or agave, a species of the pine-apple, produces a 
 kind of wine called pulque. The said Cadiz 
 traders requested of the government to order the 
 destruction of all the plantations of it; and this 
 order, which is not unique of the kind in the 
 annals of commercial tyranny, was sent, it is 
 asserted, to the viceroy, Count de Revillagigedo, 
 in 1791.* It might be said that at the breaking 
 out of the French revolution, a kind of vertigo 
 infested the councils of Europe. The Count of 
 Revillagigedo not only took care not to put such 
 an order into execution, but he even concealed it 
 from the officers of the government. It was this 
 viceroy who rendered such great services to the 
 
 * All those who have studied history, from the time of the 
 Tyrians and Carthaginians, to our own days, need not be told 
 that no tyranny ever equalled that of trading governments towards 
 foreign eountries subject to their domination. 
 

 240 
 
 SOURCE OF REVENUE. 
 
 sciences, arts, agriculture and navigation, and 
 who, I believe, was the first that attempted to 
 compose a statistical account of Mexico ; a work 
 which it was reserved for M. de Humboldt to 
 complete, with that superiority of genius which 
 characterizes all his productions. 
 
 The fermented juice of the agave is thus for 
 the Mexicans, that which wine is for the people 
 of the south, and cider or beer for those of the 
 north of Europe. They extract from this wine 
 a spirit that they call mexical, or aqua ardiente 
 de maguey. This spirit was prohibited for a 
 long time, because it injured the trade in Spanish 
 brandies. But in those distant countries, they 
 eluded such a tyrannical order, and the govern- 
 ment at length permitted the inhabitants of the 
 internal provinces, and those of Tuspan, a dis- 
 trict in the intendency of Gaudalaxara, to sell 
 their pulque brandy publicly, merely imposing 
 a slight duty on it. From that time the com- 
 plaints ceased, and the people paid the tax with- 
 out murmuring. The cultivation of the maguey, 
 says M. de Humboldt, is become such an impor- 
 tant object for the exchequer, that the duties 
 of entry paid in the three towns of Mexico, Pue- 
 bla and Toluca (the first of those towns had, in 
 1808, 140,000, the second 68,000, and the third 
 50,000 inhabitants,) amounted in 1793, to the 
 sum of 817,739 dollars ; the expences of collecting 
 it then were 56,608 dollars ; so that the govern- 
 ment derived from those three towns onlv, from 
 
v^if4 k'^iP ^fi$2$583&i 
 
 TAXfeS. 
 
 241 
 
 from the juice of the agave, a net profit of 761,131 
 dollars. M. de Humboldt adds that the immo- 
 derate desire of augmenting the royal revenues 
 latterly, induced them to overburthen the manu- 
 factory of pulque in a vexatious and inconsiderate 
 manner ; and that if the government did not 
 change the system in this respect, it may be 
 expected that this branch of cultivation, one of 
 the most ancient and lucrative, will gradually 
 decline, in spite of the decided predilection of 
 the Mexicans for the maguey wine. 
 
 The blind and impolitic mode in which taxes 
 were imposed by the Spanish government, proves 
 that it was ignorant of the first elements of finan- 
 cial legislation ; the great art of which is to ex- 
 tend the imposts on the greatest possible num- 
 ber of objects, and to render them light on each 
 object that can best support them : their produce is 
 then immense, it arrives continually at the trea- 
 sury, and neither alarms nor oppresses any one ; 
 they are not exposed to evasion, and always easy 
 of collection. Thus received, the direct or in- 
 direct taxes enrich the state, provided they do 
 not impede industry. But what the ancient 
 Spanish government could not comprehend, 
 though a very obvious case, was that the more 
 it augmented the rates of imposts, the less pro- 
 ductive they were found to be; When it is only 
 the superfluous, that is affected by the duties, 
 two and two make four for a long time in finance 
 as in arithmetic ; but when the exaction is made 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 too deeply, the consumption, which decreases, 
 limits the indirect impost ; labour, which also 
 decreases as much, abridges the direct impost ; 
 so that in a short time the old axiom so often 
 referred to in fiscal concerns, no longer holds 
 good/"" 
 
 Peru and the provinces on the Pacific Ocean, 
 have not been so ill-treated by the Spanish laws, 
 owing to the great distance of those provinces,which 
 must be reached by doubling Cape Horn, or the im- 
 mense voyage by the East Indies. It was there- 
 fore necessary to grant them permission to sow 
 corn, and other articles for their subsistence, and 
 also to plant vines and olives. Not being able to 
 send the stuffs requisite for clothing them, or other 
 instruments and utensils necessary for civilized 
 man so far, they have been permitted for a long 
 time past, to manufacture those articles at home. 
 
 Thus, though the provinces of Mexico, New 
 Granada, Caraccas, the Islands of Cuba, Porto 
 Rico, Trinidad, and the Spanish part of St. Do- 
 mingo, all those colonies, in fact, whose shores 
 are washed by the northern ocean, though they 
 are much better situated than Peru for trading 
 
 * In 1794, Mr. Pitt doubled the duties on Portugal wines. 
 In one year the receipt diminished £100,000, the duty was re- 
 established on the former scale, and the receipt augmented to 
 the amount that it had previously been.f 
 
 t What a lesson for the present Chancellor of the Exchequer ! 
 and how truly he stands in need of it, many of his late taxes 
 prove ! — Ed. 
 
*Mmy$&$M ^^^H 
 
 MIXING. 
 
 213 
 
 with Europe, have for a long time presented 
 only a picture of poverty and decrepitude, unit- 
 ed to that of the very infancy of social order. 
 In those countries the proprietors of mines alone 
 were wealthy; and the rage for discovering them, 
 which can only be compared to the passion for 
 gaming, was daily the cause of ruining a great 
 number of families, and a source of immorality 
 peculiar to those countries. The more the Spa- 
 nish government encouraged this species of gam- 
 ing, the more it impeded agriculture and colo- 
 nial industry. It seemed as if all that was not 
 mines, interested it very little; that it desired to 
 have no more subjects in the new world than 
 were necessary for working them ; and that 
 above all, it feared that they would become too 
 rich and too well informed ; for all the colonial 
 institutions tend to preserve them in ignorance 
 and misery. 
 
 Still, after having drawn this dismal picture 
 of the Spanish colonies, it is but proper to say, 
 that in spite of the unjust and barbarous orders 
 deceitfully obtained from the sovereigns of the 
 last dynasty, by insatiable traders, and corrupt 
 ministers, those kings have done more for the 
 prosperity of their colonies, than Charles V. and 
 his descendants ; witness the treaty by which 
 that monarch, after having depopulated his 
 states, and exhausted his finances, sold, in 
 1528, the country of Venezuela to the Wel- 
 sers, who made that fine country a scene of 
 
 r 2 
 
244 
 
 GL'IPIJSCOA COMPANY. 
 
 pillage, devastation, and all the crimes which 
 exclusive commercial companies alone can in- 
 vent, when they are permitted to exercise sove- 
 reign authority. The descendants of Charles V. 
 constantly sacrificed the interests of Spain to 
 those of their German possessions, or to other 
 political considerations, as may be seen in the 
 ruinous treaties made with the Hanse Towns in 
 1647; with Holland, in 1648; and with Eng- 
 land in 1667. And while the Spanish commerce 
 was abandoned to the neighbouring nations, dur- 
 ing the fifteenth, sixteenth, and the beginning 
 of the seventeenth centuries, from the abolition 
 of the privilege of the Welsers, which took place 
 in 1547, the port of Seville alone had for a long 
 time, the privilege of trading with the colonies. 
 This privilege passed to Cadiz at the commence- 
 ment of the seventeenth century, and so con- 
 tinued exclusively until 1728, when the Guipus- 
 coa Company was established. 
 
 The charter of concession declared that the 
 province of Guipuscoa was authorized to form 
 a commercial company, which should have its 
 agents at Cadiz, the port from whence its vessels 
 should sail, and to which they should return to 
 discharge their homeward bound cargoes. The 
 number of ships was limited to two, and the 
 countries to which they were permitted to trade, 
 were those which composed the captain general- 
 ship of Caraccas. Those vessels, armed with from 
 forty to fifty guns, were authorized to cruize 
 
tmt0 ^^^H^^H k0§ l$0$z v&m 
 
 FIRST OPERATIONS. 
 
 245 
 
 between the great mouth of the Orinoco and that 
 of the Rio de la Hache, from the time they dis- 
 charged their cargoes, until their departure for 
 Europe, in order to capture interlopers. In 1734, 
 the company obtained new privileges, the king 
 having declared that shares might be held in 
 it, directly or indirectly, without derogating 
 from nobility, and without loss of honour, rank, 
 or reputation. It is certainly not astonishing that 
 commerce, the vivifying principle of states, 
 should languish, and that ignorance and barba- 
 rity should triumph in a country, and among 
 a people where such a declaration was necessary. 
 Here a new era begins ; more liberal princi- 
 ples begin to influence the cabinet of Madrid : 
 the company obtained by that charter permis- 
 sion to arm as many vessels as it thought pro- 
 per, and to equip them in the ports of San Sebas- 
 tian and Passage ; but the returns were to be 
 made to the port of Cadiz. 
 
 The first operations of the company were bril- 
 liant, and the colonists had no cause to complain 
 of them ; but by the charters dated in 1742 and 
 1752, it so extended and abused its privileges, 
 that the complaints of the colonists forced the 
 government to suppress it by the famous edict of 
 the 12th of October, 1778, known by the name 
 of that of free trade. 
 
 At the above period, North America had given 
 a great lesson to parent states : it would seem that 
 this wasnol totally lost to the court of Madrid ; and 
 
24G 
 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 the monopolizing merchants of Cadiz ought to 
 have been convinced, that their commerce in- 
 creased instead of having diminished, according as 
 the government relaxed the chains in which the 
 agriculture and industry of the colonies languished. 
 This order of things is, no doubt, by far pre- 
 ferable to that which existed before ; but still 
 this iast system adopted by the Spanish govern- 
 ment was as much behind that which existed in 
 the French colonies, as the administration in the 
 latter was inferior to the excellent regulations by 
 which the British colonies in the West Indies 
 were governed. 
 
 If Spain, instead of occupying herself almost 
 exclusively with metals, when she made the con- 
 quest of America, and during the two centuries 
 which succeeded it, had excited the industry of 
 her subjects to colonial agriculture, that is to say, 
 the cultivation of sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, 
 indigo, cochineal, and all the other productions 
 so valuable in the European markets, she would 
 have rendered Europe a tributary of her com- 
 merce. 
 
 But to arrive at that object, it would have been 
 necessary to have attracted the subjects of foreign 
 states to settle in her colonies. Far from adopting 
 such a wise measure, she would not, at first, per- 
 mit any other nation to establish itself in Ame- 
 rica. Posterity will scarcely believe that it is on 
 a papal bull that this power founds its rights to 
 that part of the world. The other European 
 
&'$%%t< ^Mil^0^m 
 
 COLONIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 247 
 
 nations which wished to make establishments 
 there after the Spaniards, had to defend them- 
 selves from them still more than from the Indians. 
 This absurd and unjust conduct gave birth to the 
 famous buccaneers, a set of heroical robbers who 
 long retarded the progress of the Spanish colo- 
 nies. 
 
 Let us now glance at the ancient colonial sys- 
 tem of Spain and her custom-house regulations. 
 M. Depons compares the Spanish colonial system 
 to that which formerly existed in the French 
 colonies ; he eulogizes both, and according to him 
 the latter was a master-piece of human wisdom. 
 
 In truth, it cannot be conceived from whence 
 M. Depons has derived his documents. The 
 mode of praising, is at least as dangerous as that 
 of blaming every thing ; and it appears that M. 
 Depons, when he undertook his work, was deter- 
 mined to find all that had been done by the an- 
 cient Spanish government, excellent as well as 
 that which had been effected by the ancient 
 French government. I believe that he might, 
 without failing in the gratitude which he owed 
 to the former government, draw a very striking 
 picture of the imperfections and vices of the ad- 
 ministration of the Spanish colonies. He says, for 
 instance, in the second volume, (see Statistics of 
 Caraccas.) that the fiscal theory of local imposts 
 introduced into America, serves by its produce 
 to maintain an infinite number of revenue officers 
 employed by the Spanish government ; places, 
 
248 
 
 M. DE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 he says, that are solicited with urgency, and 
 occupied with dignity. Surely this must be 
 intended as a satire ; for I cannot comprehend 
 what that dignity can be in all those custom- 
 house officers or Spanish gabelous, who were 
 always ready to hold out their hands to the first 
 smuggler who has occasion to bribe them ! 7'lie 
 Spanish colonies comprised in the captain general- 
 ship of Caraccas, would have remained much 
 longer in their infancy, if they had not had for 
 neighbours the Dutch of Curacoa, who have made 
 great advances to them since 1634, and received 
 in payment hides, cotton, and cocoa. Now it 
 was the vicious system of the Spanish custom- 
 house laws, that gave such an advantage to 
 strangers over their own subjects, as I shall ex- 
 plain ; though M. Depons says, that it was the 
 ill-conceived system of the French custom-house 
 laws, previous to the revolution, which gave 
 such great advantages to the English in the trade 
 of colonial produce, especially those adapted for 
 manufactories. Whatever may be said by the 
 defenders of those absurd systems, the facts speak 
 more clearly than arguments ; for, to use the 
 expression of a celebrated statesman in political 
 economy, facts become the very proofs of science, 
 after having been its materials.* 
 
 Why then, if the commercial laws and custom- 
 
 * M. de Talleyrand's Treatise on the Commercial Relations of 
 North America t 
 
■ 
 
 PRIVILEGES. 
 
 249 
 
 house regulations of France and Spain were more 
 ably arranged than those of the English and 
 Dutch, as M. Depons asserts, could those na- 
 tions sell their colonial produce at as low prices 
 as ours, in the European markets, though our 
 colonies were larger and more fertile than theirs ? 
 Why could they sell our own raw colonial pro- 
 duce there, and even the manufactured, in certain 
 circumstances cheaper? The contraband trade of 
 the Virgin Islands, small and barren colonies of 
 the English, will explain this fact in the course of 
 the present chapter. 
 
 To return to the Spanish colonies : from the 
 abolition of the Guipuscoa Company, which took 
 place in 1780, the port of Cadiz enjoyed the 
 privilege of trading with Spanish America 
 until 1785 ; but that liberty has been since 
 extended to the ports of Sevilla, Malaga, Alme- 
 ria, Alicant, Carthagena, Valencia, Barcelona, 
 Alfagues, Tortosa, Santandero, Gijon, Vigo and 
 Majorca ; as also to those of Santa Cruz, Palma, 
 and Santa Cruz in Teneriffe in the Canary Islands. 
 Still it was prohibited to those islands to trade 
 with America in any other articles than those of 
 their own soil. It is remarkable that this prohibi- 
 tion, as well as their position, were the causes of 
 there being more contraband trade carried on there 
 than elsewhere : several rich commercial English 
 houses were engaged in that trade under the mask 
 of the Irish Catholics. It happened in those islands, 
 as it occurs every where, when a government 
 establishes regulations too severe, without hav- 
 
250 
 
 ENGLISH AND DUTCH TUADGRS. 
 
 ing the means of making them respected ; that 
 of their being only an additional incitement to 
 fraud : in short, the Spanish governors and admi- 
 nistrators having much more to gain by tolerating 
 smuggling than by suppressing it, divided the 
 profits of that trade with the agents of the British 
 commercial houses established in those islands. 
 Wise regulations, which instead of embarrassing 
 and discouraging national commerce, might 
 favour and protect it, could alone restrain the con- 
 traband trade. It was the fluctuations still more 
 than the rigour of the Spanish and French custom- 
 house laws, which gave to the English such great 
 advantages over their competitors. 
 
 Many causes contributed to their success, and 
 they owed much of it, more to the negligence and 
 thoughtlessness of the ancient European govern- 
 ments, and the corruption of some of their minis- 
 ters, than to the ability of their manufacturers. 
 There must, however, be this justice done to the 
 English, that with the exception of the Dutch, 
 they possess and know better than any other nation 
 in Europe, the principlesof commercial companies; 
 and great companies, as well as great commercial 
 houses, will always have incalculable advantages 
 over individual merchants, who can employ only 
 moderate capitals : the English have also better 
 known and appreciated the value and distribution 
 of time and labour, than any other European 
 nation ; which caused them to invent so many 
 admirably useful machines ; and adopt various 
 other measures to facilitate commerce. 
 

 BRITISH ANTILLES. 
 
 251 
 
 But even though I should be accused of repeti- 
 tion, I can prove, by many examples, that it is to 
 their revenue laws, the good regulation of their 
 custom-houses, to their bounties and drawbacks, 
 that they principally owe the advantage of being- 
 able to sell at a lower price than other nations in 
 the European markets. 
 
 The British Antilles had become the staple of 
 the French and Spanish colonies, which, no doubt, 
 derived some advantages from it ; but to the 
 great detriment of French commerce, and, conse- 
 quently, of French agriculture and manufactures. 
 By a proclamation of the 1st November, 1766, the 
 King of Great Britain opened, for the transit of 
 merchandize, the Ports of Prince Rupert and 
 Roseau in the Island of Dominica, and those of 
 Kingston, Savanna la Mar, Montego Bay, and 
 Santa Lucia in the Island of Jamaica. Various 
 acts or proclamations, dated in 1774 and 1775, 
 have extended or modified those privileges accord- 
 ing to circumstances; subsequent proclamations by 
 the British Government, have granted the same 
 favour to the Islands of Grenada, Providence, and 
 in 1797, to that of Trinidad. 
 
 Those acts, or proclamations, are simply invita- 
 tions which the king of Great Britain addresses to 
 merchants in the French and Spanish colonies to 
 carry on contraband trade w T ith his subjects. 
 I shall first mention the Virgin Islands, as an 
 instance of the immense trade of that nature, 
 which England maintained there with some of 
 
252 
 
 VIRGIN ISLANDS. 
 
 the Spanish colonies, and with the French colo- 
 nies of the Lesser Antilles. In 1788, Great Britain 
 exported from those barren islets, to the amount 
 of £ 1/1 50,000 of colonial produce, which im- 
 mense value she paid for in her manufactures ; 
 for this opulent nation scarcely ever uses gold or 
 silver in her commerce, and never takes specie 
 into her colonies, from whence, if she extracts it, 
 it is in Spanish or Portuguese money. 
 
 The Virgin Islands are a chain of islets 
 almost sterile, situated between St. Kitt's and 
 Porto Rico, and which with difficulty maintain 
 fifteen hundred whites or free people of co- 
 lour, and nine thousand negroes occupied in 
 the cultivation of cotton, working three or four 
 miserable sugar plantations, and in growing the 
 provisions of the country for their subsistence. 
 From the particular knowledge I have of those 
 little islands, I do not hesitate to assert, that the 
 value of their annual natural exports or produc- 
 tions of their soil, scarcely amounts to £'42,000 ; 
 from whence it results that the contraband trade 
 which they carried on in 1788, with Martinico, 
 Gaudaloupe, Mariegalante, and the Spanish Island 
 of Porto Rico, amounted to £1,408,000. Sup- 
 posing that the Island of Puerto Rico furnished 
 as much as £250,000 of this illicit commerce, which 
 is a great deal, considering the languishing state 
 in which its agriculture then was, and the smug- 
 gling trade its inhabitants had also with the Dutch 
 of Saint Eustacia and of Curacoa, it would be 
 
Wm B3 SlSffii St 
 
 CONTRABAND TRADE. 253 
 
 demonstrated that in 1788 the English obtained 
 from Martinico, Guadaloupe, and Mariegalante 
 to the value of more than £1,100,000 of sugar, 
 coffee, and cotton. 
 
 Other islands served also as deposits for this 
 fraudulent trade : such as the Danish Islands of St. 
 Thomas and St. Croix, and the little Swedish 
 Island of St. Bartholomew, nearly all the trade 
 there was carried on for the benefit of Great Britain, 
 by Englishmen, naturalized Danes or Swedes. 
 The British Islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada 
 absorbed almost all the trade of St. Lucie : three- 
 fourths of the produce of this island went to Eng- 
 land. British merchandize only was consumed 
 there, excepting some wines and provisions from 
 France. Our old colony of Tobago, of which all 
 the inhabitants were English, was less mysterious 
 in its smuggling: English vessels naturalized at 
 Dunkirk, brought British merchandize to it, and 
 took a great portion of its produce to England. 
 
 It was the vices of our ancient revenue system, 
 and that of the Spaniards, still more vicious, which 
 gave the British commerce such an advantage 
 over ours, and especially over that of the Spani- 
 ards, in spite of their rigorous restrictions. 
 
 By virtue of the twenty-fifth article of the 
 decree of the council of state, of April, 1717, all 
 the production of our colonies paid an import of 
 three percent.; the produce of foreign colonies, 
 which might be transmitted from thence, (an 
 absurd regulation, whereby the neighbouring 
 
254 DUTIES. 
 
 colonies sent nothing to be sold in ours), were 
 subject to the same duty, previous to their 
 being sent to Europe. It was that which was 
 termed the duty of the western dominions. By 
 the nineteenth article of the same decree, they 
 were subjected on their entry into France to 
 duties whose quota w 7 as relative to each of the 
 commodities. Cotton, for instance, was at first 
 taxed at one franc, ten sous, per quintal ; subse- 
 quent edicts raised this tariff eight sous additional 
 per franc : at length cotton paid, on exportation 
 from the colonies, a duty of nearly five per cent. 
 At the period of which I speak, cotton did not 
 pay any duty whatever in England ; which was 
 the reason that the British, who possessed no 
 cotton colonies, was still on a par with ours by 
 buying it at ten, and ten and a quarter per cent, 
 higher than our merchants could afford, which is 
 easily demonstrated. We shall suppose cotton at 
 two hundred francs per quintal, ancient weight. 
 
 francs, cents. 
 
 The fifteenth article of the decree of 
 1717, established a duty of three 
 percent 6 
 
 There was added another duty of 
 thirty sous per quintal, article 
 nineteen of the same decree 1 50 
 
 By subsequent edicts, an additional 
 
 duty of eight sous per franc... 3 
 
 Export duty in the colonies, 4£ per 
 
 cent 9 50 
 
 Total 20 
 Could any thing be more absurd than to tax 
 
mgm ran BHBESS h| H9 fl» 
 
 ST 
 
 DOMINGO, &C. 
 
 255 
 
 cotton, indigo, arnotto, raw articles for our 
 manufacturers, on an equality with sugar and 
 coffee, objects of daily use ; to tax raw sugar as 
 high as clayed sugar, &c. ? yet such was the policy 
 of the ancient French government !* 
 
 * I do not include coffee in these remarks, because St. Domingo 
 produced an immense quantity oi' it previous to the French revo- 
 lution, and had it not been for the destruction of that queen of 
 colonies, this culture would have so progressively increased there, 
 that in 1794, or 1795, coffee might have been sold at ten sous 
 per pound, in the French markets : thus the government could 
 have placed a heavy duty on that article without injury to its 
 cultivation or to our commerce; for Jamaica and the other 
 British colonies produced so little then, that it could not even be 
 rated as an article oi' trade. 
 
 But things have since changed very much. The colonists of 
 St. Domingo who took refuge in Jamaica, introduced (he practice 
 of this cultivation there, until then so much neglected by the 
 English. The colonies of Dcmarara, Essequibo, and Berbiee, 
 on the continent, which may be said to be identified with Suri- 
 nam, and Cayenne, as they are only separated from them by 
 rivers ; these establishments are become so considerable, that 
 they will soon fill up, in the European markets, the void occasioned 
 by the disturbances in St. Domingo, which they equal, at least, 
 in fertility. Those colonies were so insignificant during the 
 revolutionary war of the United States, that a British detachment 
 made a conquest of them, and M. de Kersaint, with a frigate and 
 two hundred soldiers, drove them out some time afterwards. 
 Never did a country offer to the world, and in such a short time, 
 such a proof of the surprising effects of an enterprising commercial 
 spirit when properly directed. These colonies (Demerara,* Esse- 
 quibo, and Berbiee,) were restored to Holland by the peace of 
 Versailles, in 1783. There were then scarcely two hundred 
 whites there, proprietors of some new plantations, cultivated by 
 about two thousand negroes. This country is flat, and it was for- 
 merly marshy, and shockingly unhealthy : it was, in fact, the grave 
 
256 
 
 DGMEHAKA, &C. 
 
 How then did it happen that the public treasury 
 of Great Britain, which received no duties on the 
 importation of cotton, lost nothing by it? Here is 
 
 of Europeans: of a hundred individuals who might arrive there at 
 the beginning of the year, scarcely ten remained alive at the end 
 of it. Patience, hydraulics, and Dutch prudence have overcome 
 all those obstacles. I visited that country in 1792; it was then 
 flourishing and drained. Its population at that time amounted to 
 nearly thirty-five thousand souls. More than half of this popu- 
 lation consisted of English, who had deserted their barren 
 colonies, to cultivate one of the most fertile soils in the world. 
 The Dutch merchants advanced considerable sums, at four and a 
 half per cent, to persons of all nations, who went to establish 
 themselves in those new colonies. The interest of the first year 
 was paid along with that of the second, when the latter became 
 due. A su""ar plantation could be established in eighteen months, 
 and rendered twenty per cent, in that country ; therefore, an indus- 
 trious and prudent colonist might have cleared himself and grown 
 rich in six years ! The system of mortgage, which could not yet 
 be introduced into the French colonies, was the source of that 
 prosperity. He, to whom the money was lent, knew that he 
 would be ejected, if he was not punctual in his payments, and the 
 lender did not fear to risk his capital, because in default of pay- 
 ment he took possession of the plantation, which was generally 
 worth much more than the sum he had lent. In 1806, the popu- 
 lation of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, was more than 
 sixty thousand persons without including the Indians. 
 
 What a glorious event for the spirit of commerce, is not the 
 contrast formed by the brilliant situation to which these colonies 
 were raised in such a short time, in comparison with the Spanish 
 colonies, from which they are separated only by the Orinoco, and 
 to which nature has lavished still more varied advantages ! On 
 one side is seen fine agriculture, rich commerce, an industrious 
 population, that increased in an almost incredible progression ; and 
 on the other, misery in the midst of natural riches, filth, superstition, 
 and laziness ! ! ! 
 
Hi 
 
 ENGLISH TRADE. 
 
 257 
 
 where the artifice and science of custom houses 
 are found. Those duties were replaced by that 
 which the same cotton paid, when manufactured 
 into cloth, on its exportation from England ; and 
 it was paid by the foreign consumer. The British 
 manufacturer expended ten per cent, less than the 
 French manufacturer. This is not the place to 
 speak of those machines, by means of which he 
 worked cheaper than our manufacturers of that 
 period. It is principally by the simple but able 
 mode in which the revenue laws are regulated 
 in Great Britain, that their exchequer was re- 
 plenished, and that individuals enriched them- 
 selves, as much as by the negligence, ignorance, 
 and want of patriotism in the ancient governments 
 of France and Spain. 
 
 M. Depons says, that the English, the only 
 competitors whom we had to fear, received their 
 sugar charged with eighteen per cent, more than 
 that which we receive from our colonies ; and he 
 therefore concludes that they must have traded to 
 a disadvantage in foreign ports, when the French 
 merchant was contented with moderate profits. 
 He then adds, that it was owing to the wise com- 
 binations of our ancient legislation, that the 
 preponderance which our trade had obtained was 
 due. 
 
 Formerly, Barbadoes was the only one of the 
 British colonies whose produce paid a duty on 
 exportation of five and a half per cent. : the other 
 colonies paid no duty whatever on exports. Sugar, 
 
258 
 
 DRAWBACK AND BOUNTIES. 
 
 it is true, was charged with duties on importation 
 into Great Britain to the amount of eighteen per 
 cent. ; but M. Depons ought to have known that 
 on being sent from England to foreign countries, 
 those duties were returned to the merchant, and 
 that is what is termed the drawback. As to tiie 
 other articles of colonial produce, if they were 
 charged with duties, not only were those duties 
 returned on exporting them to foreign states, but 
 even in certain cases the government paid to the 
 exporter a premium of encouragement, and this 
 is what they call a bounty. Far from enjoying 
 similar advantages, the productions of the French 
 colonies, previous to the revolution, were loaded 
 indiscriminately with accumulated duties, which 
 amounted, as I have proved, to more than twenty 
 per cent. 
 
 Though our sugars and coffees were charged 
 with such duties, it is possible that we might still 
 have maintained a competition with the British 
 trade in those commodities in the European mar- 
 kets, because our colonies produced a much greater 
 quantity of them than the English colonies, and 
 because those colonies were much less fertile than 
 ours: for though I cannot admit the enormous 
 disproportion that Mr. Page* would make be- 
 
 * Mr. Page considers that the net produce of the labour of a 
 negro on a sugar plantation in Jamaica, is worth only one hun- 
 dred and ninety two francs (£8) annually. (Sec his Political 
 Economy and Commerce of the Colonies, Vol. I. page 19, et 
 

 SPANISH CUSTOM-HOUSES. 
 
 259 
 
 tween the produce of a sugar plantation in 
 Jamaica and in St. Domingo, still it is acknow- 
 ledged by all persons who are well acquainted 
 with those colonies, that a sugar plantation in St. 
 Domingo, of an equal quantity of land and num- 
 ber of negroes, generally produced a fourth more 
 than one in Jamaica, owing to the superior ferti- 
 lity of the former island. 
 
 The administration of the custom houses in the 
 Spanish colonies, was founded on a still more 
 vicious system than in ours. The tariffs were 
 more uncertain, vague and arbitrary. It was a 
 most obscure and ambiguous chaos, known only 
 to the officers of customs, and consequently offer- 
 ing great temptations to the contraband trade, 
 and to the venality of the administrators. All 
 who have frequented those colonies know that 
 the trifling trade carried on there, was monopo- 
 
 seq.) I cannot admit such a calculation ; I think it ought not to be 
 estimated at less than two hundred and fifty francs. Mr. Page 
 values the produce of a negro in the French Antilles in general, 
 at 333 francs, and still more in St. Domingo. I believe his cal- 
 culations to be tolerably exact, in regard to the French colonies ; 
 but I am sure he has judged too unfavourably of the soil and cul- 
 tivation of Jamaica, when he said that a given surface of land 
 employed in a sugar plantation there, and an equal extent of 
 ground occupied for the same purpose in St. Domingo, is as 
 eight hundred and sixteen to two thousand ! In general the 
 sugar plantations of St. Domingo, Cuba, and Trinidad, produced 
 more than those of Jamaica, owing to the superior fertility of the 
 soil of those islands ; but I believe I may safely assert that this 
 difference is not more than a fourth or fifth. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 CONTRABAND TRADE. 
 
 lized by the viceroys, captains-general, intendants, 
 comptrollers,&c. who had commercial connexions 
 with the merchants in the British colonies, and, 
 for some years past, with the United States of 
 America. In 1805 or 1806, an Anglo- Portuguese 
 house established in Philadelphia, had, for instance, 
 the exclusive supply of flour for the Island of 
 Cuba : others have had exclusive privileges for 
 the sale of negroes, &c. &c. 
 
 It was not quite the same in our colonies : if 
 the French administrators have not always dis- 
 dained to engage in contraband speculations with 
 our neighbours and even our enemies, at least this 
 justice must be rendered to them, that they did 
 not ill-treat those who were in the habits of such 
 illegal speculations ; whilst the bashaws of the 
 Spanish colonies used the utmost rigour towards 
 the unfortunate persons who were captured by 
 the guardacostas, going to sell their commodities 
 in the neighbouring colonies, for the purpose of 
 procuring some of the most necessary articles ; 
 and that whilst the government of the mother 
 country did nothing to promote their agriculture 
 and commerce ; so that the colonists lived in indi- 
 gence, while they were overburdened with natu- 
 ral riches. 
 
 As to the contraband trade in the French colo- 
 nies, if prejudicial to France, it must be admitted 
 that it was advantageous to the colonists: so that 
 it was not a total loss to the mother country. 
 But the administration of the British colonies is 
 
H d?^#^^^p^ W&M $f$ ^1 
 
 w 
 
 SPANISH LAWS. 
 
 261 
 
 so regulated, that though they have no contraband 
 trade in the produce of their soil, and that, in 
 this respect, there is no trade in the world less free 
 than theirs ; yet affairs were so ably regulated, and 
 the interests of all so justly balanced, that colonists, 
 manufacturers and merchants flourished equally. 
 
 It has been said at the beginning of this chap- 
 ter, that though Spain, with absurd laws and re- 
 gulations, and the numerous imposts which em- 
 barrassed and ruined her colonial commerce, could 
 neither export nor manufacture the produce of 
 her immense colonies, still she would neither per- 
 mit them to be exported or manufactured by 
 themselves, nor suffer foreigners to export them, 
 and give in exchange to the colonists those 
 articles that they most needed. From thence 
 resulted a contraband trade, by which that blind 
 and oppressive government was defrauded of its 
 duties ; a trade which kept the produce of those 
 colonies at a wretched price, as their sale depend- 
 ed on the uncertain arrival of a greater or less 
 number of smuggling vessels, which were exposed 
 to the caprices and fluctuating interests of the 
 officers of the Spanish government, whose con- 
 nivance they were obliged to purchase. From 
 this proceeded the languishing state of Spanish 
 colonial agriculture and commerce; from this also 
 sprung the colossal fortunes acquired in two or 
 three years, by generals, intendants and commis- 
 sioners of customs. 
 
 Spain had not imposed any land tax on her 
 

 262 FREE TRADE. 
 
 colonies : the tythes which the king shared with 
 the clergy, served in place of it. The Indians 
 alone, paid 'a personal tax, or capitation. The 
 revenues of the crown were composed of the 
 local duties, collected on sales in the custom- 
 houses, and on the transfer of lands, &c. There 
 were also municipal customs, which were exacted 
 on some of those objects, and served to defray 
 the expences of the towns and commercial courts 
 of justice, or consolados. The puertos may ores 
 paid both kinds of duties ; in the puertos minores, 
 the municipal duties only were paid. The duties 
 which had been collected in a principal port were 
 returned when the merchandize on which it was 
 levied, was despatched to a minor port ; and vice 
 versd, when from a minor port an exportation 
 was made to a superior one, it was necessary 
 previously, to pay the duty which should be 
 levied at such principal port, had the merchan- 
 dize been sent there direct. 
 
 After the abolition of exclusive commercial 
 companies, and the no less odious privileges of 
 Seville and Cadiz, the distinguishing the Ame- 
 rican into major and minor ports, is one of the 
 most wise and beneficent regulations of the ceclula 
 of 1778, commonly called that of free trade. 
 The spirit of this regulation was to establish a 
 balance between the most frequented ports, and 
 those which were least so, in order to induce the 
 exporters of the mother country to send con- 
 signments to the latter. This measure had the 
 

 DUTIES. 
 
 2G3 
 
 most beneficial results for the colonial agricul- 
 ture and commerce of Spain. 
 
 The major ports in the captain generalship of 
 Caraccas, were La Guayra, Porto Cavello and 
 Maracaybo : Curnana, Barcelona, the Island of 
 Margarita and the Orinoco were the minor 
 ports. Port Spain was a free port for a limited 
 time ; that is, all nations were permitted to trade 
 there : this privilege, granted to that colony in 
 1783, had given it, in 1797, an augmentation of 
 population and prosperity, and an importance 
 it could not otherwise have attained in a whole 
 century. 
 
 The edict of the 28th February, 1784, esta- 
 blished a proper distinction between the duties 
 which the various commodities should pay on 
 importation from Spain into the colonies ; first, 
 free goods, or productions of the soil and manu- 
 factures of Spain : the quota of duties on impor- 
 tation we have enumerated, amounted to ten per 
 cent, and only affected the merchandize pro- 
 ceeding from the soil and manufactures of Spain ; 
 such goods were termed free articles. There 
 was, secondly, another tariff for the produce of 
 foreign countries, manufactured in Spain, these 
 were called contributable articles, and which 
 paid twelve and a half per cent. Thirdly, goods 
 purely foreign, paid only seven per cent, on im- 
 portation at American . ports ; but as they had 
 paid fifteen per cent, on entering Spain, and seven 
 on departure for America, without reckoning the 
 
264 
 
 DUTIES. 
 
 duties I have enumerated, and those of interna 
 cion, indulto, &c. it will be seen that these duties 
 amounted to more than forty-three per cent, on 
 foreign merchandize. 
 
 It is now time that I should present the nomen- 
 clature of imposts levied in the Spanish colonies, 
 by the exchequer and the custom-houses. 
 
 The bulls, whose annual sale w T as one of the 
 branches of the revenue of the crown, and of the 
 clergy, stand first. 
 
 Then come the taxes of alcavala, almoxari- 
 fazgo, armada and armadilla, of internacion, 
 indulto, corso, aprovechamientos ; the licences 
 of pulperias or taverns, on the tafia and the gua- 
 rapo, duties of aduanas, laguna, composition 
 for lands, on letting lands, of lances, of the half 
 annatas ; in some provinces, a part of the tythes, 
 in others, the whole tythe ; the ecclesiastical 
 mesadas, and royal ninths, the tax levied on the 
 sale or change of public employments, and that on 
 the profits on annual income of those places or 
 employments ; the tribute or capitation tax on 
 the Indians; stamped paper, the right of passage, 
 the fifths of mines, the hospitalities, the salt works, 
 confiscations, restitutions, vacant successions, va- 
 cant majorities and minorities, the exclusive sale 
 of tobacco, cock-fightings, the passage- boats on 
 the river Apure : this last tax was peculiar to the 
 government of Caraccas. 
 
 Then follow the municipal duties of consulado 
 and avaria, of cabildo and offiel executor. 
 
^■^H ##^ 
 
 DUTIES. 266 
 
 Those of my readers who may be curious to be 
 informed of the particulars of this host of taxes, 
 may consult the work of M. Depons ; my prin- 
 cipal object being to give a knowledge of the 
 duties levied on commerce, and the mode of 
 exacting them on importation and exportation. 
 
 Those duties are : 
 
 1st. Alcavala de la Mar. This duty was in 
 the Captain Generalship of Venezuela, four 
 per cent.* on all kinds of merchandize, in- 
 discriminately, which entered the ports. Jt 
 was paid on entry, and not on the depar- 
 ture of merchandize. At Carthagena de las 
 Indias, it was two per cent. ; at Guayaquil, 
 three ; at Lima, six ; and at Vera Cruz, 
 four. M. Depons says, that it produced in 
 the provinces of Venezuela, in 1793, 150,862 
 
 * The Alcavala de la Mar is the offspring of the Alcavala de 
 Tierra. The Cortes had granted to the kings of Spain a tax on trans- 
 fers and sales, to assist them to maintain the war against the Moors ; 
 this tax was called Alcavala: those monarchs afterwards esta- 
 blished this impost in their possessions in America, towards the 
 end of the sixteenth century. It was only two per cent, at first, 
 but it was raised to five per cent, towards the middle of last 
 century. It w r as levied on every thing that was sold, moveable or 
 immoveable. All the productions of the soil, as well as those of 
 industry, eggs, pulse, forage, &c. &c. paid the Alcavala on enter- 
 ing the towns. Shopkeepers paid this tax by subscription. This 
 would have produced enormous sums, if in the Spanish possessions 
 there had been more activity in commercial affairs and less con- 
 traband trade. The Alcavala de Tierra produced to the revenue 
 on an average, in the provinces of Venezuela, 400,000 hard 
 dollars. 
 
266 
 
 DUTIES. 
 
 Dullnis. 
 
 dollars; in 1794, 151,408; in 1795, 105,251 ; 
 in 1796, 130,644; and in 1797, only 10,248 
 dollars ; because, according to that writer, 
 maritime commerce was in the last named 
 year, almost entirely suspended. The true 
 cause of the diminution of this duty was from 
 the English having taken possession of Trini- 
 dad in the commencement of 1797, that 
 island became the staple of almost all the 
 trade of Venezuela ; a commerce which was 
 carried on with as little concealment as if 
 Spain and Great Britain had been in the most 
 strict alliance. Before the English had pos- 
 sessed themselves of all the commerce of the 
 country it produced annually 150,000 
 
 2d. Duty of Almoxarifazgo. It was levied also 
 on all that was imported and exported ; it 
 had been fixed at fifteen per cent, on all that 
 was imported from Spain, at the time of the 
 discovery of America. But it was reduced 
 about a century ago, to three per cent, on 
 Spanish merchandize, and fixed at seven per 
 cent, on foreign merchandize, imported in 
 Spanish ships. The Almoxarifazgo on ex- 
 portation, is two per cent, on home produce, 
 and three on foreign. Its usual annual pro- 
 duce in the Captain Generalship of Caraecas, 
 was 200,000 
 
 3d. The duty of Armada and Armadilla, or 
 tax for the royal navy and the flotilla. 
 This tax was established for aiding the 
 expences of the navy, when it was oc- 
 cupied in protecting the colonies against 
 pirates ; and though those coasts have not 
 
^M ■ m$ ^g 
 
 DUTIES. 
 
 been infested for more than a century, trie 
 duty continues to be levied; it is two per 
 cent, and rendered annually on an average, 
 from eighty to 
 
 4th. The duty of Corso was instituted for pay- 
 ing the maintenance of guardacostas, (reve- 
 nue cruizers,) for preventing contraband 
 trade : it was three percent, and rendered. . 
 
 Total of the royal duties on the imports and} 
 exports of merchandize ,.\ 
 
 2G7 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 90,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 590,000 
 
 I shall not particularize the proceeds of the 
 other royal duties and imposts paid in the 
 interior of the country, and enumerated in 
 another chapter, and which amounted to, 
 including the bulls* 1,210,000 
 
 Total amount of the royal duties and imposts 
 in the general government of Venezuela, not 
 including the expenses of government and 
 of collection 1,800,000 
 
 Civic Duties. 
 
 The united duties of Consulado and Average, 
 were levied in the maritime custom-houses, 
 and paid to the cashier of the consulado or 
 chamber of commerce, to bear the expenses 
 
 * The sale of bulls and indulgences amounted annually on an 
 average in the provinces of Venezuela, to 180.000 dollars ; of 
 which, one third belonged to the crown, and the other two thirds 
 to the clergy. 
 
268 DUTIES. 
 
 Dollar*, 
 of that court ; it was one per cent, on all that 
 was exported to Spain, or to the other Spanish 
 colonies, and three per cent, on all that was 
 exported to foreign colonies, or which came 
 from them. Beasts of burden were subject 
 to a particular tariff. Horses and mules ex- 
 ported paid one dollar each : oxen one per 
 cent, according to the valuation made of them 
 by the custom-bouse officers. New negroes 
 brought by the British contractors, were ex- 
 empted from all duties : they produced 
 
 about 100,000 
 
 The duty of fiel executor 70,000 
 
 That of the cabildo 80,000 
 
 Total of the civic duties 250,000 
 
 All those royal and munificent duties, which 
 amounted, as specified, to 2,050,000 dollars, were 
 not sufficient for paying the expences of govern- 
 ment in the captain generalship of Venezuela. 
 The Intendant received annually about 1,200,000 
 dollars from the treasuries of Mexico and the 
 kingdom of New Grenada. Thus the expences 
 of that government amounted annually to nearly 
 seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; for of 
 all the imposts levied in that country, not a far- 
 thing passed into the royal treasury of Spain. 
 
 The natural consequence of so many prohibi- 
 tions and duties was to retard the prosperity of 
 the Spanish colonies, to leave them to the mercy 
 of smugglers, and to hinder the extension of com- 
 
^M ^M ^M 
 
 COMMERCE. 269 
 
 merce and national industry. The two last kings 
 of the late dynasty had made, it is true, some 
 useful regulations for encouraging national indus- 
 try, in placing considerable duties on foreign 
 manufactures: but experience has proved that 
 if they were dictated by patriotism, the influ- 
 ence of the cabinet of St. James at the court of 
 Madrid, rendered those regulations null, as far as 
 regarded British commerce ; but they were exe- 
 cuted with the utmost severity, to exclude from 
 Spanish commerce the productions of the industry 
 of other nations, and particularly those of the 
 French manufactories. 
 
 In vain had Philip V. issued several edicts, as fa- 
 vourable to French commerce, as they were useful 
 to that of Spain : it was in vain that this monarch, 
 in ratifying, on the 13th March, 1713, the sixth 
 article of the treaty of the Pyrenees, and the 
 cedulas of Charles II. of the months of March 
 and December, 1670, ordered that France should 
 not only be treated among the most favoured na- 
 tions, but that she should be distinguished en 
 todo lo que fuera mas favorabile : it was not long 
 before those intentions were eluded by the most 
 strict perseverance. At length, by an edict 
 issued at Madrid, in December, 1760, foreigners, 
 and particularly the French, lost all the privileges 
 in Spain: from the above period may be dated 
 the influence of the cabinet of St. James in that 
 country. The Duke de Choiseul endeavoured in 
 vain to mitigate the severity of that edict, by 
 
270 
 
 i'UiviLi;cii:s. 
 
 stipulating' in the sixth article of the family com- 
 pact that the subjects of each of the two monarchs 
 should be treated in the territory of the other as 
 their own subjects; that they should enjoy the 
 same facilities of commerce, &c. there. Never 
 did the Spanish government put this in practice 
 with French subjects, except in circumstances 
 when such a concession would be burthensome to 
 them. 
 
 The following were the privileges to which the 
 French were entitled by the family compact. 
 
 First, Though established and domiciled in 
 Spain, the French never lost the rights and pre- 
 rogatives of French citizens and subjects of His 
 Most Catholic Majesty. 
 
 Second, They were not subjected in any thing, 
 or in any case, to Spanish jurisdiction; in com- 
 mercial affairs they acknowledged no other judges 
 than the consul or the commissary of commer- 
 cial affairs of France. 
 
 Third, They enjoyed every possible immunity 
 in regard to all things necessary for the subsistence 
 and use of their families. 
 
 Fourth, They were exempted from all services, 
 whether patrimonial or personal, from all tributes 
 ordinary or extraordinary, and from all military 
 services. 
 
 Fifth, Their houses, shops or stores could not 
 be searched by any Spanish judge or magistrate, 
 of whatsoever rank, excepting in case of a criminal 
 taken in the fact : even then it was necessary 
 
: 
 
 m>: 
 
 PANAMA. 
 
 571 
 
 that the search should be made by the authority 
 and in the presence of the French consul. 
 
 Sixth, They had the liberty to keep their com- 
 mercial accounts in any language they pleased, 
 and those books could not be searched in any 
 case. 
 
 Seventh, The merchandize which they had im- 
 ported into Spain, and on which they had once 
 paid the custom-house duties, might be transported 
 into any of the provinces of the interior, and even 
 be exported, without paying any other duties. 
 
 All these fine privileges granted to the French 
 merchants, existed only on paper! 
 
 Their independence once established, the Spa- 
 nish colonies will not, it is hoped, delay opening 
 a trade with Japan, China and India : their coasts 
 bordering on the Pacific Ocean, give them great 
 advantages in such a trade, over European 
 nations. Nine easy communications between the 
 South Sea and the Atlantic ocean, are pointed 
 out by M. de Humboldt in his Political Essay on 
 New Spain. Since 1788, boats have sailed up 
 through the Ravine of la Raspadura to Choco, by 
 which they have passed from the Pacific Ocean 
 into the Sea of the Antilles. * 
 
 * The Editor has been informed that Mr. Arrowsmith is occu- 
 pied in drawing the plan of a projected canal and communication 
 between the South Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. The execution of 
 this work will most probably be one of the first objects of a 
 regularly established independent government in New Granada, 
 and opens a field of highly interesting speculation both to the 
 politicians and merchants of Europe. 
 

 
 272 
 
 AGRICULTURAL FRODUCP. 
 
 Porto Bello and Nicaragua will be, in some 
 years, the staples where all America bordering on 
 the Atlantic, and probably Europe itself will go 
 to purchase Indian merchandize. This change in 
 that great trade, will produce one as considerable 
 in the relative wealth and power of states, as that 
 of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. The 
 Americans themselves will take to Bengal and 
 China the metals which they furnish to Europe 
 for maintaining this trade. The day when com- 
 merce shall take this new direction, and that day 
 is not so distant as many suppose, will be that 
 of the independence of the nations in Asia and 
 America, not to mention those innumerable 
 advantages which necessarily result from un- 
 shackled commerce.* 
 
 According to the informations I obtained from 
 official statements in Venezuela, during the year 
 1807, the value of the agricultural produce ex- 
 ported from the provinces which composed this 
 fine country, exclusive of Trinidad, from 1794 
 until 1806, amounted to about four millions of 
 dollars annually; but according to the docu- 
 ments taken from the custom houses of Port 
 Spain in Trinidad, and from those of the Islands 
 
 *To those who foresee this great change I shall merely observe 
 that the Americans of the United States have carried on the East 
 India trade, for more than fifteen years past, with greater relative 
 profits than the English ; those of Spanish America will have 
 only a third of the distance to sail, and will navigate on cheaper 
 terms. 
 
^M 
 
 IMPORTATIONS. 
 
 273 
 
 Grenada, Tobago, Curacoa, St. Thomas', and Mar- 
 tinico, which carried on the contraband trade 
 with the provinces of Venezuela. T am sure the 
 smugglers carried off annually, on an average, 
 more than 2,500,000 dollars in produce ; consist- 
 ing of cocoa, cotton, indigo, a little cochineal, 
 arnotto, woods for dying and cabinet makers, 
 copper, hides, maize, salted and smoked meat and 
 fish, oxen, horses, mules, asses, monkeys, parrots, 
 &c. and about six or seven hundred thousand dol- 
 lars in specie, and since 1801, a small quantity of 
 sugar* and coffee. There were annually export- 
 ed from these provinces to Spain and Mexico,^ 
 about 2,000,000 dollars in colonial produce ; 
 which increases the exportations to about 5,200,000 
 dollars. 
 
 The official statements of the intendancy of 
 Caraccas specified the importations into this 
 country, including contraband trade, at only 
 5,500,000 dollars, at the same period ; but those 
 statements are below the truth. On an average 
 from 1789, to 1807, the annual importations 
 amounted to nearly 6,500,000 dollars, including 
 
 * Ten years ago there was scarcely as much sugar made as 
 sufficed the local consumption. 1 believe I do not exaggerate 
 when I say that, on an average, every individual poor or rich 
 consumes at least one pound of it per day. It is mixed with 
 almost all kinds of food and drink; and is indispensable for cho- 
 colate, which is taken three or four times each day. 
 
 t A great quantity of Venezuela cocoa, commonly called 
 Caraica, is exported to Vera Cruz. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 A BISHOP A SLAVE DEALER. 
 
 smuggling. Previous to the French revolution, 
 we had half of this trade. The French mer- 
 chants of Martinico, the Dutch of St. Eustacia 
 and Curacoa, the Danish of St. Thomas', and the 
 Swedish of St. Bartholomew, had their share in 
 this commerce ; but since the Island of Trinidad 
 was taken by the British, in 1797, they have 
 obtained all the trade of that country, where 
 they have established commercial connexions, 
 even as far as the central point of South America, 
 in Santa Fe de Bogota, capital of the kingdom 
 of New Grenada, whose bishop, a dealer in hu- 
 man flesh, carried on, in 1788 and 1789, the 
 negro trade, in conjunction with the English 
 house of Ch — t and B — u of Dominica. 
 
 
 

 TRINIDAD. 270 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Trinidad. — Geographical Description of the Island — Guaraouns. — 
 Their singular Mode of Living, Trade, and Habitations — Mouth* 
 of the Orinoco. — Guarapiche. — Gulph of Paria. — Scenery. — Port 
 Spain. — Rivers of Trinidad. — Its Bays and Harbours. — Natural 
 Canals — Fish. — Mangrove Trees. — Birds. — The Asphaltum Lakk. 
 Its Peculiarities. — Volcanic Remains. — Mountains. — Conjectures. 
 — Las Cuevas. — Nature of the Soil — Excavations at Guadaloupe. — 
 Crater of Erin — A new Metal. 
 
 There is perhaps no part of the new world, 
 which offers to the navigator, fatigued with the 
 monotony of a sea voyage, a view at once so 
 picturesque and imposing as the approach to Tri- 
 nidad, placed almost at the mouth of the Orinoco, 
 as a kind of barrier to restrain the impetuosity of 
 its tide and currents. 
 
 This island has the form of an irregular square. 
 The Spanish geographers compare it to an ox 
 hide : it is sixty British miles from east to west, 
 and forty-five from north to south ; which makes 
 a surface of about forty-two thousand two hundred 
 square miles British. Trinidad is separated from 
 the continent by the Gulf of Paria. The length 
 of this gulf is about thirty marine leagues, while 
 its greatest breadth, from north to south, is 
 
 t 2 
 
mammi 
 
 276 
 
 ORINOCO. 
 
 about fifteen. The second mouth of the Orinoco, 
 called the Canal of Pedernalos, and a great num- 
 ber of other channels formed by a multitude of 
 islets, almost level with the water, all in a nor- 
 thern direction, continually discharge the waters 
 of that line river into this gulf. Those waters flow 
 into the ocean by two great channels, commonly 
 called the Mouths of the Orinoco. 
 
 Those isles are evidently formed by the de- 
 posits of the river : although inundated during 
 the rainy season, yet they are covered with palms 
 and cocoas, which, at the same time, supply the 
 islanders with food, drink, a bark which they 
 weave, and wood for their furniture and canoes. 
 The existence of the tribe of Guaraouns appears 
 to be connected with that of the family of palms, 
 as the fate of certain birds and butterflies depends 
 on that of particular trees and flowers. 
 
 The Guaraouns have contrived means of fix- 
 ing their habitations on the palm trees : they 
 choose a group of them, where the trees grow 
 nearest to each other: at fifteen or twenty feet 
 above high water mark they twist and weave their 
 boughs to form a floor, which is then covered 
 with the broad leaves. The roofs of those aerial 
 huts are also covered with the leaves of the same 
 tree, to which their canoes are fastened. Those 
 Indians are in number about ten thousand : they 
 are strong, tall and well made, less indolent than 
 the other savages of South America, passionately 
 fond of dancing, gay, social, and hospitable. 
 
SbHH H Wfl B I f Mtim t ■ nuwdO HHBmB 
 
 GUARAOUNS. 277 
 
 They are not so reserved as the other savages their 
 neighbours. Their soft and harmonious language is 
 rich, when compared with those in their vicinity. 
 The Guaraouns are expert fishers, and have dogs 
 like those of the European shepherds, which they 
 employ to catch fish in shallow water; they caress 
 those animals continually, and treat them with the 
 greatest kindness. Their trade consists in fish, 
 nets, hammocks, and baskets : they are at peace 
 with all the world, even with the Spanish govern- 
 ment, which has, for a long time past, renounced 
 the project of subjugating them. I had frequent 
 means of observing this little nation : while among 
 them I often thought myself existing in the days 
 of Astrea: their society is a continual scene of 
 peace, abundance, gaiety, and concord. I some- 
 times regretted that old recollections, and social 
 habits, did not permit me to settle among them, 
 and they are the only savage tribe who ever in- 
 spired me with that desire. 
 
 The eastern mouth of the Orinoco was named 
 the Serpent's Mouth by the great Columbus: it 
 is about three leagues wide. In the middle, be- 
 tween the island and the continent, is an islet of 
 the most wild appearance, called the Soldier ; it 
 is the resort of sea birds, of which innumerable 
 swarms obscure the horizon at sunrise and sunset. 
 
 The northern mouths or channels, called the 
 Dragon's Mouths, are formed by four Islets, 
 which are placed at almost equal distances be- 
 tween the island and the continent. The Islet 
 
278 
 
 COINCIDENCE. 
 
 of Chacachacarreo forms the principal mouth, 
 with Cape de Paria opposite. Such is the name 
 which Columbus found given to this tongue of 
 land, where the province of Guiana or of the 
 Orinoco begins: this is separated from that of 
 Cumana or New Andalusia, by the Guarapiche, 
 which is not a branch of the Orinoco, as was for- 
 merly supposed. This river is formed of different 
 streams which have their sources in the mountains 
 of Bergantin, and in the Mesas (small plains, some- 
 what elevated) of Amana, Guanipa, andTororo, 
 only a few leagues in a direct line from the coast 
 of the gulf. At the place of its confluence 
 with the Arco, this river is from forty to sixty 
 fathoms deep. The Horquetta (the confluence of 
 two rivers in Spanish), where the Guarapiche 
 is so deep, is five leagues from the sea. The Arco 
 is sixteen fathoms deep at Puerto San Juan, which 
 is at twenty-five leagues from the ocean. 
 
 Antiquaries and oriental scholars are, without 
 doubt, surprised to find in those savage forests the 
 word Cumana, and other words of Greek origin, 
 before the arrival of Europeans ; also the Indian 
 word Paria, which designates in the new world 
 as well as Hindostan, a cast of people despised 
 and persecuted by their neighbours. 
 
 There are few places so salubrious, and yet so 
 fertile in Southern America, as the vallies of Cape 
 de Paria. Many tribes of Indians inhabit its 
 coasts. Some French families took refuge there 
 during the first storms of the revolution : a con- 
 
M 
 
 LAS CUEVAS. 
 
 279 
 
 siderable number of French colonists from Trini- 
 dad, Tobago and Grenada, have also settled in the 
 same neighbourhood. At first the Spanish govern- 
 ment gave them a good reception ; but the beau- 
 tiful plantations of cocoa, coffee, cotton, and even 
 sugar manufactories which they soon formed, 
 tempted the jealous avarice of some local officers 
 of the government. From 1802, various pre- 
 tences were invented for getting rid of, and 
 plundering them. Some were driven out and sent 
 away from the most contemptible motives.* 
 
 Ships arriving at Trinidad from the windward 
 islands, excepting those which go from the colonies 
 situated to the west and south of the Orinoco, to 
 avoid being carried to leeward, first make the 
 northern coast of the island towards the port of 
 Las Cuevas, so named from its caves, where the 
 sea breaks with great fury. 
 
 The entry of this gulf presents scenes both 
 varied and magnificent: to the east is that ma- 
 jestic river, compared to which those of Europe 
 are but as rivulets ! Its waves meeting those of the 
 sea, and incessantly disputing the empire of the 
 gulf: to the west appear rising from the bosom of 
 the horizon the mountains of Cumana ; and by de- 
 grees, on approaching the western coast of Tri- 
 nidad, you discover numerous vallies and plains 
 enamelled with eternal verdure. On nearing the 
 
 • Among others M. Isnardi, a native of Piedmont; the same, 
 I believe, who is now secretary to the Congress of Venezuela. 
 
280 
 
 MONKKYS. 
 
 coast, the navigator's view is charmed by aland- 
 scape covered with various plantations, and diversi- 
 iied by meandering rivers and rivulets which water 
 it. A strange and sometimes grotesque medley 
 of white, copper colour and black men, animate 
 this scene. Whilst the numerous canoes of Caribs 
 and Guaraouns skim the gulf in every direction, 
 the traveller sees and hears the negroes working 
 and singing in cadence : troops of monkeys 
 jumping from tree to tree, and swinging them- 
 selves while suspended from the branches by their 
 tails:* innumerable flocks of magnificent birds 
 enliven the scene, by the beauty and variety of 
 their colours. The shores continually resound 
 
 * Travellers have not exaggerated, when they asserted that a 
 particular class of apes, who have a great dread of the water, 
 when obliged to cross a stream, climb up the nearest tree to the 
 bank, and form a chain by hanging from the tails of each 
 other. If the river is not wide, the whole string of animals swing 
 backward and forwards until the lowest alights on the opposite 
 bank, when he who is uppermost slides down the tree, and they 
 are immediately pulled over by the one to whom the post of honour 
 had been assigned. It should be remarked that as fast as the lat- 
 ter's companions are drawn to land, (hey assist him in dragging 
 the others to the bank. This very singular practice, which has 
 frequently amused me, is accompanied with howlings, cries, and 
 grimaces, sufficient to frighten any one not accustomed to the 
 neighbourhood of those living caricatures of our species. 
 
 It is equally true that this most mischievous tribe invariably 
 place centinels whenever they halt, particularly when employed 
 on a foraging excursion: this fact I have ascertained to my cost. 
 having often surprized bodies of them pillaging my fields of maize 
 in Trinidad. 
 
Sip 
 
 UAIlROUltS. 
 
 281 
 
 with the songs of some and the screeching of 
 others : at the end of this smiling plain, rises the 
 northern mountains, like an amphitheatre, their 
 summits crowned with the noble trees of the 
 tropics, above which the palm, waving its lofty 
 head, attracts the thunder, and forces the clouds 
 to depose their waters at its feet, from whence 
 precipitating in cascades and torrents, they form 
 rivulets and streams.* 
 
 Thus the Gulf of Paria is formed by the wes- 
 tern shore of Trinidad, and the opposite coast of 
 Cumana. Ships may anchor all over the gulf, 
 in from three to six fathom water, and on ground 
 of gravel and mud. 
 
 The principal ports of the island are, the Har- 
 bour of Chagaramus, situated at the entrance 
 of the northern mouths, three leagues west of 
 Port Spain. It is capable of receiving the largest 
 ships of war, having from four to forty fathoms 
 depth, and a bottom of gravel and mud : its 
 shores are bold and steep. It was in this port, the 
 best and safest of the colony, that Rear-admiral 
 Apodaca burnt his squadron, when that under 
 Admiral Harvey conveying the military force 
 commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie appeared 
 off the island in 1797. 
 
 The Carenage is not so good a port, not hav- 
 ing more than from two to four fathoms, ren- 
 
 * It is well known that these palms serve as eleotrical conduc- 
 
 tor: 
 
282 
 
 I'OKT SPAIN 
 
 tiering it only fit for small vessels of war and 
 merchantmen. 
 
 Gaspard Grande, is an islet within the mouths, 
 where the Spanish ships of war anchored some- 
 times under the useless protection of a battery, 
 placed there to defend the entrance of the 
 mouths, and which, by its bad position, is not 
 calculated for defence. 
 
 Port Spain is situated in the western part of 
 the island, and gives its name to the capital. 
 Besides several quays which belong to individuals, 
 this town has a very fine one of stone, which 
 runs several hundred yards into the sea, and is 
 defended by a battery. The hills which com- 
 mand the town have been fortified by the pre- 
 sent possessors of the island. Next to Chaga- 
 ramus, it is the best port in Trinidad, and one 
 of the most safe and extensive bays in the world. 
 
 All the western coast of the island is a series 
 of bays, where vessels may anchor in safety at 
 all times. The most important place, after Port 
 Spain, is that of Annaparima. On this ground, 
 which in 1791, presented only a marsh and fish- 
 ing hamlet, the English have built a fine town, 
 where a considerable trade is carried on. 
 
 The principal rivers, and which are navigable 
 in the western part of the island, are the Caroni, 
 Chaguanas, Barrancones, Couva, Guaracara, and 
 Siparia. 
 
 The Caroni is navigable from its mouth in the 
 gulf, to its junction with the Aripo, which makes 
 
^^E^l 
 
 III VERS. 
 
 283 
 
 a distance of about six leagues. The Oripo is 
 also navigable. If a canal were cut between this 
 river and the Oropuche, which discharges itself 
 on the eastern coast, where navigation and 
 anchorage are very difficult, whenever the winds 
 are northerly or eastwardly, a safe communica- 
 tion might be established between that interest- 
 ing part of the island, and the gulf. The fertile 
 grounds which lie between those two rivers will 
 remain uncultivated until this work is executed. 
 
 The Guanaba, another river that flows into 
 the Caroni, is navigable, but has less water than 
 the Aripo. There are several other streams in 
 the western part of the island, which being na- 
 vigable for canoes and wherries, afford to the 
 colonists established there, great facilities for the 
 cultivation of their lands and the transport of 
 their produce : they are also very abundant in 
 fish. Though the northern and eastern coasts 
 are well furnished with rivers, they are not 
 equally so with ports and roadsteads. 
 
 There are numerous shoals on the northern 
 coast from Maqueribe to the mouth of the river 
 Ellebranche : it is almost every where perpendi- 
 cular, excepting at the openings of numerous lit- 
 tle vallies which are irrigated by fine rivers, or 
 rivulets of pure and crystalline water. If it be 
 considered that the winds blow three fourths of 
 the year from the east and north, it may be 
 readily imagined how very precarious and diffi- 
 cult the coasting trade is on those shores. But 
 
284 
 
 PORTS. 
 
 this is an inconvenience to which Trinidad is 
 subject, in common with all the islands of the 
 American archipelago. To the northward, the 
 principal ports are Maqueribe and Las Cuevas, 
 where Fort Abercrombie is situated. This fort, 
 and that of Maqueribe, were defended in 1807, 
 by batteries of twelve and twenty-four pounders, 
 for the purpose of protecting British merchant- 
 men against the depredations of French priva- 
 teers. To the north-east are the ports of Rio 
 Grande, Toco, and Cumana. At the east is Ba- 
 landra Bay, or Boat Island ; where safe anchor- 
 age may be found at all times for coasters that 
 draw no more than five or six feet water. Fur- 
 ther eastward are Guias Creek and Mayaro Bay. 
 
 Guaiguaire is the safest port in the eastern part 
 of the island, because it is sheltered by a point of 
 land against the easterly wind, and its entrance 
 is only exposed to the south winds, which are 
 neither frequent nor violent on those coasts. 
 
 This part of the island has very fine rivers 
 which are navigable for small craft; the principal 
 are, Rio Grande, Oropuche, and Nariva, or Mitan, 
 as it is called by the Creoles, because it runs 
 through a plain of cocoa trees, forming a forest 
 which is one of the natural beauties of the 
 island : it really presents an enchanting spectacle 
 to the navigator who arrives from Europe, and 
 has not yet witnessed the majestic state of vegeta- 
 tion in the equinoctial regions. In running down 
 the coast this forest presents the form of a crescent. 
 
^^H 
 
 RRKONKOUS «nOfJHAI'nV 
 
 285 
 
 During the revolutionary war of the United 
 States, the Count d'Estaing, who always acted as 
 the father of his seamen and soldiers, employed 
 a boat constantly on this coast for collecting 
 cocoa nuts, which were distributed among the 
 ship's companies of his squadron : this wise mea- 
 sure preserved them from the ravages of scurvy. 
 The chronicles of the country state, that in the 
 year 1730, a boat laden with cocoa nuts from the 
 Guaraouns' islets was wrecked on this coast, and 
 that the waves having thrown them on shore they 
 gradually multiplied. 
 
 Guatavo, which the French, who always man- 
 gle the names of places, have called Ortoir river, 
 has been improperly deemed the most consider- 
 able of those to windward of the island, on the 
 report of an ignorant French emigrant land sur- 
 veyor, who, whilst he lived, enjoyed the reputation 
 of an able engineer. He made a bad copy of the 
 beautiful map of this island, by the unfortunate 
 
 Cosmo de Churucca. The map of M , of 
 
 which that of Faden is only a copy, still more 
 incorrect, places hills where there are marshes, 
 &c. Some of his errors were voluntary, if w T e 
 may believe many who were deceived by them. 
 As it is rather frequent for British speculators to 
 purchase land in the new world on the faith of 
 maps and plans, and that grounds in the neigh- 
 bourhood of navigable rivers are of a considerable 
 comparative value, some of those speculators, 
 called land jobbers, charmed with the beauty of 
 
nnn| 
 
 
 286 
 
 fil'A TAVO. 
 
 the river Guatavo as represented by M., ...... and 
 
 Faden, bought considerable lots of it. 
 
 I am certain that excepting for a few hundred 
 yards from its mouth, the Guatavo is not navigable, 
 unless for small boats ; yet M in the explana- 
 tion of his map, positively says that it is navigable 
 as far as Morne Rouge, which would be almost 
 to its source, thus making a distance of six 
 leagues. 
 
 According to the observations of Captain Co- 
 lumbine, one of the best hydrographers in the 
 British navy, this river ceases to be navigable for 
 vessels that draw more than five feet water four 
 miles from the entrance. When that able officer 
 surveyed the northern and eastern coasts of this 
 island, he observed another error of a contrary 
 kind by the land surveyor already noticed, and 
 who had made the river Nariva much smaller than 
 the Guatavo. Captain Columbine sailed up to its 
 source, for seven leagues and a half inland, and 
 found it navigable as far as three quarters of a 
 league from its source, for vessels of two and three 
 
 hundred tons. M has marked two natural 
 
 canals between the rivers Nariva and Guatavo in 
 his map, whilst in reality there exists but one. 
 The cause of this error is, that during the heavy 
 rains in winter, the floods create several communi- 
 cations between these two rivers, which are on the 
 same level. 
 
 This is one of those effects that Trinidad pos- 
 sesses in common with the neighbouring continent. 
 
■ HBHHHM ^^> HH I H HI I Hi 
 
 NATUUAL CANALS. 
 
 287 
 
 The most able geographers had treated the natu- 
 ral canals which establish a communication be- 
 tween the Orinoco and Amazons as a chimera. 
 At present no one will attempt to deny the asser- 
 tion, since M. de Humboldt has sailed from one 
 of those rivers into the other. Before the repu- 
 tation of that learned traveller had placed thia 
 important fact of physical geography beyond all 
 doubt, boats were often seen to go from San 
 Carlos on the Rio Negro, to San Thome de An- 
 gostura. The coast and plain of Mayaro are low 
 and unhealthy ; but to the south, those of Guai- 
 quaire, present a magnificent amphitheatre, and a 
 landscape at once smiling, fertile, and salubrious. 
 
 Further south is the fine river Moruga, the 
 banks and vicinity of which abound in logwood. 
 The shores and mouths of those rivers are full 
 of rounded pebbles, whilst they are very rare 
 near those on the western coast. Nevertheless, 
 in the interior, the same rivers that discharge 
 themselves on the western coast, have many and 
 very handsome pebbles. I found one of them, 
 among others, which embarrassed me extremely: 
 it was red, having the colour of burnt brick, and 
 is sometimes as hard. Those rivers on the 
 eastern coast, especially that of Moruga, produce 
 abundance of excellent oysters, which attach 
 themselves to the stems and branches of mangrove 
 trees. There is not another island of the new 
 world, which, in proportion to its size, possesses 
 so many navigable rivers as Trinidad. Amongst 
 
288 
 
 SKA row. 
 
 the variety offish on this coast, one of the most 
 remarkable is the Squalus Zygaena : it is about 
 twelve feet long and thick in proportion. Its 
 eyes are large and terrifying, the head has the 
 shape of a hammer ; its mouth and the three rows 
 of teeth are still better adapted for biting than 
 those of the common shark, which it greatly 
 resembles in other respects. 
 
 Another, very like the codfish, is also common, 
 and as dangerous as the former. One day when 
 near the mouth of the Oropiche with two engi- 
 neers, our Indian fishermen took one which had 
 the head of a negro in its maw. I need scarcely 
 say that we declined tasting this prize, the Indians 
 showed the same repugnance ; but some of the 
 negroes who accompanied us, regaled themselves 
 with it, and salted what they could not devour. 
 It is, however, well flavoured, and there is a great 
 consumption of it in the colony. 
 
 The sea cow (trichecus manati) is amphibious, 
 and often found in pairs, with their young, browz- 
 ing out of the water on the marine plants in the 
 plain of cocoa trees. They usually weigh from 
 one thousand to eleven hundred pounds. It is 
 asserted that they are found in the Orinoco of 
 eighteen hundred pounds weight. Its flesh re- 
 sembles that of the hog, is good for eating either 
 fresh or salted, while its grease is used like lard. 
 
 Trinidad has marshes which the Spaniards call 
 la gun as, and the Creoles lagons, in the vicinity 
 of the principal rivers. They produce abundance 
 

 ASPHALTL'M LAKH. 
 
 289 
 
 of mangrove trees : this is the rhizophora mangle 
 of Jaquin, the wood of which is excellent for build- 
 ings. In the dry season these marshes become 
 savanas, on which cattle are turned out, and 
 where great quantities of game are found. There 
 are also an abundance of land tortoises of various 
 kinds, whose flesh is both delicate and nourishing. 
 Those savanas abound in marine birds, grey par- 
 tridges, water hens, flamingoes, and white wood- 
 cocks, the flesh of which is as delicate as that of 
 the European woodcock. It is difficult to form an 
 idea of the innumerable quantities of wild ducks 
 that frequent the rivers: they are sometimes 
 taken in such numbers, as to be sold for fivepence 
 each at Port Spain. I know of three species of 
 them, without including teal. The largest re- 
 semble the Indian duck, the second our common 
 duck, and the third is very small with a beauti- 
 ful plumage, including blue, rose coloured, yel- 
 low and white, also a brilliant gold-coloured star 
 in the forehead of about an inch in diameter : it is 
 called Ouikiki. 
 
 The most remarkable of those marshes is the 
 asphaltum lake, which has no communication 
 with the great lagoon as marked on some maps, 
 This singular lake, vulgarly called the pitch lake, 
 is about half a league in length, and the same in 
 breadth. It is situated near the sea, and elevated 
 eighty feet above its level. 
 
 Here the coast presents a confused mixture of 
 marly earths, (which marl is argillaceous,) im- 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 pnr.NOMr.xA. 
 
 pregnated with asphaltum. An excellent lim- 
 pid and running water is found in the crevices 
 of the asphaltum, as far as six feet deep, in 
 which there is a great quantity of small fish. All 
 these crevices called funnels, incline to a conic 
 form. The bottoms of some are so liquid, that 
 ivhen poles are thrust in to them they disappear. 
 The people who inhabit the neighbourhood assured 
 me, that having put marks on the pieces of wood 
 thrust into the funnels, they found them again, 
 a few days afterwards on the sea shore. I saw 
 several pieces of wood in the lake completely 
 changed into bitumen: in one of the funnels I 
 found the trunk of a large tree, which perfectly 
 retained its round shape. I caused it to be sawed ; 
 when it was observed to be completely impreg- 
 nated with petroleum. 
 
 I have also seen the same phenomenon in the 
 provinces of New Barcelona and Cum ana, near 
 the Lake of Cariaco ; and various parts of those 
 regions where the currents of the sea have formed 
 large masses of vegetable substances. 
 
 There is no phenomenon which offers more 
 variety and mobility than the surface of the as- 
 phaltum lake. Here are seen groups of shrubs ; 
 there tufts of wild pine-apples and aloes. Among 
 those shrubs and flowers, swarms of magnificent 
 butterflies, and brilliant humming birds seek their 
 food, enlivening a scene which, if it were de- 
 prived of animals and vegetables, would present 
 an exact image of Tartarus. Where an islet of 
 
\BXBBm H^HHbbS^H ■■■■■■ HHaHB^H HflMnlnMBBHIl 
 
 VOLCANOES. 291 
 
 several feet diameter had been seen in the even- 
 ing-, there is often nothing to be found the next 
 morning but a gulf in which it has been swallowed 
 up ; whilst on the side of it has arisen another 
 island, that will soon be covered with vegeta- 
 tion ! 
 
 Not far from the borders of the lake, among 
 the beautiful plantations and fine forests that sur- 
 round it, is found petroleum mixed with the 
 earth, which it tends greatly to fertilize. The best 
 and finest fruits of the colony come from that 
 district ; its pine-apples, in particular, are less 
 fibrous, larger, more aromatic, and of a deeper 
 golden colour than any where else. South of Cape 
 delaBrea,is a pit or submarine volcano, which the 
 sea causes to boil up, and discharge a considerable 
 quantity of petroleum. 
 
 In the eastern part of the island, and Bay of 
 Mayaro, is another volcano, which in the months 
 of March and June every year, produces some 
 detonations, with a noise resembling that of a 
 cannon or thunder. This noise is succeeded by 
 flames and smoke which rise from the abyss, and 
 some minutes afterwards the waves throw on 
 shore pieces of bitumen, as black and brilliantas 
 jet. By mixing this asphaltum in proper pro- 
 portions with tallow and linseed oil, a kind of 
 tar is made fit for caulking ships, and which has 
 the inestimable property of preserving them from 
 the corrosions of the sea-worm. Since 1805, the 
 English have employed it very successfully for 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 CALCAREOUS ROCKS. 
 
 that purpose, The island produces sufficient to 
 caulk thousands of ships every year. 
 
 An inhabitant of the south informed me, in 
 1799, that some sportsmen, who lost their way in 
 the forests of Point Icacos, assured him they had 
 discovered a volcano behind the Renusson Planta- 
 tion, in the midst of the lake which is in the neigh- 
 bourhood. I employed one of those sportsmen 
 to conduct me to the place, where we arrived 
 after a journey of three hours. 
 
 At length we reached the summit of a hill 
 of argillaceous clay : at the top, and around this, 
 are a great number of little mounds, one or two 
 feet high : the tops of those cones are truncated 
 and open ; they are so many vents which exhale 
 a gas, smelling like sulphurated hydrogen. On 
 the most elevated part of this hill is a cone of 
 about six feet high, pierced from the summit to 
 its base like the others, which continually dis- 
 charges a whitish matter that has the taste of alum. 
 Although a sound is heard, which indicates that 
 the fluid is in a state of agitation, and it continu- 
 ally evaporates globules of an elastic fluid, the 
 scum at the orifice of the cone is cold. 1 could 
 not touch the bottom of this pit with four poles 
 tied together strongly at the ends, and which 
 measured sixty feet ; having let them go suddenly, 
 they disappeared. 
 
 Though there is neither stone nor sand in the 
 circumference of a league from it, I found plenty 
 round the hill, as also handsome rounded pebbles 
 

 VOLCANIC CRATER. 
 
 293 
 
 and small calcareous stones, to which sulphurous 
 particles of a prismatic form adhered. 
 
 After having visited this species of Solfatara, I 
 passed over another marsh of mangroves, conti- 
 guous to the former. Near this second marsh is 
 another hillock : it has not so many vents as the 
 preceding, but its top presents a circular cavity, 
 somewhat shallow, and full of a boiling liquid, 
 having the teste of alum. A dull and subterra- 
 neous sound is heard, and while on the spot the 
 earth trembled under our feet. Two poles which 
 I drove forcibly into the crater, disappeared in an 
 instant. 
 
 Recovered from my weariness, I again visited 
 very attentively the second hillock. Near its 
 vents, and among the sand, I found some fine 
 crystals of sulphate of copper, incrusted in the 
 alum : not far from thence, returning to the 
 shore, I found in the sand some laminated gyp- 
 sum, the fraueneis of Werner. 
 
 The colonists who inhabit the neighbourhood of 
 this pretended volcanic crater, assured me unani- 
 mously, that every year, in the month of March, 
 they hear several detonations, the noise of which 
 resembles that of a cannon at a distance. This 
 crater is encompassed with marshes of mangroves 
 which communicate with the sea.* 
 
 * Near Carthagena, there are little cones which have openings 
 on their tops. Those openings arc lull of water, through winch 
 pass bubbles of azotic gas. 
 
294 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 In 1801 I discovered schistous plumbago ; near 
 which is a mine of sea-coal, from whence petro- 
 leum exudes to the foot of the hill occupied by 
 the Mission of Monserrat, at a distance of about 
 two leagues from the sea. 
 
 Mountains. 
 
 The Island of Trinidad has a range of moun- 
 tains to the north, a group of hills to the south, 
 and another in the centre, of which the most ele- 
 vated point is called Mount Tamana, supposed to 
 be the highest in the island. It is very difficult 
 to penetrate through those of the centre and 
 south, owing to the prickly palms (Mauricia 
 aculeata,) thorns and points of other trees. There 
 is a small lake near the top of Tamana. A sports- 
 man assured me that its water is salt, but I do not 
 warrant the truth of his account. 
 
 During the time I resided in this island, I was 
 never able to procure good instruments for mea- 
 suring the heights of its mountains : yet accord- 
 ing to some barometrical observations, which lam 
 far from considering exact, I believe that the 
 most elevated of the northern mountains is about 
 three thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 The highest summits of the northern range are 
 near the sea. Those mountains, as well as the 
 coast range of Cumana, differ from the Caribbean 
 Islands or Lesser Antilles, in many respects, par- 
 

 H 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 295 
 
 ticularly their form, position, the openings of their 
 vallies, and constitutive principles. 
 
 The mountains of Grenada, St. Lucia, Marti- 
 nico, Dominica, Guadaloupe, St. Christopher, 
 and other Caribbean Islands, which I have visited, 
 are all situated in the centre of those islands, and 
 their chain declines as they approach the sea. 
 Those islands and their mountains affect a direc- 
 tion of east and west, whilst the Apalachian run 
 from N. N. W. to S. S. W. The nucleus of the 
 Caribbean mountains, wherever I have been able 
 to judge from their sides when washed bare by the 
 sea, has appeared to be granite surmounted with 
 prismatic basalt. The basalts of Grenada are the 
 best characterized. There, as every where else, 
 this rock rises in twin mountains, of which the 
 tops are truncated. Those mountains are of an 
 order equally superior to those of Trinidad, by 
 their constituent principles and elevations. All 
 these islands have volcanoes, either in activity or 
 extinguished. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the earthquakes 
 which were felt so violently in Guadaloupe and 
 Antilles, on the night between the 26th and 27th 
 of September, 1797, were not perceived either at 
 Trinidad or in the province of Cumana ; but 
 when, some time afterwards, violent earthquakes 
 desolated that province, they were felt, though 
 slightly, at Trinidad, but not in the Antilles. 
 
 When, in 1799 and 1800, I formed geological 
 comparisons between Trinidad and the Caribbean 
 
290 
 
 M. DE HUMBOLDT. 
 
 Islands, I merely intended to have ascertained the 
 facts according to the ingenious theory of Doctor 
 Hutton, so ably defended by the learned Playfair. 
 But when I began to reflect independently of all 
 system., the Antilles appeared to me as being vol- 
 canic^ whilst Trinidad and Tobago, on the con- 
 trary, seemed Neptunian, and more recently risen 
 from the waters, as well as the coast mountains of 
 Cumana, of which they are only a continuation. 
 
 A treatise of M. de Humboldt, entitled " Frag- 
 ments of a Geological Table of South America," 
 inserted in a French periodical journal, came into 
 my possession at Trinidad, about the end of 1806. 
 I soon after undertook a voyage to the provinces 
 of the Orinoco, New Andalusia and Cumana ; and 
 having traversed those countries with M. Hum- 
 boldt's treatise in my hand, the greater part of my 
 ideas were changed. 
 
 Every thing denotes that Trinidad and Tobago 
 are merely an amputation of the left bank of the 
 Orinoco, and that this separation has been caused 
 by an irruption of the sea. The same strata of 
 earth, the same rocks, fossils, vegetables and ani- 
 mals arc peculiar to both regions. 
 
 The chain of mountains in the north of Trini- 
 dad runs east and west ; which is the direction of 
 the mountains on the coast of Cumana. I have 
 already said that the most elevated summits are 
 those of the mountains nearest the sea : their 
 nucleus is a very dense argillaceous schistus. 
 
 This schistus becomes lamellated, and the more 
 
mmmm ■■■■■ 
 
 SCHISTOUS CHAIN. 
 
 297 
 
 (Viable as it is exposed to the air. I observed that 
 the inferior layers, and those near the beds of 
 rivers, change to micaceous schistus. The rivers 
 which have their sources in the northern chain, 
 and that run towards the north, pass over beds 
 of this schistus, in the interstices of which are 
 found a great quantity of sulphureous pyrites in 
 cubic chrystals. 
 
 The schistous chain of Paria and Cumana, 
 parallel to the granitic chain of the Caribbean 
 Islands, is thus co-ordinate to the system of Pal- 
 las, who believed he had observed that granitic 
 are always bordered with schistous mountains. 
 M. de Humboldt had observed long since, that 
 there exists a certain regularity in the inclination 
 and direction of the strata, that this inclination 
 never depends on the exterior inequalities of the 
 soil, and that the layers are oftenest parallel to a 
 very distant chain of mountains. 
 
 The observations of this learned man on the 
 Andes, on the schistous mountains of Cumana, 
 Cuba, St. Domingo and Jamaica, when compared 
 to the direction of the Caribbean islands, properly 
 so called, and the Apalachian, show that he saw 
 through a most curious law of nature. 
 
 The mountain of Las Cuevas is the place where 
 the geological constitution of Trinidad can best 
 be studied. On one of the first steps of the am- 
 phitheatre, upon which Fort Abercrombie is situat- 
 ed, the waves have hollowed out a kind of cavern. 
 The stone which I detached from it at the water's 
 
298 
 
 LAS CDEVAS. 
 
 edge, is amphibolic schistus, very pure and hand- 
 some, similar to that with which the streets of 
 San Thome de Angostura are paved. On this 
 basis repose the strata of argillaceous schistus on 
 which is superimposed a layer of more than twenty 
 feet of quartzose gravel, and at last the vegetative 
 earth. 
 
 I have often been in canoes the whole length 
 of the coast, from Point Galera as far as Port 
 Spain, but I never observed the hornblende schis- 
 tus, except at the foot of the mountain of Las 
 Cuevas and on a level with the sea. In other 
 places there was only to be seen at the entrances 
 of the vallies a quartzose free stone in strata, 
 broken and heaped up in those spots most battered 
 bv the waves. Many of these pieces of quartz 
 contain magnetic iron. Though the sea throws 
 a great many madrepores on the shore, they have 
 not formed banks, at least so far as I could dis- 
 cover. I do not think the true coral exists on 
 this part of the South American coast. 
 
 Las Cuevas with its two summits form four 
 delightful vallies, watered by numerous rivulets. 
 The valley at the north-east bears the name of Las 
 Cuevas. Between the two tops is a noble plat- 
 form, and the most singular position in the 
 island. When you reach the summit the sea is 
 seen both to the east and west. From this plat- 
 form there are descents to the vallies of St. 
 Joseph and Santa Cruz to the south-w r est, and 
 into those of Las Cuevas and Maraccas to the 
 
^M ^M 
 
 GRANITE. 
 
 299 
 
 north-east. In those four vallies, and their 
 mountains, the geological composition of the 
 country may be observed with precision, because 
 their sides are in many instances washed bare by 
 cascades and torrents. It was on the above plat- 
 form, ornamented with shrubby heather, that 
 M. de la Barrere and myself found the yew tree 
 described in a former chapter. 
 
 The precipitous sides of the mountains, washed 
 by those torrents, present in certain places layers 
 of a coarse argile, mixed with ferruginous sand. 
 
 Though granite is never seen in any part of 
 this island, Tobago, or in the interior of the 
 continent, from the mouth of the Orinoco to 
 Cape de Paria, there is not a hundred paces of 
 the spaces between the bottom of the vallies to 
 the summit of the mountains, in which may not 
 be found blocks of milky quartz, of different 
 sizes, and in the cracks of which beautiful pieces 
 of rock chrystal are not seen : indeed I never 
 saw so much of it, in an equal space as at this 
 place. Those scattered quartz may derive their 
 origin either from the veins of quartz, which in 
 all countries traverse the argillaceous schistus, 
 or the destroyed granitic mountains. I have 
 often made excavations under those blocks of 
 quartz, when they were too large to be moved, 
 and I frequently found that they concealed a 
 light layer of sulphate of lime. No doubt that 
 at Trinidad, Tobago, and the coast of Paria, the 
 granite is bidden by the sea, and that it serves 
 
300 
 
 SAINT FOND. 
 
 for a basis, as in the rest of South America, to 
 schistus and other more recent formations. It 
 is found at various distances on the coast, in 
 isolated rocks, between the mouth of the Ori- 
 noco and that of the Amazons. 
 
 In passing along the sea coast, going from 
 Cedar Point to the asphaltum lake, considerable 
 masses of pulverating feldspar are found on a 
 rising ground, washed by the rains, near the 
 mouth of the river Guapo, and on its left bank. 
 This feldspar appears to be similar to that which 
 M. Faujas de Saint Fond shows in his lectures, 
 and which was found in the environs of Mans, on 
 the Alencmi road. 
 
 I have already said that gypsum and limestone 
 are very rare in Trinidad and Tobago, though 
 the great chain of the Bergantin and Guacharo 
 is all calcareous. In Trinidad I know of only 
 one quarry of calcareous carbonate, situated at 
 the foot of a hill near Port Spain, on leaving 
 the town to go to St. Joseph's ; but that rock is 
 mixed with heterogeneous substances, among 
 which I found veins of silex. 
 
 Some quarries of pure calcareous carbonate are 
 found in the vallies of the coast chain at Guyra, 
 within the gulf, and sulphate of lime at Rio 
 Carupano, in the neighbourhood of the copper 
 mines. I believe there are some also in the hills 
 which command the town of Cumana. It is pro- 
 bable the soil may conceal others in places where 
 I have not been able to discover them. 
 
H Hi 
 
 VOLCANOES. 
 
 301 
 
 Reiterated and laborious researches which I 
 made in the mountains of the north, and in the 
 hills of the south and center, have not enabled me 
 to discover any vestiges of organic bodies ; but I 
 have found them in its plains, as well as in those 
 of Tobago and in the vallies of the maritime range 
 of Cumana. There, sea shells are intermingled 
 and confounded with those of fresh water, and 
 many are of unknown and extinct species. 
 
 This absence of calcareous mountains, and even 
 of considerable masses of that substance, is one of 
 the geological characteristics by which Trinidad, 
 Tobago, and the chain of Cumana differ essentially 
 from the Antilles or Caribbean Islands which have 
 calcareous rocks, and even mountains in strata, in 
 which are found various kinds of agglomerated 
 and petrified shells. 
 
 Of all those calcareous rocks, the most remark- 
 able and worthy of fixing the attention of natura- 
 lists, is a bank of carbonate of lime, rather hard, 
 on the sea shore, in the district of Moule in Gua- 
 daloupe. 
 
 This calcareous bank is on a level with the 
 sea, and covered at high water. General Ernouf 
 having heard that it contained human skeletons, 
 sent towards the end of 1804, M. Gerard, a natu- 
 ralist of Brussels, to make excavations there. He 
 extracted a block from it, in which was found a 
 human skeleton perfectly encrusted in the stone, 
 and completely identified with it. I was in 
 Guadaloupe at that period, and ordered workmen 
 

 302 
 
 PETRIFACTIONS. 
 
 to dig there for my own account : I could not 
 obtain an entire skeleton, but heads, arms, legs, 
 and fragments of the dorsal spine. With a suf- 
 ficient number of workmen, I might have ob- 
 tained complete skeletons, and more accurately 
 delineated than that of M. Gerard.* There are 
 several parts of his skeleton, of which tb-e linea- 
 ments cannot be clearly distinguished without the 
 assistance of a magnifying glass. I remarked that 
 all those anthopolites are placed east and west, 
 according to the ancient custom of the Asiatics 
 and Americans. By the side of the skeletons were 
 found pestles, mortars, hatchets, clubs of a basaltic 
 or porphyritic stone, and instruments similar to 
 those which the savages still use. Those instru- 
 ments are petrified. But I found no trace nor 
 the smallest vestige of organic bodies, though 
 there are banks of madrepores quite near them. 
 
 The reader will not, I hope, accuse me of devi- 
 ating from my subject, to notice this calcareous 
 rock in Guadaloupe. My principal object in de- 
 scribing the maritime range of Cumana, has been 
 to point out the difference which exists between 
 the geological constitution of that chain, and 
 
 * One of those skeletons has been lately deposited in the British 
 Museum, which begins to assume a degree of importance, that 
 renders it worthy of a great nation ; and with the exception of the 
 few facilities afforded to those who may be desirous of profiting 
 by the library, it is certainly conducted upon a very liberal prin- 
 ciple. — Ed. 
 

 GRANITE. 
 
 303 
 
 those of the Antilles. If I have not accomplished 
 my purpose ?o ably as might have been done by 
 learned geologists, it will not, I trust, be denied 
 that I am the first who observed and attempted 
 to explain this difference. 
 
 I have said that no granite is found in Trinidad, 
 or the neighbouring countries. On the surface of 
 the soil of this island, pebbles rounded in the 
 rivers which run in the vallies are found ; but, 
 arriving in the plain, there are no more of them 
 to be seen. Those rivers have scarcely any de- 
 scent, and run slowly across large plains of argil- 
 laceous and vegetative earth. All that immense 
 plain situated between the Amazons and Orinoco, 
 known by the name of Lower Guiana, is equally 
 destitute of stones and rounded pebbles, though it 
 is watered by very large rivers, such as the Suri- 
 nam, Essequibo, Demerara, &c. The modest, 
 learned, and too little known Alexander Ander- 
 son, of St. Vincent's, told me that he had ascended 
 the Demerara two hundred English miles, with- 
 out meeting a single rock or rounded pebble on 
 its banks. The first stone which offered itself to 
 his observation was an immense pier of granite, 
 that forms one of the cataracts of that river. 
 
 I have every reason to believe that this island 
 has no mines of precious metals ; but the sight and 
 the magnet discover iron in the greater part of 
 its rocks and pebbles. All the colonists consider 
 the gold dust mentioned by Sir Walter Raleigh 
 as a fable. In spite of all ihe pains I took for 
 
IDHRH HHHI 
 
 304 
 
 CRATF.U ()l EUIN. 
 
 ascertaining that fact, I could not discover one 
 atom of gold, silver, orplatina, and the Spanish 
 government searched in vain for them during two 
 centuries. 
 
 An inhabitant of Port Spain once brought me a 
 piece of very heavy stone, which he said he had 
 found in the river when collecting pebbles for 
 building. It was not necessary to examine it long 
 to discover that it was arsenic with sulphurated 
 bary tes for matrix. I went the next day to where 
 it was found, but all the searches I made did not 
 procure me a bit of that metal. 
 
 Though my taste for natural history induced 
 me to make many excursions near the crater of 
 Erin, the most painful and persevering researches 
 there, did not enable me to discover any other 
 metallic substance than some crystals of sulphate 
 of copper, encrusted with alum and among flints. 
 Yet a person in the service of government showed 
 me a metal that he pretended to have found there, 
 and which he supposed to be silver. I did not 
 see this specimen in its matrix : with great diffi- 
 culty I obtained a piece that weighed rather more 
 than two ounces. This metal is of a very brilliant 
 white: its specific gravity is ten: melted with 
 gold, it deprives it of malleability and ductility, 
 and produces the same effect on silver ; at least 
 unless there be three parts of silver for one of this 
 metal. It appeared to a goldsmith who made 
 experiments on it with me, that in this proportion 
 it did not diminish the malleability of silver. It is 
 

 NEW METAL. 
 
 305 
 
 not, however, very brittle. According to the 
 pyrometer of Wedgwood, it requires tw T o or 
 three degrees more of heat to melt this substance 
 than silver. 
 
 M. Vauquelin, 'with whom I communicated on 
 this subject, thinks it either a new metal or one 
 composed of several others. 
 
306 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Climate.— Seasons — Winds. — Rain. — Rarity of Storms and Hurri- 
 canes. — State of the Thermometer. — An Experiment. — Quantity of 
 Rain. — Inundation of the Orinoco. — Tides. — Effects of increased 
 Cultivation. — Various Degrees of Heat. — Observations on the Effects 
 of Climate, and Precautions recommended.— Spring or fine Season. 
 — Remarks. — Dews. 
 
 Countries situated between the tropics have 
 only two seasons : the dry and rainy ; or the 
 spring and winter. These two seasons are still 
 more distinct at Trinidad than in the Antilles; 
 for whatever may be the winds that prevail in 
 that island, there scarcely ever falls a drop of rain 
 during the spring. This is the name given in those 
 regions to that part of the year which commences 
 with the month of November, and concludes with 
 that of April or the beginning of May. From 
 the end of April the heat increases gradually ; the 
 east, north-east and northerly winds become less 
 cool; at the end of June the heat is greatest ; the 
 storms commence, and increase in frequency until 
 the months of August, September, and the be- 
 ginning of October, when they occur daily, and 
 are accompanied with torrents of rain. Nothing is 
 

 >V1NI)S AND RAIN. 
 
 307 
 
 more curious for an European, than the manner 
 in which a storm forms in this climate. The air 
 is calm, not a zephyr agitates it ; Reaumur's ther- 
 mometer is in the shade, at twenty -three, twenty- 
 four, or twenty-five degrees, ascending as the 
 atmosphere is more calm. The sky is clear, 
 azure, and without a cloud. Suddenly there is 
 seen forming in one part of the heavens a small 
 grey point, which, in four or five minutes increases 
 and becomes a large black cloud ; at first lightnings 
 issue from this cloud; those soon become more 
 considerable ; a minute afterwards the barometer 
 descends suddenly one or two lines ; the thunder 
 rolls, and in an instant a torrent of rain falls in 
 large drops. Those showers generally last only 
 a few minutes, seldom half an hour ; scarcely has 
 the rain ceased, than the atmosphere remains as 
 calm, and the sky as serene as before. It rains 
 thus fifteen or twenty times a day during the 
 winter, and a moment afterwards, it scarcely 
 seems that there had been rain. There is seldom 
 any fall of rain in the night, but a heavy shower 
 without wind usually precedes sunrise by half an 
 hour, during the season. 
 
 I have very rarely observed in the atmosphere of 
 Trinidad,andthe countries of the sea-coast, between 
 the left bank of the Orinoco and the valiies of 
 Cum ana and Caraccas, that conflict of winds and 
 clouds so remarkable in the turbulent climate of 
 the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico, when, during 
 
 x 2 
 
wmamm 
 
 mmm 
 
 wmm 
 
 308 
 
 HEAT. 
 
 the winter, the westerly winds ehacing and over- 
 turning the inferior clouds, against their usual 
 course, producing those gusts of wind which have 
 so often desolated that archipelago. Hurricanes 
 are unknown in Trinidad, Tobago, and the adja- 
 cent continent. 
 
 It is very remarkable that Grenada, the most 
 southward of the Antilles, and only thirty leagues 
 from the continent, is as much subject to squalls 
 of wind as the other Antilles. It is equally sin- 
 gular that the island of Tobago, which, like 
 Trinidad, is situated to the east of the coast range, 
 has never experienced a hurricane. 
 
 The barometer varies, in the eastern part of 
 the island, from twenty-seven inches ten lines to 
 twenty-eight inches ; and in the western part, 
 where the atmosphere is still more regular, these 
 variations are not sure indications of fine or bad 
 weather. However, a violent storm coming 
 from the south or south-west, is generally an- 
 nounced by a sudden fall of several lines. I have 
 already said that the heat constantly increases 
 from the end of April to the month of June, 
 and that it remains almost stationary from that 
 month until the middle of October, also that 
 it begins to diminish simultaneously with the 
 storms and rains. 
 
 I made use of Farenheit's thermometer : it 
 stood usually during that season, at Port Spain, 
 in the morning before sunrise, at 78° to 80° ; from 
 
^m y^r/j. $r& ^m ^m 
 
 RAINY SEASON. 
 
 309 
 
 sunrise to sunset at 84° to 86° ; in the evening it 
 generally fell to 82" ; sometimes, when the wea- 
 ther was very stormy in the months of August and 
 September, and the air was saturated with humi- 
 dity, it rose as high as 90°. In the space of nine 
 years I have seen it only twice at 93°, which 
 was the 2d of September, 1798, and the 21st of 
 October, 1799, days on which earthquakes were 
 felt. 
 
 When during winter there is wind with the 
 rain during the night, the mornings are less hot, 
 and whenever the rain is preceded by violent 
 claps of thunder during the day, which is gene- 
 rally the case in that season, the evenings are 
 not so hot. When the rain is neither preceded 
 by thunder nor followed by wind, the atmo- 
 sphere is heavy and the heat violent. Finally, in 
 a few leagues circumference, the heat varies seve- 
 ral degrees, according to the elevation of the 
 place above the level of the sea, and its exposure : 
 this difference is especially perceptible in the 
 spring. 
 
 The hygrometrical constitution of Trinidad 
 experiences great variations from one season to 
 another. During the rainy season, the hygro- 
 meter is usually between 85° and 90° ; but in the 
 spring it remains generally between 36° and 38° 
 in the day time, and 50° at night. 
 
 There falls at Trinidad annually on an average 
 about sixty-two inches of water during the win- 
 ter, and about eight or nine inches in the spring, 
 
 •■ 
 
310 
 
 DEWS. 
 
 including the dews'* ; for it scarcely ever rains from 
 the end of December until the end of May. Hav- 
 ing said that the rains diminish with the storms 
 and the heat, from the end of October, I should add 
 that those October rains are very gentle ; in No- 
 vember, when the cool season begins, they become 
 every day less frequent and more slight. From 
 the end of December until the beginning of June, 
 of some years, there does not fall a drop of water 
 during the day. 
 
 The old people in Trinidad assert that it rained 
 much more previous to the year 1783, in which 
 the draining and clearing the lands commenced. 
 It is certain that the river San Joseph, which 
 runs into the Caroni, w 7 as navigable thirty years 
 ago, as far as below the town. And I, who 
 frequented or inhabited the island for about fif- 
 teen years, have remarked that the rivers which 
 run towards the west, had much less water in 
 1806 than in 1791, whilst those of the east and 
 
 * Struck with the quantity of dew that falls every night at 
 Trinidad, in December, 1799, I placed on a plank, in my sa- 
 vanna, fifty sponges each night, from the 2d of December to the 
 1st of May, 1800; every morning I wrung out the water which 
 had been absorbed by the sponges, and I caused to be evaporated 
 in a cucurbite what might have remained in them. I put this 
 water in large bottles, and emptied it from time to time into the 
 bucket which served for measuring the rain; and I believe, as 
 did also a person who assisted me to make this experiment, how- 
 ever clumsy it was, that the dew which had fallen in those live 
 months, wai equal to six inches of rain. 
 
&/M#$# ^H ^H ^^H 
 
 ■•#*& 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 .311 
 
 north appear not to be diminished ; no doubt 
 because the clearing and cultivation have not 
 destroyed the forests there, as in the western 
 parts. 
 
 The vicinity of the humid continent of Gui- 
 ana explains why the falls of rain are as great 
 at Trinidad as in Martinico, Guadaloupe, and 
 the greater part of the Antilles, which have ra- 
 ther large mountains in all their length, the di- 
 rection of which seems to have been regulated 
 according to the predominant winds, and whose 
 pointed summits act as conductors to the atmo- 
 spheric electricity attracting its vapours, Trini- 
 dad, on the contrary, has a chain of mountains 
 but little elevated, on its northern coast, a group 
 of hills towards the center, and a chain of downs 
 on the south-west coast. The tops of those hills 
 are flat or rounded, though generally their sides 
 are more steep than those of the mountains of 
 Martinico and the Caribbean Islands. 
 
 With the rainy season begins the inundation of 
 the Orinoco, which continues increasing from the 
 end of April to the end of August. In Septem- 
 ber its waters are at their greatest height : it has 
 then risen from thirty-nine to forty-one feet above 
 its level when the waters are lowest. Its banks 
 are covered, and the chief part of the Guaraouns 
 islets are immersed. In October the river begins 
 to decrease regularly, until the month of March, 
 when its waters are at the lowest ebb ; those fluc- 
 tuations are regular and invariable. 
 
312 
 
 ORINOCO. 
 
 " During the five months in which the increase 
 of the river continues," says Raynal, " the hemi- 
 sphere of the new world presents seas only, and 
 scarcely any land to the perpendicular action of 
 the sun's rays : during the six months following 
 the decrease of the river, the immense continent 
 of America alone presents itself to the same action ; 
 the sea is then less subject to the active influence 
 of the sun, or its movement to the eastern side 
 is counter-balanced and interrupted in a greater 
 degree by the land ; it ought, in consequence, to 
 leave a greater liberty to the course of rivers, 
 which in that case, not being so much counter- 
 acted by the sea, can be increased only by the 
 melting of the snow on the Southern Cordilleras, 
 or by the rains. It is, perhaps, also the increase 
 of the rains which determines that of the Orinoco, 
 as Gumila, who seems to have observed this phe- 
 nomenon, attentively supposes. When an en- 
 lightened nation," continues Raynal, " shall have 
 studied the shores of the Orinoco, the phenome- 
 non of its increase will be investigated as it de- 
 serves to be." 
 
 It appears to me that this phenomenon might 
 be explained in a most satisfactory manner. The 
 rains are not the first and only cause of the in- 
 crease of the Orinoco ; it increases obviously 
 before the commencement of the rains, and the 
 melting of the snows in the Cordilleras of Bo- 
 gota, and the ranges of mountains proceeding from 
 them, is no doubt the principal cause. 
 
^H %$$$$ ^v*? wa :*" , .; , r "&.?■.. *v ^H 
 
 DRY SKA SON. 
 
 313 
 
 THdes. 
 
 The tides are neither very perceptible or re- 
 gular on the coast from Cape de Paria, outside 
 the gulf which bears that name, to Cape de la 
 Vela. This is not the case in going from Cape de 
 Paria towards the mouth of the Amazons. I 
 have not been able to make observations suffici- 
 ently exact and minute, to determine the height 
 of the tides and their periods. Still the configura- 
 tion of the coasts, and the resistance which they 
 oppose to the sea, and the waters which run in 
 the immense rivers of South America, greatly mo- 
 dify the action of the tides. They rise to six or 
 seven feet in the Gulf of Paria during the equi- 
 noxes ; and in the same times, the Guarapiche 
 may be ascended from the Horquetta as far as 
 San Bonifacio, by aid of a tide that raises the 
 water as much as six feet. But at San Thome 
 de Angostura, on the Orinoco, the tide scarcely 
 rises ten inches. 
 
 M. de Humboldt depicts the dry season as a 
 horrible time in Guiana, and the commencement 
 of the rainy season as the regeneration of nature. 
 His " Pictures of Nature," written with energy 
 and eloquence, should be read in order to form 
 an idea of the return of vegetable nature on the 
 recurrence of the rains ; when a kind of resurrec- 
 tion of crocodiles and monstrous reptiles seems 
 to take place. The anxiety and ardour with which 
 multitudes of horses, oxen, wild asses and fero- 
 cious animals come panting from the burning 
 
14 
 
 NOXIOUS INSECTS. 
 
 desart, to quench their thirst on the return of the 
 rains is truly singular. I have seen those animals 
 bound and plunge into the marshes with so much 
 avidity, and drink such a quantity of water, that 
 from an appearance of extreme leanness, they 
 seemed to become as it were dropsical, and died 
 floating on the water in a few hours. 
 
 The effect is, however, different in some parts 
 of Guiana : in those which are fanned and refreshed 
 by the sea breezes, the dry season or spring is a 
 delightful period, while, on the contrary, the 
 rainy season is hotter and less healthy, Such is the 
 climate of Cayenne, Surinam, Berbice, Demerara, 
 Essequibo, of the countries situated between this 
 river and the Orinoco, and from the Orinoco, con- 
 tinuing along the coast, as far as the lake or Medi- 
 terranean of Maracaybo. Before Dutch Guiana, 
 and Demerara were cleared, says Bolingbroke, 
 who has given a very interesting description of 
 those places, torrents of rain used to fall. Since 
 cultivation has increased the seasons are more 
 regular, and the rains less abundant. They have 
 two wet and two dry seasons. The first take place 
 during December, January and February, after- 
 wards in June, July, and August. The rest of the 
 year composes the dry seasons. In the rainy 
 season the thermometer is in general lower than 
 in the others. The land winds prevail, and are 
 deemed unwholesome; musquitos fill the apart- 
 ments and are very annoying ; to such a degree, 
 indeed, that the planter who clears a new planta- 
 
^^H ^M $?$$ ' s^gj^' 
 
 HI RRU'A.VKS. 
 
 315 
 
 tion, is obliged to live in smoke, in order to obtain 
 some repose at night : the sting of those insects 
 and their buzzing are insupportable, while the 
 remedy of the smoke is no less so. It is known that 
 by burning camphor most insects are destroyed: 
 it was in Sweden this experiment was first tried. 
 Perhaps that drug ought to be substituted, or some 
 other vapour equally destructive. The dry sea- 
 son, says the same writer, in speaking of the colo- 
 nies of Demerara and Essequibo, is most beau- 
 tiful ; an azure sky continues the whole day, and 
 at the east even from four o'clock in the morning, 
 occasioned by a slow and gradual twilight. In 
 the evening at six o'clock the sun sets in an in- 
 stant, and leaves the whole country in sudden 
 darkness. This difference, which is very striking, 
 proceeds probably from the sun rising over the 
 sea, where its rays traverse a humid and very 
 cooling atmosphere, whilst, on the contrary, it 
 sets behind high mountains, the shadow of which 
 has defined limits. The greatest heat, which is 
 from seven to ten o'clock in the morning, can 
 hardly be borne : at ten o'clock the sea breeze 
 commences, and restores nature to life : it in- 
 creases until evening, and diminishes towards ten 
 o'clock at night. 
 
 It is in the month of August that the hurricanes 
 begin in the West Indies, but Guiana is little 
 exposed to that scourge ; it is there limited to a 
 few gusts of wind, which merely overthrow some 
 fields of plantains or bananas. Clouds accumulate 
 
316 
 
 INSALUBRITY. 
 
 to the south, thunder roars, and towards the close 
 of the day some lightnings flash in the horizon 
 to the south or south-westward. 
 
 The length of the days is thirteen hours, and 
 increases to fourteen. Little variation is observed 
 during the year ; otherwise the climate presents 
 more variety than might be supposed. During 
 the dry season, which is considered the warmest, 
 the thermometer, near the sea, varies from 84° to 
 90° of Farenheit. Twenty miles in the interior, 
 at the hottest time of the year, it seldom passes 80°, 
 and at night it descends to 50° or 60°. 
 
 The mornings are extremely cool, and accom- 
 panied with very heavy dews. This circumstance, 
 joined to the stagnant waters and marshy plains, 
 renders the interior of the country very insalu- 
 brious to Europeans. The natives, on the con- 
 trary, by the effect of habit, enjoy very good 
 health, and are subject to few diseases. This 
 climate has often been called unhealthy, but I have 
 not found it so. In the excursions that I made 
 by water to Essequibo and Berbice, where business 
 veauir^d mv "ores^nce- I have been frenuentlv 
 wetted through, even three times in twenty-four 
 hours, and have suifered my clothes to dry on me, 
 without experiencing any injury. It is not that 
 I would advise new comers to repeat this experi- 
 ment ; necessity alone obliged me to expose my- 
 self to it, but temperance is the best preservative. 
 It is indispensable, and ought to be recommended 
 to all those who arrive in the West Indies, to take 
 
■^:^^m^Wy§^0W^^W&^^00 ^if^i^sm%!^00] 
 
 ^H 
 
 ^m 
 
 1'RLXAUTIONS. 
 
 317 
 
 some cooling medicines, also to avoid carefully the 
 fogs, the night air, and above all the sun, which 
 gives a fever to those who expose themselves to it 
 incautiously. 
 
 Such are the climate and temperature of Gui- 
 ana, or that immense tract of country situated 
 between the Orinoco and Amazons. From the 
 left bank of the Orinoco, as far as Cape de la Vela, 
 (a rugged and mountainous country,) the climate 
 is more varied, and more or less cool, according 
 to the elevation of the places ; damp, hot and un- 
 healthy in the narrow vallies, where there are stag- 
 nant waters ; hot, dry and very salubrious in plains 
 watered by rapid rivers : such is, in general, the 
 climate of Cumana, the Egypt of South America. 
 
 The climate of Trinidad differs from that of 
 those two countries, to which it serves as a kind 
 of limit, inasmuch as it is less moist than Guiana, 
 and not so dry as Cumana. Being an island, the 
 winds are more constant, and renew its atmosphere 
 continually. 
 
 The winter or rainy season begins there, as 
 already stated, in June, and ends in October as in 
 all the islands of the Caribbean sea. But there 
 is very little rain, sometimes none, in June, though 
 the return of the heat is invariable from the end 
 of May. With November begins the delight- 
 ful season : it is then that the east and north- 
 easterly winds blow : those currents of air come 
 from the cold regions of North America, probably 
 because the laws of equilibrium require that the 
 
318 
 
 RAINY SEASON. 
 
 cold and dense air of the north should fill the 
 place left for it by the dilation of the hot and 
 light air of the tropics. During this spring 
 the thermometer is usually, in the day time, at 
 80 degrees of Farenheit, and during the night 
 it falls to 00°, and sometimes even to 50° in toler- 
 ably elevated spots. There are many charming 
 situations at Trinidad, where even during win- 
 ter, the thermometer seldom rises in the day 
 higher than 82°, falling to 70° in the night. Such 
 are the hills or elevations situated at the open- 
 ing of the vallies watered by rapid rivers, and 
 where there is constantly a current of fresh air. 
 The vallies of Santa Anna, of Maraval, Diego 
 Martin, Aricagua, and the heights of St. Joseph 
 to the north-west, as also the vallies on the north- 
 ern coast, enjoy a very mild temperature. Those 
 who have the advantage of inhabiting houses built 
 on the hills, at the opening of a valley, breathe 
 during almost the whole year a fresh, pure, and 
 very elastic air. 
 
 The effects produced by the simultaneous action 
 of the evaporation of rains, dews and winds, is 
 the great source of this coolness ; the animal 
 body which perspires, and the body surrounded 
 with aqueous vapours, whether naturally or arti- 
 ficially, experiences a lesser degree of heat than 
 the thermometer which neither transpires nor 
 evaporates. 
 
 For instance, when the thermometer marks 80° 
 and even 81° of Farenheit, let dinner be served in 
 
gag Kg MSB 
 
 HEALTHINESS. 
 
 319 
 
 a room well aired, the meat will be cool in an 
 instant: when, at the same moment, if the ther- 
 mometer be surrounded by gas imbibed with water, 
 it will in some minutes after descend two, three, 
 and four degrees, according to the proportion of 
 coolness in the prevailing wind. 
 
 It is according to this principle that very cold 
 
 liquids are obtained by suspending the bottles in 
 
 bags saturated with water, in a current of air, also 
 
 by putting water into small vessels of half baked 
 
 lay. 
 
 It should not therefore be supposed that in the 
 tropical climates, bodies experience the same 
 degree of heat as in Europe, in an equal degree to 
 what the thermometer marks. In those climates 
 bodies transpire more freely from the above- 
 mentioned causes, and consequently disengage a 
 greater quantity of animal heat. I have perceiv- 
 ed in my own person that I felt much less heat, 
 after I had adopted the custom of wearing flannel 
 waistcoats next my skin. The gradual perspira- 
 tion they maintain, and the coolness produced by 
 that perspiration, are some of the surest means of 
 preserving health in a climate, of which Euro- 
 peans who have not resided in it form very false 
 notions. 
 
 There is no country in the world which presents 
 a more healthy old age than the Antilles, or any 
 that is more exempt from gout, sciatica, loss of 
 senses or the faculties, together with the dismal 
 train of physical evils incident to cold climates. 
 
320 
 
 THE STARS. 
 
 Dews. 
 
 The abundant dews which fall every night in 
 Trinidad, are the pri ncipal cause of the great 
 variations in the hygrometer. A part of them 
 is, no doubt, produced by the waters of the 
 island and the surrounding sea ; but it is the adja- 
 cent continent of Guiana, its marshes, and great 
 rivers, which refresh the island with these abun- 
 dant dews. Trinidad is generally without rain? 
 from December until the end of June. Still, 
 during that season, the vegetables are every morn- 
 ing soaked with water, as if there had been re- 
 freshing rain. Without this beneficent dew, the 
 island would be sterile, and its climate excessively 
 hot. The ground, which is found in constant 
 effervescence, communicates a vigour to vegeta- 
 tion, raises large trees to a great height, and gives 
 them a luxuriancy of which no description can 
 afford a just idea to the European who has not 
 visited those regions. 
 
 The most beautiful part of the southern celes- 
 tial hemisphere, which comprehends the Centaur, 
 Argo, and Cross, is always hidden from the in- 
 habitants of Europe. It is only under the equator 
 that the magnificent spectacle is to be enjoyed, 
 of seeing at the same time all the stars of the two 
 celestial hemispheres. Some of our northern 
 constellations, such as the Great and Little Bear, 
 on account of their depth in the horizon, a ppear 
 of an astonishing size. 
 
^^^^^B 
 
 
 SKK Tin OF TRIM DAD. 
 
 321 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Historical Sketch of Trinidad. — Its Discovery. — First Establishment 
 of the Spaniards — Sir Walter Raleigh's Visit to the Island. — His 
 Treaty with the Indians, and Attack on San Joseph. — Eulogium on 
 the Soil and Climate of Venezuela. — Blind Policy of Spain. — Pro- 
 ject of M. de Saint Laurent. — Change in the Island's Condition. — 
 Rapid Increase of its Population. — Don Joseph Chacon — His Po- 
 licy. — Port Spain. — French Refugees. — Inhabitants in 1797. — First 
 Sugar Plantation. — Capture of the Island by Sir Ralph Abercrom- 
 bie. — Progressive State of Population, Agriculture, and Commerce 
 between 1783 and 1807. 
 
 The Island of Trinidad was discovered by 
 Christopher Columbus, on the 31st July, 1498, 
 and during his third voyage to the new world. 
 According to some historians he gave it the 
 name of Trinidad, whilst he was yet distant thir- 
 teen leagues to the south-east of it, from the 
 three tops of mountains which are seen in that 
 situation at sea; and according to Herrera he 
 named it thus in honour of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 Nevertheless this island did not fix the atten- 
 tion of the Spaniards until the close of the six- 
 teenth century, if an historical monument pre- 
 served in the church of St. Josef de Oruna may 
 be believed. According to this chronicle, it ap- 
 pears that they preceded their establishment in the 
 
322 
 
 RALEIGH. 
 
 commencement of the year 1588, by the almost 
 general destruction of the Indians. Most of 
 those who escaped the proscription, found a 
 slower and more horrible fate in the works of 
 the mines. Some, however, owed their lives to 
 the paternal and courageous care of the apostle 
 of the new world, the virtuous Las Casas. 
 
 The labours of the Indians soon fertilized the 
 land of which they had been masters for the 
 benefit of their conquerors. Some negroes were 
 afterwards taken there, and united in the work 
 of the natives. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, who visited Trinidad when 
 attracted by the chimera of El Dorado in 1593, 
 relates that the inhabitants then cultivated excel- 
 lent tobacco and the sugar cane. The Spaniards 
 assured him, that the rivers were full of gold dust.* 
 
 * It seems that Raleigh, who in common with all the histo- 
 rians of his day was fond of the marvellous, believed in the absurd 
 fable of El Dorado, and perhaps ashamed of being laughed at on his 
 return, he was determined to present the government and people 
 of England with some story, which should give a colour of pro- 
 bability to the existence of such a place, hence the wonders 
 related about the capital of Guyana. 
 
 " The empire of Guyana," observes Sir Walter, " is directly 
 to the eastward of Peru towards the sea : it is situated under the 
 equinoctial line, and possesses more gold than any part of Peru. 
 It has more great cities than Peru ever had in its most flourish- 
 ing state. This country is governed by the same laws: the 
 emperor and the people profess the same religion; the same 
 police and form of government which were observed in Peru, 
 without any difference whatever. Such of the Spaniards as have 
 
tf^0^^0f0^^0^^. WM*£ 
 
 ■1 
 
 CAPTAIN nUDI.KY. 
 
 323 
 
 On his ret urn to Trinidad from exploring the 
 Orinoco, Sir Walter Raleigh made a treaty with 
 the savages, who were then mortal enemies of the 
 
 seen Alanoa, the capital city of Guyana, which the Spaniards 
 rail El Dorado, assert that, by size, riches and admirable 
 situation, it surpasses all the cities in the world, known to 
 the Spanish nation. It is built in a lake of salt-water, of about 
 two hundred leagues in length, very similar to the Caspian sea: 
 if we compare this capital to that of Peru, and refer, in regard 
 to the latter, to the accounts of Francisco Lopez and others, this 
 recital appears to us very probable." 
 
 The picture drawn by Captain Dudley, who ascended the 
 Orinoco still higher than his companions, is no less flattering, 
 though perhaps infinitely nearer the truth. " On climbing the 
 hills nearest the banks," says he, " we contemplated that asto- 
 nishing mass of waters which falls into the Caroni, and observed 
 how it divides itself into three portions at more than twenty miles 
 distance. Ten or twelve falls presented themselves one above 
 the other, each the height of a steeple, dashing and dispersing, 
 by the breaking of the waters, a thin rain around, which we at 
 first mistook for the smoke of a great city. 
 
 " I have never seen a more beautiful country, or views so 
 picturesque: hills rose from the bosoms of vallies ; the river 
 meandered over the plain in many branches. There were to be 
 seen vast plains free from woods, a green and thick grass, a soil 
 of firm sand convenient for walking on foot, or riding ; deer run- 
 ning along the paths under our eyes ; the birds towards evening 
 tilling the air wit!) their various warblings ; storks and herons, 
 some white, and others crimson or scarlet, wandered over the 
 banks of the river ; the air was refreshed by the blowing of the 
 easterly wind. Every pebbie that we picked up, appeared to 
 promise us, by its colour, mines of gold and silver." (See Hak- 
 luyl's Collection, Vol. HI. Quarto Edition.) The foregoing 
 picture is by no means exaggerated, according to all the accounts 
 received from those who have lately proceeded to San Thome de 
 Angostura by water. -- -El). 
 
 y 2 
 
324 
 
 BEAUTY OF CMMATE, 
 
 Spaniards, and marched with them against the 
 town of St. Josef, which was the seat of govern- 
 ment. He took the fort by assault, put the gar- 
 rison of thirty men to the sword, and made a 
 prisoner of Berreo, the governor, who he repre- 
 sents as a man of noble birth, but detested by 
 the Indians. 
 
 But that which is neither fabulous or romantic, 
 is the beauty of the climate, its fine rivers, and 
 enchanting situations ; a gigantic and magnifi- 
 cent vegetation, compared to which the largest 
 trees in Europe would appear stunted shrubs, and 
 our most beautiful flowers seem languishing and 
 faded ; that earth so fruitful, where the children 
 of nature gather without labour the most succu- 
 lent and nourishing roots and exquisite fruits, 
 whilst the forests, rivers and sea present them with 
 abundant and solid food. Such is the true natural 
 riches of nearly all the country situated between 
 the Amazons and Orinoco, also of Trinidad, which 
 is the same in miniature. 
 
 The Jesuit Gumilla pretends, it is true, that the 
 land had become sterile, since the inhabitants 
 refused to pay tythes. But, fortunately, that 
 sterility never existed, except in the imagination 
 of the Jesuit ; and those who have written on 
 this island after him, speak with delight of the 
 fertility of its soil, its forests of palm, cocoa-nut 
 and cocoa trees, of its hedges of citrons and 
 lemons. Its beautiful sky, added to the fecun- 
 dity of the soil, has justly obtained for it the name 
 of the Indian Paradise. 
 

 ^H 
 
 SAINT LAURENT. 
 
 325 
 
 The neglect of the mother country was more 
 fatal to the colony than the anger of the monks. 
 Either the Spanish government did not know the 
 value of this possession, or affairs of greater 
 importance occupied its attention, for it paid 
 none whatever to this island. Its population and 
 trade were almost extinguished. In short, about 
 thirty years ago, the colony only contained a few 
 hundred inhabitants, Creoles, Mulattos, and In- 
 dians. All its trade consisted in barters of cocoa 
 and indigo for coarse cloths and implements of 
 agriculture, which were brought to it by the 
 smugglers of St. Eustatia. When circumstances 
 caused it to rise from this state of languor, in 
 1783, a planter named Saint Laurent, who re- 
 sided in Grenada, visited Trinidad from a taste 
 for natural history, and perhaps also from his 
 restless and enterprizing disposition. If the fer- 
 tility of the soil, the abundance and variety of 
 the vegetables of the island charmed him, he 
 was no less struck with the political importance 
 of its situation, which, by means of a few troops 
 might secure to its possessor the exclusive trade 
 of the vast territory bordering on the Orinoco. 
 
 Full of this idea, and of the hope of making 
 a large fortune, Saint Laurent resolved to en- 
 lighten the Spanish government as to its true 
 interests. He went to Madrid in consequence, 
 saw the ministers, and succeeded in fixing their 
 attention on Trinidad. It must, however, be 
 allowed, that the political events of which the 
 
:m 
 
 WlStl ULfcLLATlONK. 
 
 new world had recently been the theatre, contri- 
 buted not a little to the success of his project. 
 
 The revolution in North America, terminating 
 in a glorious peace, had given a dreadful lesson 
 to parent states. They feared that other colo- 
 nies would imitate that example ; and those fears 
 were felt, above all, by the court of Madrid, 
 whose colonial system was a masterpiece of 
 tyranny and oppression. 
 
 However it might have been, the Council of 
 Indies occupied itself seriously with the plans 
 of Saint Laurent ; it relieved the colonies from 
 several obstacles which embarrassed their agri- 
 culture and commerce ; and Trinidad, so long 
 neglected by the government, was treated like a 
 favourite child. 
 
 An edict issued from that council in 1783, per- 
 mitted all foreigners professing the Roman Ca- 
 tholic religion, to establish themselves in this 
 colony. It protected at the same time, for a 
 period of five years, those new inhabitants from 
 debts contracted in the countries they had quit- 
 ted. It invited, in short, all the traders and navi- 
 gators of the nations which were at peace with 
 Spain, to frequent the island, placing but a few 
 restrictions on its commerce, which could be 
 easily eluded. 
 
 Saint Laurent visited the principal commercial 
 cities of France and Spain at his own expence, 
 to induce the merchants to make advances to the 
 colonists of Trinidad. He even persuaded many 
 

 POPULATION. 
 
 :m 
 
 persons who led the most inactive lives at Bour- 
 deaux and Paris, to emigrate to that island with 
 their property, and nearly all those who followed 
 his advice, have become wealthy proprietors. 
 
 Spain was not long in reaping the fruits of this 
 wise measure. Crowds of new colonists were soon 
 seen coming from Europe and the British and 
 French possessions, thus bringing their industry 
 and capitals, also a great number of agents, who, 
 after having dilapidated the plantations they had 
 directed, came to enjoy in this island the fruits of 
 their rapine, by favour of the edict which guaran- 
 teed them against any process for five years. It 
 should be remarked that this decree, contrary to 
 the laws of nations, was religiously maintained 
 by the court of Madrid, in spite of the remon- 
 strances and complaints of the British government 
 in 1791. 
 
 The inhabitants increased so rapidly, that six 
 years after the publication of the above edict, 
 there were reckoned in this colony two thousand 
 one hundred and fifty-one whites, four thousand 
 four hundred and sixty-seven people of colour, ten 
 thousand one hundred negroes, and two thousand 
 two hundred Indians, which form a total of 
 eighteen thousand six hundred and twenty-seven 
 inhabitants, an unexampled instance of such a pro- 
 digious increase in so short a space of time in 
 America. 
 
 Still it may be easily conceived that this mix- 
 ture of people of all nations and colours, contain- 
 
328 
 
 A GOVERNOR. 
 
 ed the germs of the vilest passions. It was 
 highly necessary that there should be a firm and 
 enlightened government to repress so many im- 
 moral beings, and oblige them to contribute to 
 the prosperity of the colony. Spain found a fit 
 person in Don Josef Chacon, a naval captain, 
 who was appointed governor of the island, a 
 short time after the edict was issued, from which 
 its colonization may be dated. 
 
 Endowed with more cunning and prudence, 
 than firmness, he joined experience to a complete 
 knowledge of government, and a refined taste 
 for the arts and sciences. The new governor 
 employed his talents with success to fulfil the 
 duties of his office, giving a political and commer- 
 cial importance to this country, worthy of its geo- 
 graphical position. 
 
 Having succeeded in preventing the establish- 
 ment of the Inquisition in his colony, and sending 
 the monks out of it, in consequence of their disso- 
 lute manners and intolerant spirit, which had hin- 
 dered great numbers from settling in the island, 
 Chacon placed Don Josef Angeles, at the head of 
 his clergy, an enlightened and liberal ecclesiastic, 
 who died of grief, in 1807, a victim to the re- 
 venge of his enemies. 
 
 Foreigners who visited Trinidad, met the most 
 flattering reception from Chacon : he even took 
 upon himself to give more liberty to commerce 
 than was granted in the edict; and the merchants 
 found both freedom and safety for their specula- 
 
BBBBB1 BIBBHW I BB mKH Bfl 
 
 ■ 
 
 INGRATITUDE. 
 
 329 
 
 tions under his government. The new colonists 
 received grants of fertile lands, and the governor 
 made them advances from the royal treasure to 
 purchase cattle and implements of husbandry. 
 
 This distinguished character, the founder of a 
 colony, was lately a memorable instance of the 
 ingratitude of mankind. He lived in poverty, 
 and on the benefactions of a friend, at an obscure 
 village in Spain ; and, strange fatality ! sacrificed 
 to the fanatical hatred of some French anarchists, 
 whom he had formerly enriched by his bounty !! 
 
 The encouragements granted to commerce and 
 agriculture, soon changed the face of the island ; 
 and where a short time before only some miser- 
 able huts of fishermen, covered with palm leaves 
 were seen, there arose in the short space of four 
 years, a town regularly built, which by the size 
 and convenience of its port, and the industry of 
 its inhabitants, became one of the most com- 
 mercial in the new world, justly meriting the 
 name of Port Spain from the mother country. 
 
 On the other hand, the disturbances which 
 broke out in the French colonies, at the beginning 
 of the revolution, and the violence of various 
 parties, alternately conquerors and conquered, 
 brought a great number of proprietors from Mar- 
 tinico, Guadaloupe and Saint Lucia to this island, 
 as also many of the ancient French inhabitants of 
 Grenada and Tobago. 
 
 Don Josef Chacon took advantage of those 
 events to people his colony : he received with 
 
330 
 
 SUGAR PLANTATION. 
 
 equal attention all those who brought either 
 capital or industry, without troubling himself 
 about their opinions. Thus, in 1796 and 1797, in 
 consequence of those revolutions which faction 
 alone can explain, this colony presented a mixture 
 of persons of all parties, whose exaggerated prin- 
 ciples had clashed reciprocally, and caused their 
 ruin. He who sees with contempt and pity the 
 chimeras for which men destroy each other, will 
 contemplate with satisfaction this community of 
 persons, once ready for mutual immolation, living 
 peaceably under a government that protected 
 them all equally ; cementing their union by socie- 
 ties of agriculture or commerce, intermarriages, 
 and giving themselves up with ardour to every 
 branch of industry. All those causes combined, 
 soon carried the colony to the highest degree of 
 prosperity. 
 
 In 1787, M. de la Perouse established the first 
 sugar plantation, which was the source of a bril- 
 liant fortune for him, and a laudable object of 
 emulation to the other colonists. In 1797, there 
 were one hundred and fifty-nine sugar plantations; 
 of which three had water-mills, one with a wind- 
 mill, and a hundred and fifty-five with mills 
 worked by mules, a hundred and thirty coffee 
 farms, a hundred of cotton, and about sixty with 
 cocoa. There were, besides, some small plantations, 
 the masters of which being poor, but active, occu- 
 pied themselves in the cultivation of bananas, 
 manioc, yams, sweet potatoes, maize, &c. articles 
 

 A ttUAVL ADMIKAJ,. 
 
 331 
 
 of great consumption for the country, and the 
 people employed by the great planters, who were 
 wholly engaged in the growth of those commo- 
 dities destined for the European markets. 
 
 Such was the prosperous state of this island, in 
 1795; when the contentions in Europe, so disas- 
 trous for the French colonies, where they were 
 felt more or less calamitously, occasioned an 
 augmentation of prosperity to Trinidad. 
 
 On the 16th of February, 1797, a British squa- 
 dron of four sail of the line, under the orders of 
 Admiral Harvey appeared off the island. The 
 Spanish Rear-admiral Apodaca w T as anchored at 
 Chagaramus with three superb ships of the line, 
 (one of which was a three-decker,) and a forty gun 
 frigate. As soon as he saw the British ships, he 
 set fire to his own, and gallantly retreated to Port 
 Spain, reciting his rosary, and accompanied by a 
 band of priests who followed his example. Arrived 
 at the governor's with his chaplet of beads in his 
 hand : " well, admiral, all is lost, asyou have burnt 
 your ships," said Chacon to him. " No, all is not 
 lost," replied the noble admiral ; " I have saved 
 the image of San Jago of Campostella, the patron 
 of my ship and myself," taking from his pocket 
 an image of that saint ! 
 
 General Sir Ralph Abercrombie landed with 
 four thousand men, marched to Port Spain, fired 
 a few discharges of cannon, and after a short con- 
 ference the governor capitulated. 
 
332 
 
 POPULATION, t&C. 
 
 Progressive State of the Population, Agriculture, 
 and Commerce of Trinidad, from 1783 to 1807. 
 
 I have said in another page of this chapter, 
 that previous to the decree of ] 783, the island 
 only contained a few hundred inhabitants, Cre- 
 oles, Mulattos, Indians, and Negroes. This popu- 
 lation was no more in J 783, than 126 whites, 
 295 of colour, free, 310 slaves, and 2032 Indians 
 of all ages. Total, 2,763. 
 
 Seven years after the edict, in 1790, a new 
 population had formed, of fraudulent bankrupts, 
 and dishonest agents, as well as a small number 
 of estimable families from the French and Eng- 
 lish colonies, and even European French fami- 
 lies, some of whom were of distinguished birth. 
 
 The troubles which at this period, 1790, began 
 to desolate the French colonies, contributed to 
 the prosperity of Trinidad, and soon gave it a 
 respectable population. It is principally com- 
 posed of French colonists, ruined by those trou- 
 bles, the chief part of them having brought no- 
 thing but their industry, and a verv small num- 
 ber some wreck of their property. From 1790 
 to 1797, they increased the population from 
 10,422 to 18,627 inhabitants.* In the year pre- 
 
 * The official statements of the population published by the 
 British government, in 179T, amount only to 17,718 inhabitants; 
 because they were made immediately after an emigration caused 
 by the conquest of the island. 
 
$Hf 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 333 
 
 ceding its capture, the following produce was 
 collected : 
 
 On 159 sugar plantations, 7,800 hogsheads. 
 On 130 coffee plantations, 330,000 pounds. 
 On 60 cocoa plantations, 96,000 pounds. 
 On 103 cotton plantations, 224,000 pounds. 
 
 The tonnage of the shipping employed in this 
 trade, as also in the contraband which the adja- 
 cent continent carried on with the island, had 
 been, on an average, from 1784 to 1797, from 
 7,500 to 8,000 tons. 
 
 If it be considered that previous to 1783, the 
 population was only 2,763 individuals, of whom 
 2,032 were Indians, who never work, except to 
 provide for their greatest wants ; that the obsta- 
 cles and absurd regulations before the epoch of 
 the edict paralized the commerce of the Spanish 
 colonies ; that before the year 1783, a Dutch house 
 of St. Eustatia carried on all the commerce of the 
 colony, with a vessel of about a hundred and fifty 
 tons, that it sent there two or three times in the 
 year, and which was sufficient for taking all the 
 articles they required to the inhabitants, and for 
 which they gave in payment a small portion of 
 cocoa, vanilla, indigo, arnotto, cotton and maize. 
 When it is also recollected that the first sugar 
 plantation was established therein 1787, an idea 
 may be formed of the prodigious increase of this 
 colony, under the prudent government of Don 
 
33 
 
 COMMKRCi:. 
 
 Joseph Chacon, in the short space of time com- 
 prised between 1783 and 1797, when all the 
 new colonists had made fortunes more or less 
 considerable. 
 
 From the conquest of the island, in February, 
 1797, until the peace of Amiens, in 1802, the 
 population had increased from 18,627 to 24,239 
 inhabitants, and the cultivation as follows : 
 
 On 192 sugar plantations, 15,461 hogsheads. 
 On 128 coffee plantations, 358,660 pounds. 
 On 57 cocoa plantations, 97,000 pounds. 
 On 101 cotton plantations, 263,000 pounds. 
 
 Thus it is seen that in the space of five years 
 the cultivation of sugar had almost doubled. 
 There may also be observed a small augmenta- 
 tion in the produce of coffee, cocoa, and cotton, 
 but two coffee, three cocoa and two cotton plan- 
 tations less : it was because the proprietors of 
 those plantations had found it more profitable to 
 change them into sugar plantations. 
 
 In 1802, the tonnage of sixty vessels employed 
 in the commerce of Trinidad, was about fifteen 
 thousand tons. I suspect that the contraband 
 trade formed about two thirds of this commerce ; 
 leaving a third of the whole tonnage employed 
 in the trade of the island, five thousand tons. 
 
 Now, the tonnage in 1783, being only one 
 hundred and fifty tons, and having increased in 
 1802, to five thousand tons, it is evident that the 
 produce and resources of the colony had increased 
 
SSI 
 
 PRODUCTIONS, 
 
 335 
 
 in the proportion of 1 to 33 f ; and that the popu- 
 lation in the same time was augmented in the 
 proportion of 1 to 8{. 
 
 The emigration which took place from St. Do- 
 mingo and the British colonies to Trinidad, after 
 the peace of Amiens, had increased its population, 
 in 1807, to thirty-one thousand inhabitants, 
 amongst whom were reckoned twenty-one thou- 
 sand slaves. There were then two hundred and 
 fourteen sugar plantations, of which nearly one 
 half made scarcely fifty thousand pounds of sugar 
 each, from want of hands ; but there were many 
 that made from two to three hundred thousand 
 pounds each The total quantity of sugar ex- 
 ported that year from the colony to England, 
 Nova Scotia, Canada, and the United States, 
 amounted to 18,235 hogsheads, or 21,234,600 
 pounds. 
 
 There were made besides, in the same year, 
 1807, 460,000 gallons of rum, 100,000 gallons of 
 syrup/-)- 500,000 pounds of coffee, 355,000 pounds 
 of cocoa, and 800,000 pounds of cotton. Previous 
 to the rupture of the treaty of Amiens, there were 
 grown annually, on an average, from 1,500,000 
 to 1,600,000 pounds of cotton. But the ruin of the 
 
 * The hogsheads which were used in 1802, weighed only about 
 1200 lbs. each ; since then they have been made to contain from 
 1400 to 1500 each. 
 
 t Those syrups are exported to the United States and Carada 
 where they are distilled into rum. 
 
330 
 
 COMMKKCC. 
 
 British manufactures having lowered two thirds, 
 and even three fourths, the price of this article, 
 a great number of colonists abandoned the cultiva- 
 tion of it, so much so that in 1810, there were 
 scarcely G42,000 pounds gathered. 
 
 In 1809, there were only 8,000,000 pounds 
 of sugar made, and in 1810, only 4,590,000 
 pounds. If it be observed, that this article is 
 worth only twelve shillings and sixpence per quin- 
 tal of one hundred and fifty pounds in the British 
 colonies, and that the colonist buys all articles 
 which are taken to him from Europe or the 
 United States, at double the price he could before 
 the peace of Amiens, some notion may be formed 
 of the deplorable state to which a mistaken policy 
 has reduced the proprietors. 
 
 Between the years 1797 and 1802, the British 
 merchants of Trinidad sold annually on an ave- 
 rage, to the amount of a million sterling of their 
 merchandize, to the smugglers of Venezuela, for 
 which the latter paid partly in dollars, and partly 
 in articles on which the English trader gained 
 cent, per cent. 
 
 I cannot pass by in silence an extract from the 
 Voyage of M c Cullum, which I have lately read 
 in a compilation by Malte Brun, and another 
 work, the Voyage of M. Ledru. The statements 
 of the population and produce of Trinidad, are 
 extremely incorrect. They say, for instance, that 
 in 1799, there were 2,672,800 pounds of sugar 
 made in Trinidad ; whilst there were really made 
 

 GENERAL PIOTOX. 
 
 ,337 
 
 in that year nearly 19,000,000 lbs. The state- 
 ments of M c Cullum are equally incorrect in 
 regard to the other articles, but those of the popu- 
 lation less so : he has, however, omitted the In- 
 dians in his statement of population for the year 
 1797. 
 
 The work which bears the title of the Voyage 
 of M c Cullum, is merely a severe philippic against 
 General Picton; but he had enough to say, with- 
 out imputing to him, as he has done, imaginary 
 crimes. He ought not, above all, to have slan- 
 dered estimable and peaceable men, who respected 
 the authority of the governor ; nor represent as 
 innocent victims some disturbers of the public 
 peace, and rascally scribes, of whom Picton purged 
 the colony. 
 
 The Indian population has been constantly de- 
 creasing since the conquest of the island by the 
 British government. In 1797 there were reckoned 
 2,200 indigenous natives, and scarcely 1467 in 
 1807. Some had died of drunkenness and vexation, 
 others had fled to the Spanish continent, to with- 
 draw themselves and their wives from the bruta- 
 lity of the infamous W. T. the commandant at 
 Toco. 
 
 Though the population in Trinidad had in- 
 creased above 500, from 1802 to 1807, only nine 
 new sugar plantations were formed in that time. 
 This increase of the population has been chiefly 
 in negroes, who have augmented the hands 
 ^employed in cultivation. That of cocoa has re- 
 
338 
 
 COFFEE TREES. 
 
 mained stationary, while coffee has retrograded 
 from two causes : first, the want of sale in the 
 British markets ; secondly, because the coffee 
 plant has not succeeded in Trinidad, the tree 
 giving but little fruit, and perishing at the end of 
 ten or twelve years, though the article is always 
 of a superior quality, and has the advantage over 
 that of Martinico and the other Antilles of not 
 requiring age to produce an agreeable bever- 
 age. It is from the fault, and obstinate attach- 
 ment to old habits of the planters, that this culti- 
 vation has not been more successful in Trinidad. 
 Because coffee trees thrive in St. Domingo, Gua- 
 daloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia and Martinico, on 
 the hills, they had concluded that it would be the 
 same in Trinidad ; without noticing that the hills 
 of this island are composed only of schistus covered 
 with gravel, on which lies a light layer of vegeta- 
 tive earth, that the rain washes away after some 
 years of cultivation ; whilst the hills of the Antil- 
 les, much more high and cool, are covered with 
 a deep bed of earth, which is retained by enormous 
 blocks of stone, that at the same time maintain 
 humidity and freshness. 
 
 Messrs. Beaubrun of Tacarigua, worthy and 
 intelligent planters, some years ago invented the 
 plan of planting coffee trees on the plain, in the 
 manner cocoa trees are planted, that is, in the 
 shade of the erythrina; and this mode of cultiva- 
 tion has perfectly succeeded. My venerable 
 friend, Don Juan Martin de Arestimuno of Ca- 
 

 STEAM-ENGINE. 
 
 339 
 
 riaco, adopted this mode also, and was equally for- 
 tunate. It is to be hoped that their success will en- 
 courage the cultivation of this valuable plant in the 
 united provinces of Venezuela and in those parts 
 of Trinidad, which were deemed unfavourable 
 to it, from the too great dryness of the climate. 
 Those expert agriculturalists conceived the same 
 idea, without having had any communication 
 respecting it. 
 
 The mountainous portion of Trinidad, which 
 cannot be cultivated, forms only a thirtieth part 
 of the island; an advantage it possesses over 
 all the Antilles, of which the chief part consists in 
 precipitous mountains, defiles, and passes, where 
 the labour and cartage would absorb the produce 
 of cultivation. It results from the measurement 
 made in 1799, in Trinidad, by order of the Britislr 
 government, that there may be formed on its ter- 
 ritory, 1,313 sugar, 945 coffee, 304 cocoa, and 158 
 cotton plantations of 100 squares, or 320 English 
 acres each. If it should ever arrive to that high 
 degree of cultivation, its soil being at least as fertile 
 as that of Saint Domingo, it will produce more 
 than the French part of that island previous to the 
 revolution ! 
 
 I ought not to omit here that the use of the steam 
 engine, by Messrs. Bolton and Watts, of Birming- 
 ham, was introduced into Trinidad, in 1804. It 
 has replaced the cattle mills on some plantation?. 
 This machine is preferable to windmills, which 
 cannot work at all times, and it is less expensive ; 
 
 z2 
 

 340 
 
 SIR S. LUSIIINGTON. 
 
 the water mills alone being preferable to it. The 
 engine alluded to, is said to have the power of 
 sixteen horses, and perforins, in a given time, the 
 work of three oxen or mule mills on a sugar planta- 
 tion. It is well known what an immense number 
 of those animals are destroyed annually in the 
 colonies ; the introduction of this machine in the 
 manufactory of sugar, is therefore a very great 
 improvement, as well as saving in colonial agricul- 
 ture. Sir Stephen Lushington, who has a verv 
 large property in this island, had the honour of 
 being the first to employ it there, in contempt 
 of the outcry raised against it by the vulgar pre- 
 judices of others. 
 

 TOBAGO. 
 
 341 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Tobago. — Historical Sketch of the Island — Its Discovery and original 
 Inhabitants. — First Establishment of the Dutch there. — The Lamp- 
 sins — Ceded to the Duke of Courland by James I. — Manifesto of 
 Charles I. in favour of the Duke. — The Island is attacked by Sir 
 Tobias Bridges, and the French Admiral d'Estrees. — Captain Pointz- 
 — Tobago is ceded to Great Britain. — Treaty of Aix la Chapelle. — 
 State of the Island in 1765. — Messrs. Franklyn andRobley — Taken 
 by the French in 1781.— Reflections. — Recaptured by General Cuy- 
 ler in 1793. — Present State of Cultivation. — Mr. Robley's Plantation 
 and Establishment. — His numerous Improvements and Character.— 
 Scotch Emigrants — Reflections. — Natural Productions of the Island. 
 Plants. — Birds. — Fish — Quadrupeds — Scarborough. — Currents, 
 &c. 
 
 When Columbus discovered the new world, the 
 Island of Tobago, of which I am not aware that 
 the Carib title has been transmitted to us by any 
 historian, received the above name from him, or 
 that of Tobacco ; which the islanders gave to the 
 pipe they used for smoking the herb, so well 
 known in after times, but then called kohiba. 
 This herb and the pipe bore the same name at 
 the other extremity of the Carib Archipelago, 
 in Hayti or St. Domingo. Tobago was inhabited 
 by a people who were generally at war with the 
 Arrooaks. Contemporary historians call them 
 
342 
 
 FIRST SETTLORS. 
 
 Caribs; but I am inclined to doubt whether 
 they belong to that nation, because the Arrooaks, 
 with whom they were at war, are real Caribs : 
 it appears also that the writers of those days, 
 from being badly informed, confounded all the 
 insular aboriginal inhabitants under the name of 
 Caribs, However it may have been, those who 
 inhabited the island first named Tobago, and 
 some years afterwards New Walcheren, not be- 
 ing able to resist the Arrooaks, retired to that 
 of St. Vincent, then inhabited by Indians with 
 whom they lived in peace. 
 
 Tobago having become desart by the emigra- 
 tion of the savages, some Dutch navigators, who 
 had visited it on their return from the Brazils, 
 delighted with the beauty of its climate, richness 
 of soil, and its convenient neighbourhood to the 
 continent, induced a company of Flushing traders 
 to form an establishment there. In that age of 
 enterprise, 1G32, they had no difficulty in finding 
 two hundred persons, whom they conveyed there, 
 to lay the foundations of the colony. Those adven- 
 turers gave it the name of New Walcheren, in 
 honour of an island in the province of Zealand, 
 on which the town of Flushing is situated. 
 
 The Indians of Trinidad, in alliance with the 
 Spanish colonists of that island, attacked this 
 establishment, in 1634, before the settlers had 
 time to finish a fort they had begun. All who 
 fell into the hands of the conquerors were mas- 
 sacred at the br:rinnin.'r of the invasion : after 
 
" 
 
 ■oMSH 
 
 I'll I. LAMPSINS. 
 
 343 
 
 which they demolished the fortress, carried off 
 the canon, destroyed the plantations, and con- 
 ducted all the colonists whom they could seize 
 as prisoners to Trinidad. 
 
 Those of the settlers who escaped death or 
 captivity, retired to Holland, after which Tobago 
 remained desart during- more than twenty years, 
 being in all that time merely frequented by some 
 seamen from Martinique and Guadaloupe, who 
 resorted there to fish for turtle ; also by the 
 Indians of St. Vincent, and the other Antilles, 
 who touched there when they went on expeditions 
 against their perpetual enemies, the Arrooaks of 
 the Orinoco. 
 
 In 1654, some merchants of Flushing, named 
 Lampsins, obtained a charter from the States of 
 the United Provinces, by which they were permit- 
 ted to take possession of the island, and cultivate 
 it for their own advantage. This charter conferred 
 on them the privilege of appointing the magistrates 
 and governor of the colony, with the sole restric- 
 tion that the nomination of the latter should be 
 submitted for approval to the States General. 
 
 Those celebrated merchants did not confine 
 their operations to the forming of agricultural 
 establishments ; they constructed stores at New 
 Walcheren, which w T ere provided with every kind 
 of European merchandize ; and as at that time the 
 English and French were not so much devoted 
 to commerce as they have since been, it became 
 a depository where the colonists of the neighbour- 
 
344 
 
 DUKE OF COURLAND. 
 
 ing islands belonging to those two nations, even 
 the Spaniards of Trinidad and the southern con- 
 tinent, went to furnish themselves with the mer- 
 chandize they required. The first colonial estab- 
 lishment at St. Martin's, one of the Virgin Islands, 
 was also established by the Lampsins. 
 
 James I. of England by what right is unknown, 
 conceded this island to his godson James Duke of 
 Courland. 
 
 A vessel carrying out Courland colonists, ar- 
 rived there some months afterwards. The cap- 
 tain landed his people at a place known at this 
 day by the name of Courland Bay, which is the 
 chief settlement in one of the most beautiful parts 
 of the island. The Dutch did not at first oppose 
 the establishment of their rivals, who, according 
 to the English historians, were to the number of 
 a hundred families, and of only a hundred persons 
 according to the Dutch accounts. But a few days 
 after the arrival of the new colonists, there was a 
 skirmish between the two parties, which was 
 followed by a treaty, in which they agreed to live 
 peaceably, until their respective sovereigns should 
 agree on their rights to the possession of the 
 island. But the Courlanders not receiving either 
 recruits, or any of those succours so necessary for 
 a young colony, and the Dutch portion of the 
 island being considerably increased by fresh 
 settlers and assistance of every kind, which the 
 Lampsins continually sent out, together with the 
 latter having learned, in 1659, that the Duke of 
 
^H \W£-*£ vw?-' ■ 
 
 TOBAGO INVADED. 
 
 345 
 
 Courland had been dispossessed of his territories 
 by the King of Sweden, and imprisoned, they 
 forced the Courlanders to deliver Fort James to 
 them which they had built in Courland Bay. 
 
 Having* recovered his states by the treaty of 
 Oliva, the Duke of Courland demanded the 
 restitution of his establishment in Tobago from 
 the States General ; and on their refusal, he ap- 
 plied to Charles II. who, being on the point of 
 declaring war against Holland, published a mani- 
 festo in favour of the Duke, dated November 
 17th, 1664. 
 
 The States General paid very little attention 
 to the King of England's declaration, and war 
 having commenced soon afterwards between 
 those two powers, the Duke deferred to a more 
 convenient opportunity, his projects on the 
 island. 
 
 There was no mention of Tobago at the treaty 
 of Breda, and Cornelius Lampsins still remained 
 for some years peaceable possessor. In the inter- 
 val betwen the first and second war between 
 England and Holland, the Governor, Hubert de 
 Beveren, placed the Forts of Lampsinsberg and 
 James, as well as those of Beveren and Belviste 
 in a respectable state. The population being 
 augmented to twelve hundred inhabitants, the 
 colonists prospered, and believed themselves 
 in safety, when Sir Tobias Bridges, the com- 
 mander of the Barbadian privateers, attack- 
 ed them unawares, pillaged and sacked the 
 
34C 
 
 1> tiSTRKES. 
 
 colony, carrying off a great number of ne- 
 groes. 
 
 A separate peace having been concluded in 
 1675, between Great Britain and the Stales 
 General, these two powers mutually restored the 
 conquests made from each other; the Dutch hav- 
 ing declared war against France, and committed 
 hostilities against the colony of Cayenne, the Duke 
 d'Estrees went to attack the squadron of the 
 Dutch Admiral Binkes, which was at anchor in 
 Scarborough Bay, and a severe action terminated 
 by the French obtaining a complete victory. 
 Pursuant to the example of Bridges, the French 
 admiral plundered the island and then returned 
 to Europe, where he was most graciously re- 
 ceived by Louis XIV. The Duke d'Estrees 
 re-appeared off the island four months after, and 
 landing at the head of his infantry, he attacked 
 Admiral Binkes in Fort Lampsins, where the 
 latter had taken refuge. But the Duke finding 
 a greater resistance from the garrison than he 
 expected, ordered a bombardment, and the third 
 bomb having fallen on a powder magazine, 
 a great part of the fort blew up ; which catas- 
 trophe caused the death of Admiral Binkes, 
 together with a great number of the garrison, so 
 that the Dutch were under the necessity of quit- 
 ting an establishment commenced under the most 
 fortunate auspices in 1654. This event took place 
 December 24, 1677. 
 
 When peace was re-established between the 
 
?&m$$m ^M :^^^#&$ H 
 
 v$# 
 
 TOBAGO CEDED TO ENGLAND. 
 
 .317 
 
 belligerents in 1678, the Duke of Coin-land re- 
 newed his old pretensions to this island, and for 
 that purpose he sent an agent named Pointz, to 
 London, to offer grants of land to Englishmen 
 who might be inclined to settle there. 
 
 In 1693, France being again at war with Great 
 Britain and Holland, Captain Pointz made fresh 
 attempts in England to lead colonists to Tobago, 
 under the protection of William III. But this 
 new project of colonization was not more fortu- 
 natethanthe two former. At last,the house of Ket- 
 tler, sovereigns of the duchy of Courland, being 
 extinct in 1737, by the death of Ferdinand, son of 
 James, the British government claimed the re- 
 version of the island. 
 
 In consequence of the altercations which inces- 
 santly prevailed between Great Britain and France, 
 after the treatyof Utrecht, on the subject of possess- 
 ing Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and Do- 
 minica, it was stipulated by that of Aix la Chapelle, 
 in 1748, that Saint Lucia should remain to France, 
 and the other three islands, as also that of Tobago, 
 be considered as neutral ; and that the subjects of 
 all European pow T ers should have the right to esta- 
 blish themselves and carry on their commerce in 
 those islands ; but that none of the contracting 
 parties should place garrisons in them. 
 
 It was not till the peace of 1763, that Louis XV. 
 ceded Tobago in perpetuity to England. Ac- 
 cordingly on the 20th of May, 1765, the King of 
 
318 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF T()HA(.d. 
 
 Great Britain appointed a commission for grant- 
 ing lands on the island. 
 
 Although previous to 1765, the population 
 of the island was scarcely fifteen hundred inha- 
 bitants, it was increased to twelve thousand 
 in 1777 : of those twelve thousand persons, there 
 were nine thousand slaves, two thousand one hun- 
 dred people of colour, about two hundred 
 Indians, and seven hundred whites. 
 
 The colonial importance of Tobago commences 
 at this period. The British employed large capi- 
 tals there, for improving the cultivation of cotton, 
 which is of superior quality, by its extreme white- 
 ness, the softness and length of its grain. It was 
 then calculated that the expences occasioned by 
 the establishment of a sugar plantation were at 
 the rate of <£50 sterling per acre, and that the net 
 produce of the property was twenty per cent, on 
 a plantation prudently managed. 
 
 In 1776, this colony produced ten thousand 
 hogsheads of raw sugar. In the same year thirty- 
 three thousand pounds weight of cotton were ga- 
 thered : some planters also applied themselves to 
 the culture of spices, such as the pimento or allspice, 
 myrtus pimenia, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, &c. 
 
 Messrs. Franklyn and Robley, were those of 
 the colonists who most encouraged and practised 
 the cultivation of spices and cotton. It is a great 
 satisfaction to publish the names of men, of what- 
 soever nation they may be, who have introduced 
 
Kg ^mm $p ^B ^$t W&$?$ 
 
 TAKEN BY THE FRENCH. 
 
 349 
 
 a new branch of agriculture, or who may have 
 encouraged it by their capitals : such men are the 
 true friends of humanity : why are not monuments 
 and medals also dedicated to their memory ? 
 
 During the contest with her North American 
 colonies, so fatal to England, Tobago was taken 
 by the Marquis de Bouille in 1781, and subse- 
 quently ceded to France by the treaty of Versail- 
 les in 1783. From the date of that treaty until 
 the French revolution, in 1789, this colony had 
 for its Governor, General Arthur Dillon, in 
 whose administration no remarkable event oc- 
 curred : a few Frenchmen settled there either as 
 planters or traders. The old government com- 
 mitted a great error in omitting to encourage 
 the establishment of a numerous French popula- 
 tion in this island. The preference granted by 
 the government to the English over its own sub- 
 jects, to gain the attachment of the former, were 
 received by them with disdain. This policy of 
 the ministers of Louis XVI. shews how little 
 they were acquainted with the individual charac- 
 ter of the British nation. When conquests of 
 distant colonies are effected, it is frequently only 
 for the purpose of making them objects of com- 
 pensation at a peace ; and in such cases it is use- 
 less to incur expenses for establishing a national 
 population in them ; but when they are obtained 
 by treaty, it is to preserve them as long as cir- 
 cumstances will permit. Now, in such establish- 
 ments, the physical strength of governments is 
 
350 
 
 MH. 11 013 LEV 
 
 almost nothing, and it is only by a moral influence 
 that the attachment of the colonists can be secur- 
 ed. This is a truth which cannot be too firmly 
 rooted in the minds of governments which found 
 colonies : the best and most secure ties that hold 
 them attached to the mother country, are the 
 identity of origin, language and manners : these 
 ties will be found sufficient to retain them under 
 the government of the parent state, so long as they 
 cannot find much to gain by a change of masters, 
 and until by a lapse of many ages., they acquire 
 a sufficient population to admit of their becom- 
 ing independent. 
 
 War having commenced between Great Britain 
 and France, in March, 1793, General Cuyler, at 
 the head of two thousand men, proceeded to this 
 island, and made the French garrison surrender. 
 
 The cultivated part of the island is in a most 
 flourishing state. I have never seen better farming 
 or finer negroes. The principal plantation which 
 belonged to the late Mr. Joseph Robley, at Sandy 
 Point, is, perhaps, the best colonial establishment 
 in the Antilles. It consists of six windmills for 
 bruising the canes, and three for grinding maize. 
 This property is divided into three sugar planta- 
 tions, each having a double set of boilers. The 
 negroes inhabit three streets, near the plantation 
 to which they are attached : their huts are built 
 of stone, and covered w T ith slates. In 1803, they 
 amounted to a thousand, of all ages, and both 
 sexes. Every thing about this plantation has tlie 
 
■nB ■HJH9BMM Mnwo[nwa|B 
 
 silt \V. YOUNG. 
 
 351 
 
 appearance of order and abundance. I went there 
 several times during the peace of Amiens, and 
 never did I hear the sound of the driver's whip. 
 iVext to the plantation of Sir William Young-, at 
 Saint Vincent's, I do not believe that there were 
 any men in existence, employed in cultivation, 
 more happy than the negroes on the Robley 
 plantations, in 1803. 
 
 This great proprietor had all the tradesmen 
 necessary for such establishments on his property, 
 such as masons, carpenters, wheelwrights, smiths, 
 farriers, <&c. Once while I was at his house, the 
 wind broke a vane of one of the windmills, and 
 we heard a moment afterwards, that a similar 
 accident had happened to a neighbour. " Come," 
 said he, " and you shall see how soon I can 
 repair the damage." A conque shell was blown, 
 and I immediately saw a hundred negroes appear, 
 some with pulleys, others dragging a capstan, 
 and the rest an enormous triangular ladder ; at last 
 a large waggon drawn by six fine mules brought a 
 mill-vane, always kept ready in case of accidents : 
 it was put Up in half an hour, and they then fitted 
 the sail to it : in short, four hours after the acci- 
 dent, the mill worked as well as ever. Mr. 
 Robley then observed, " this is one of the many 
 advantages a large proprietor possesses, in having 
 his workmen at home: 1 have a double set of 
 every thing necessary for sugar works on those 
 three sugar plantations, which a/e on the same 
 estate, and may be called six, as there are six mills, 
 

 352 
 
 MR. ROBLEY. 
 
 and three double sets of cauldrons, and their ap- 
 pendages, mill works, boilers, &c. All are numbered 
 and ready in my stores ; so that if any accident 
 happens it may be repaired in a few hours, with- 
 out interrupting the manufactory of sugar. My 
 neighbour, who has just experienced the same 
 accident, has neither workmen nor materials of 
 his own : so that while he goes to town to pur- 
 chase those articles, for which he will be obliged 
 to pay fifty percent, more than they have cost me 
 in England ; and while his overseers are running 
 about to seek workmen, and three or four days 
 may be lost in procuring them, there are no 
 longer any signs of the accident on my premises. 
 My neighbour's canes, already cut, will ferment, 
 and perhaps he will lose four or five hogsheads of 
 sugar, without calculating the time of his ne- 
 groes." I believe no man ever felt more happy 
 than Mr. Robley, whilst he explained the above 
 details, and others relative to the management of 
 his plantation. This gentleman was the creator 
 of his own fortune ; he was born of a respectable 
 family in Cornwall, and had gone to the West 
 Indies at the age of eighteen, employed as a clerk 
 in the navy office. He first established himself in 
 Tobago, in 1768, and began to cultivate the cotton 
 plant with a capital of about ,£1700 sterling: 
 already in 1789, which was only twenty-two 
 years afterwards, besides the magnificent esta- 
 blishment at Sandy Point, he possessed another 
 sugar plantation with a water-mill of great value, 
 
KOB1.LY ESTATE. 
 
 353 
 
 which he had presented to one of his nephews.* 
 He had, besides, at the peace of Amiens, a large 
 sum in the public funds. This fortune he owed 
 entirely to bis activity, prudence, and the fertile 
 soil on which he had fixed his establishments. 
 
 This great cultivator had besides two vessels 
 which were his own property : the first time I 
 saw them lying at anchor before his house, I mis- 
 took one for a ship of the line, and the other for 
 a frigate. They came twice a year and lay in 
 front of his residence for the purpose of taking 
 his produce to Europe, and of bringing not only 
 all that was necessary for himself and his negroes, 
 but also merchandize which he sold to the mer- 
 chants of Tobago, and on which he gained con- 
 siderable profits. No man in any country ever 
 obtained more respect and authority than Mr. 
 Robley in his limited sphere : he was president 
 of the colonial council, and consequently gover- 
 nor when the other was absent. 
 
 Joseph Robley was the first inhabitant of this 
 island, and perhaps of all the West Indies, who 
 went to the expense of constructing water and 
 wind mills expressly with a view of grinding 
 maize for his negroes, and it was not long before 
 his example was imitated by his neighbours. 
 Before his time, and even at present in the other 
 colonies, the negroes are obliged to grind the 
 
 * Mr. J. Robley, the present liberal and intelligent proprietor of 
 this interesting establishment. 
 
 A A 
 
354 
 
 INHABITANTS. 
 
 maize with small iron mills, which fatigues them 
 extremely, causing a great loss of time when they 
 return from work at mid-day or in the evening. 
 On those plantations they have not even sieves 
 for separating the bran ; but on the Robley estate 
 ihey receive their rations of maize flour well 
 sifted, and all the grain which they bring to the 
 mill is ground gratis. Mr. Robley neglected 
 nothing that would induce them to prefer this 
 food : from its stimulating qualities he thought it 
 the best vegetable nourishment for men who 
 cultivate the ground in hot climates. He had 
 also made considerable plantations of the bread- 
 fruit tree of Otaheite, and other plants brought 
 from the South Seas by Captain Bligh, as well as 
 those which are cultivated in the magnificent 
 garden of Saint Vincent, by Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Mr. Robley returned to England after the 
 peace of Amiens, and was then about sixty years 
 of age. He had not seen his native land from 
 the age of eighteen : but he did not long enjoy 
 the fruits of his industry having died in a year 
 after his arrival. He bequeathed several legacies, 
 among others, ono to a Frenchman who had 
 rendered him some services. The first instance 
 I ever heard in the colonies of any other English- 
 man who had left a legacy to a Frenchman ! 
 
 The present inhabitants of Tobago are nearly all 
 Scotch. I have known even some Barbadians there 
 who are very worthy people,and treat their negroes 
 with humanity ; for according to an old Norman 
 
^ty&m0£$i!&^$^^ti$^ m 
 
 1 HH 
 
 NATIONAL PREJUDICES. 
 
 355 
 
 proverb, there are worthy people every where, 
 even in Barbadoes, and the piratical towns on 
 the coast of Barbary ! But at Tobago, as at 
 Grenada and Barbadoes, it is the piratical portion 
 that gives the law. 
 
 It is really a most astonishing circumstance 
 how those thirty-six months Scotch* have found 
 means to make considerable fortunes in many of 
 the West India islands, and to monopolize all 
 the lucrative places. On the European continent 
 the name of English is given to all subjects of 
 his Britannic Majesty ; and yet the English, 
 Welsh, Scotch, and Irish are by their prejudices, 
 customs, and even their local laws, four distinct 
 nations : the Irish, a people eminently frank and 
 generous, say, and not without reason, that the 
 Scotch are the best servants and the worst mas- 
 ters in the world ! Bands of those poor devils 
 which continually arrive in the colonies, always 
 land in tatters ! 
 
 These men are soon placed with the planters 
 in the situation of negro drivers, or as clerks 
 with merchants : they are laborious, parsimonious, 
 and sober when they have to maintain themselves 
 at their own expence : they accumulate gradually 
 and by pennies, lend their money at usurious in- 
 terest, and finish by amassing considerable capi- 
 
 * The author says that this is the period for which Scotch emi- 
 grants arc in the habit of selling themselves (oWest India propri- 
 etors: hence the singular appellation they have acquired. — Ed. 
 
 A A 2 
 
35G 
 
 CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME. 
 
 tals. At length, some become partners in com- 
 mercial houses, when they distinguish themselves 
 in business by their artifice, a word which, in 
 mercantile language, is synonymous with roguery. 
 Others become agents for great plantations for 
 proprietors ; and these are metamorphosed into 
 implacable tyrants over their slaves. Both the 
 one and the other then affect an insolent haugh- 
 tiness, which renders them truly burlesque. 
 
 The Scotch support and assist each other ; and 
 this principle would be very laudable, if it did not 
 proceed from a repulsive and hostile spirit to 
 other people, without excepting even the inhabi- 
 tants of the other British provinces. It has often 
 happened that Scotch merchants and planters 
 have dismissed their English and Irish clerks and 
 overseers without giving them any other reason, 
 and without having really any other, but that of 
 replacing them by a Scotch clerk or overseer. It 
 is not surprising then that such men, with such 
 dispositions, resembling parasite and noxious 
 plants, should finish by making themselves 
 masters in every country where they have been 
 suffered to take root. An Irishman aliuding to 
 this disposition, regarding the Lords Bute, Mans- 
 field, Melville and others, as well as the Scotch 
 mobility, observed to me one day, " that if ever a 
 Scotch plebeian succeeded in acquiring a fortune 
 in China, he would end by becoming prime 
 minister there; and if the Chinese Emperor would 
 let him go on, there would not be a single eccle- 
 

 ENGLISH PLANTKKS. 
 
 35T 
 
 fciasiical civil or military situation in the whole 
 empire, that in the course of ten years would not 
 be filled by Scotchmen !" # 
 
 The first English planters in Tobago, Young, 
 Melvill, Franklyn, Robley, Robertson, &c. were 
 persons of respectability ; but the clouds of Scotch 
 boors, and barbarous Barbadians who became the 
 majority there, have corrupted the manners of the 
 colony, and rendered it almost as uninhabitable 
 for an honest man as that of Botany Bay. 
 
 As there is nothing more absurd, and at the 
 same time so unjust as to insult a nation indis- 
 criminately, I should declare that nothing is 
 more distant from my thoughts and intentions 
 than the idea of rendering the Scotch nation 
 odious to my readers. Having had occasion to 
 observe it in Europe as well as the colonies, hav- 
 ing resided at Edinburgh, and travelled in Scot- 
 land, I owe it to truth and impartiality to say, 
 
 * However illiberal these opinions of M. Lavaysse may be 
 thought by some, the Editor, without becoming in any manner a 
 party, has already given his reasons for not suppressing them. But 
 if the concluding comparison applied to our important settlement in 
 New South Wales has been hitherto justified, it is most devoutly 
 to be hoped that ministers will lose no time in making that stupen- 
 dous appendage to the British crown more worthy of the sovereign 
 who rules and the subjects that now so unwillingly obey them. The 
 question has been taken up, but if a system of half measures is 
 merely the result of inquiry, the colony might as well be left in its 
 present wretched condition. For an excellent account of the 
 manifold evils under which the colonists suffer, see Mr. Went- 
 worth/s Statistical and Political Description. 
 
358 
 
 LEARNED SCOTCHMEN. 
 
 that I firmly believe there does not exist a peo- 
 ple among which there is, in the higher classes, 
 more virtue, benevolence, and hospitality. I can- 
 not think of the venerated names of Maitland,* 
 Whyte,t Duncan,} Munro,§, Gregory, Lind, Blair, 
 Read, Beattie, Dugald Stewart, Sir Ralph Aber- 
 crombie, the Duke of Bucckugh, and other persons 
 with whom I had the happiness to be acquainted, 
 without recalling to mind families in which the 
 patriarchal and social virtues are hereditary. 
 
 No country has had, and still possesses a grea- 
 ter number of illustrious learned and scientific men 
 of the first order, than Scotland ; and a circum- 
 stance worthy of remark, but of which all na- 
 tions unfortunately cannot boast, is that the bio- 
 graphy of those literary characters, one only 
 perhaps excepted, proves that they were also 
 honest men ! The present men of learning in 
 Edinburgh are worthy of their predecessors. 
 Do not those honourable principles prove that 
 they have been always estranged from factious 
 and sectarian rage ? || 
 
 * Maitland of Markgill, related to the Earls of Lauderdale, 
 f Alexander Why to. a harrister of the greatest merit. 
 
 * Andrew Duncan, professor of medicine, a man of world 
 and science. 
 
 § Matthew Munro, a great merchant in Grenada; who pro- 
 tected, with all his influence, the persecuted French. He died 
 at Bath in 1795. The other names are known to all persons of 
 information. 
 
 The Editor feels a peculiar pleasure in having an opportunity 
 

 ftV&tM 
 
 :$£&*££ 
 
 vKOMATR' PLANTS 
 
 359 
 
 ft is for the moralists of Scotland to explain 
 why in a nation where there is so mueh virtue 
 and knowledge in the first classes of society, 
 there should be found more servility and mean- 
 ness in the lower, than among the chief part of 
 the other European nations ; and why, in spite 
 of his dress and grimaces, a Scottish courtier so 
 much resembles a rich upstart ! 
 
 I hope the reader will pardon me this digres- 
 sion, which I have thought necessary to prove 
 my impartiality, and I can truly assert that no 
 national prejudice has influenced my description 
 of manners. I now return to the subject of 
 Tobago. 
 
 It is said in this colony that the Lampsins had 
 introduced the nutmeg and other aromatic plants 
 of the East Indies, and that they are still found 
 in the woods growing wild. I have read in an 
 English treatise, explanatory of the map of this 
 island, by Jeil'eries, that the nutmeg, cinnamon, 
 and myrtm pimenta, which produces the berry 
 known by the name of allspice, grow there spon- 
 taneously in the gravelly soils. J took a great 
 deal of pains in 1803, to discover the nutmeg 
 
 of confirming the author's sentiments on this subject, and whatever 
 prejudice or passion may suggest, with respect to that class which 
 seems to have excited (he wrath of M. Lavaysse, there can 
 be but one opinion entertained as to the unshaken integrity and 
 honourable principles which distinguish that part of the Scottish 
 mmunit) he has so pioperh complimented. 
 
360 
 
 FRUIT TREKS. 
 
 tree, and I am convinced it does not exist there, 
 I know that some individuals, conversant in 
 botany, have made researches as fruitless as mine, 
 for the same object. But the cinnamon tree has 
 become wild in the island, and I know not why 
 they do not cultivate it. The myrtus pimenta 
 produces a very agreeable spice, which is an ex- 
 cellent tonic, and an indigenous plant. The late 
 Mr. Franklyn had made a considerable planta- 
 tion of it ; but this was abandoned by his sons, 
 in order that they might attend exclusively to 
 the culture of the sugar cane. This forest of 
 pimento is become the haunt of innumerable 
 flocks of parrots, which are excessively greedy 
 of the grain, and so jealous of their property, 
 that they exterminate, without mercy, any other 
 birds they find there. 
 
 I believe Tobago possesses almost every kind 
 of plant that grows in the Antilles ; and besides, 
 like Trinidad, the greater part of those which 
 are peculiar to Spanish Guiana and Cape de Paria. 
 The most valuable, as fruit trees and alimentary 
 plants, are the orange, lemon, pomegranate, fig, 
 and guava trees. 
 
 The culinary plants of Europe, excepting the 
 cauliflower, thrive very well in the gardens of 
 this island. The figs and grapes are also of a 
 very fine flavour, and produce twice a year, 
 if care be taken to prune the trees and vines in 
 a fortnight or three weeks after the fruit has been 
 
W Bmm^tW^MWM 
 
 HffWlgWP I ■ *■ I WSBm 
 
 M 
 
 hirus. 
 
 3G1 
 
 gathered. All those useful and nourishing pro- 
 ductions of the Island of Tobago, it possesses in 
 common with that of Trinidad. 
 
 Jt is a remarkable circumstance that Tobago 
 having the same vegetable productions with 
 Trinidad, quadrupeds and birds are found in the 
 latter which do not exist in Tobago ; and in 
 Tobago some birds that belong to the continent 
 are not found in Trinidad ; the katraka, for in- 
 stance. It is equally singular, that although a great 
 number of them have been taken to Trinidad, and 
 flown to the woods, they never multiplied there. 
 Feuillee and M. Sonnini have given a good de- 
 scription of this singular bird, which they rank 
 in the family of pheasants. 
 
 The Hoccos, those magnificent birds so well 
 known in Trinidad, are not found at Tobago. 
 The other indigenous birds, or which frequent 
 the coasts of this island, are wild ducks, water- 
 hens, wood pigeons, turtle and Virginian doves. 
 
 Three varieties of humming birds ; blackbirds 
 of yellow and black colours ; thrushes ; white 
 woodcocks. A small bird of the size of a sparrow 
 with magnificent plumage ; it has the head, neck, 
 and the upper part of the body of the most bril- 
 liant red ; the feathers of the wings and tail of a 
 beautiful purple colour above, and of sky blue 
 underneath ; its belly is also sky blue. I have 
 never seen a more beautiful plumage than this 
 little bird exhibits. Herons, the pouched pelican, 
 
302 
 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 eagles of the Orinoco and flamingoes frequent 
 the coasts of this island. 
 
 Though nearly all the quadrupeds of the im- 
 mense region contained between the Amazons and 
 the Isthmus of Panama, are found at Trinidad, 
 very few of them are to be seen in Tobago. The 
 small deer of Guiana, so common at Trinidad, 
 does not exist at Tobago. 
 
 The amphibious animals which frequent those 
 coasts, are turtles and the sea cow. 
 
 On the shores of Tobago are found a great 
 variety of shell fish, such as starry, greenish, 
 striped, red, and of all the colours of the rainbow 
 that have not been described, and of which more 
 than one new genus might perhaps be found. 
 
 Those I have more particularly observed ap- 
 proach the genus that the most modern natura- 
 lists have described under the heads of Venus, Buc- 
 cinum, Turrilita, Turritela, Helmet, Stromba, 
 Tellina, Voluta, Cene, the oyster, &c. Formerly 
 great quantities of oysters were attached to the 
 mangrove trees in Tobago ; but the destruction 
 of those trees has occasioned their disappearance. 
 
 The surface of this island is more elevated in 
 the eastern than the western part, which contains 
 very beautiful savannas or natural meadows. 
 The interior is composed of rounded hills and 
 delightful vallies. The rotatory and undulatory 
 motions of the currents are every where seen. 
 
 The soil of 1 obago is generally rich, and the 
 
HW Hn| HU| 
 
 ■1 
 
 ^^H 
 
 HE 
 
 ■■ 
 
 SOIL. 
 
 363 
 
 vegetative earth more or less deep : none have 
 stone on the mountains nor in the vallies ; you 
 never see those large blocks of hyaline quartz 
 that are met almost every where in Trinidad, on 
 the summits of mountains as well as the plains. 
 The rounded pebbles seen in small quantities at 
 Tobago in the beds of rivers, are of quartzose 
 freestone, some of hyaline quartz, others of am- 
 phibolic schistus, and of the red pebbles noticed 
 in a former chapter. The different excursions I 
 made in the interior of this island have never 
 enabled me to discover either sulphur or carbonate 
 of lime. Tobago resembles the eastern part of 
 Trinidad, with this difference, that the vegeta- 
 tive soil in the first named island, is deeper on 
 the hills than on those of Trinidad. The hills 
 of both islands have not, like the mountains in the 
 Antilles, those sharp peaks, and uncovered sides, 
 that denote great volcanic convulsions. Every 
 thing seems to indicate that Trinidad and Tobago 
 were separated from the continent by a sudden 
 retiring of the sea ; the Carribean Islands were 
 apparently detached at the same time ; but the 
 volcanoes acted, and still act a more important 
 part in their granitic and basaltic mountains. At 
 the Caribbean*, the spectator's imagination is 
 moved, attracted and transported by the fearful, 
 sublime and stupendous : while the pictures pre- 
 sented in Tobago and Trinidad are of a calm, 
 regular, and magnificent description. 
 
■r 
 
 364 
 
 SCARBOROUGH. 
 
 A very well informed man, though not a natu- 
 ralist, has been struck with this difference in the 
 geognostic physiognomy of Tobago from the 
 Antilles. " Nature," says Sir William Young, 
 " is on a more extensive plan than at the Antilles, 
 and gives rather the idea of a continent than of 
 an island, It ls not merely its neighbourhood to 
 South America that suggests this idea. If the 
 appearance of the island (which I term its phy- 
 siognomy) authorises us to believe that it formed 
 a part of that continent, its vicinity indicates still 
 more clearly that it was separated violently, and 
 that it w T as, at a remote period, the southern boun- 
 dary or a bold promontory of Mexico." 
 
 Scarborough, the capital of this colony, is situ- 
 ated in 11° 8 North latitude, and 63° 30' West 
 longitude. The island is twenty-four miles in 
 length, from north-east to south-west, and twelve 
 miles in its greatest breadth. 
 
 In 1803, no more than three families of the 
 aboriginal inhabitants, forming in the whole 
 twenty-six individuals, remained at Tobago. This 
 unhappy race is annihilated in the vicinity of the 
 white people, wherever they have not been civi- 
 lized by religious institutions. 
 
 The currents near Tobago are very uncertain, 
 especially in the channel that separates it from 
 Trinidad. At the new and full moon, the tide 
 rises four feet. The north-easterly trade wind 
 blows all the year about the island. 
 
tstyW'i' 
 
 H19H9m9M9h9II9MH 
 
 
 BAYS. 
 
 3G5 
 
 The bays called Man of War, Courland, Sandy 
 Point, and King's Bay, are calculated for vessels 
 of the largest size. 
 
 Tyrrel's Bay, Bloody Bay, Mangrove Bay, 
 Englishman's Bay, Castera's Bay, and La Guira's 
 Bay, have good anchorage for vessels of a hundred 
 and fifty tons and under. Halifax Bay is fit for 
 ships of two hundred and fifty tons ; but there is a 
 shoal at the entrance of it which requires a pilot. 
 
 If Tobago is seen towards evening, and the 
 navigator fears to approach it, much sail should 
 not be carried, but he ought to stretch to the 
 southward under easy sail ; otherwise, the cur- 
 rent, which always runs to the north-west or 
 north-east, would make the ship lose sight of 
 the island ; and if carried northward, must take 
 her so far to leeward, that it would be impossible 
 to regain the island. 
 
 On entering any of the bays to leeward, ships 
 may approach quite close to Saint Giles's Rock. 
 Vessels that come from the eastward, and which 
 steer for the south coast of the island, ought 
 always to keep well to the southward, other- 
 wise the current w T hich is round the lesser Tobago, 
 and which always sets to the north-west, would 
 carry them too far north. There is nothing to 
 fear at the south-west, to the Bay of Courland, 
 but rocks above water, except that called Ches- 
 terfield Rock. 
 
306 
 
 NEGROES. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Inquiries concerning the Negroes. — Their intellectual Capabilities. — 
 M. Lii.et. — Opinion of Camper and Blumenbach. — Difference 
 between Negro Tribes. — TIow they are improved. — Blanchetiere 
 Bej.levue. — Cause of Crime and Degeneracy in the Negroes. — 
 Instances of Fortitude and Generosity among them. — Anecdote. — 
 Allusion to the Cruelties exercised at Surinam. — Singular Instance 
 of Resolution in Suffering. — Heroic Speech of a Negro. — Anecdotes. 
 — Pride and Vanity of Negroes. — Affection for their Children — 
 Causes of Infanticide amongst them. — Poisoning prevalent. — Mode 
 of punishing the Delinquents. — Objections answered. — Reflections, 
 — Advantages of Freedom. — Effects of the Slave Trade. — Sir Wi] 
 Ham Young's Plantation — Treatment and Management of the Slaves 
 there. — Mulattoes. — Their harsh Treatment by European?, and 
 Condition in the Colonies. 
 
 A great deal has been written on the negroes, 
 and very learned men have published many false- 
 hoods and absurdities on the subject. As if it 
 were not enough that the institutions of their 
 country and those of Europeans condemn them 
 to slavery, it is also necessary to represent them 
 as monsters in the physical aud moral world ! 
 The celebrated Camper quotes the opinion of 
 different writers who have discussed this point 
 from the times of Herodotus, Strabo and Pliny, 
 down to our own days. Will it be believed that 
 there have been amongst those, men, who were 
 
^^m g$t0:%0 
 
 THEIR ORGANIZATION'. 
 
 3G7 
 
 so ignorant of the first principles of zoology, 
 as to suppose negroes to be a race produced be- 
 tween man and the ourang outang ? Buffon, 
 Daubenton, Camper, Scemmerring, the Munroes, 
 Hunter, Blumenbach, Cuvier, Gall, Lacepede, 
 and Humboldt, have made researches into their 
 organization. Some of those learned men have 
 considered them as a species, though they have 
 employed the word race ; others deem them a 
 variety ; these think the difference of their 
 colour, hair, features, and some slight change 
 in the bones, are only the effect of climate, 
 food, certain habits and local causes, during the 
 long succession of ages. One opinion rather 
 generally entertained is, that the negroes are a 
 race of men very inferior in their intellectual 
 faculties to Europeans, the savages of America, 
 and even other Africans with straight hair, 
 known by the name of Moors. I would ask 
 of those who are so little informed on the noblest 
 part of natural history, comparative anatomy, 
 as to suppose organization to have no relation 
 with intelligence, if it be astonishing that men, 
 such as the negroes, born in countries destitute 
 of every institution for intellectual culture, 
 should not have made any progress in the liberal 
 arts and sciences ? 
 
 It has been proved* by numerous examples, 
 
 See " Literature of the Negroes, or Inquiries into their intel- 
 
3G8 M. LILET. 
 
 that whenever negroes had the means of receiving 
 education, they have profited by it, like the rest 
 of mankind. And even while this sheet goes to 
 the press has not the Institute of France received 
 astronomical observations on the comet of 1811, 
 made in the Mauritius, by M. Lilet, a negro born 
 in Madagascar, and who has arrived at a know- 
 ledge of the superior sciences, without education, 
 and by the mere force of genius ? 
 
 The illustrious naturalists I have alluded to, 
 though they admit that the negroes are of our 
 species, (which, I believe, no person of common 
 sense now doubts), still consider them as inferior 
 to the rest of mankind, as to their intellectual 
 faculties. Camper, Scemmerring, and Blumen- 
 bach, who have attended particularly to the 
 anatomy of the various forms of heads, thought 
 they found in this organ, or assemblage of organs, 
 the cause of the inferiority in negroes. There are 
 to be seen in the anatomical plates of Camper, 
 and Blumenbach, heads of negroes, of which the 
 facial angle approaches to that of the ape. But 
 besides them are the heads of Calmucks, whose 
 
 leotual Faculties, &c." by H. Gregoire, formerly Bishop of Blois, 
 and a member of the French Institute, &c. 1 vol. octavo, Paris, 
 1803. 
 
 * He has made the best map we possess of the Isles of France 
 and Bourbon, and written very interesting, geological and botani- 
 cal tracts on Madagascar. Mons. L. is also a correspondent ol 
 the ancient Academy of Sciences. 
 
^M 
 
 NEGROES. 
 
 3G9 
 
 inverted forehead and the rest of the shape do 
 not announce more intelligence. I am far 
 from denying the principles of those excellent 
 investigators ; but with all the respect I enter- 
 tain for their knowledge, I believe, and I hope 
 to be able at some period to demonstrate that 
 they have hastily decided on this question, from 
 too few examples. What, in fact, would be said 
 of an African or Asiatic philosopher, if such 
 there are, as there have been, in those countries, 
 who, seeing some ill-shapen sculls of Europeans, 
 would decide that the Europeans are necessarily 
 a stupid race of men ? 
 
 Since I have undertaken to descant on this sub- 
 ject, I ought to tell the truth. No prejudice or 
 other earthly consideration, no fear of displeas- 
 ing a class of men, otherwise respectable, but 
 whose minds are embittered by misfortunes in 
 which I also participate, nothing shall induce me 
 to speak otherwise than I think : happy if my 
 feeble but impartial voice should at some future 
 day enlighten governments on the localities 
 and reciprocal interests of colonies and mother 
 countries. 
 
 I shall therefore candidly declare what a re- 
 sidence of sixteen years, the possession of estates in 
 the colonies, and a long habit of governing negroes 
 have enabled me to observe. In the first place a 
 Moco or Ibo negro differs as much by the inferio- 
 rity of his cerebral organization and intellectual 
 powers from a Coromantyn or Gold Coast neirro 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 BUY AN EIWAKDN, 
 
 MandingOj Congo, and especially a Mozambique, 
 as the Calmucks and some tribes which live nol 
 far from them, are inferior to Europeans: I pledge 
 myself for the correctness of this assertion, which 
 though not sufficiently developed now, w T ill be so 
 at some future period, by facts and a more learned 
 pen than mine.* 
 
 The inferior races of negroes improve in the 
 colonies, in respect to intellect, either by their 
 mixture with the superior ones, or by a better 
 climate than that of Guinea. There is no doubt 
 also that their communications with Europeans 
 and their descendants contribute to the develope- 
 ment of their intellectual faculties. All the 
 colonists who possess a spirit of observation, agree 
 that the Creole negroes are in general more 
 intelligent than the greater part of the Euro- 
 pean peasants, and that they are in no respect 
 inferior, in this point of view, to the white 
 
 * It is not the history of negroes that I pretend to write ; ] 
 merely wish to dispel the prejudices that are unfavourable to them. 
 Brvan Edwards, though a defender oflhe colonial system, ex- 
 presses himself' thus, in speaking of the negroes of Whydah or 
 Fida, commonly called Papos in the colonies: " they are docile, 
 and when they have been transported into the colonies it is nor 
 necessary to employ violence to make them work in agriculture, 
 because their own country is very well cultivated. Bosnian, who 
 travelled in that country, speaks with delight of the manner in 
 which they cultivated their lands, of their industry, wealth and 
 the mildness of their manners.' 11 History of the West Indies, 
 Vol. II. Book 4. 
 
7^0'^'^ '?0% 
 
 ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 371 
 
 Creoles who have not received an education. 
 I have known men of great wit and sound 
 sense among them. I remarked, however, that 
 though the Creole negroes have generally a more 
 intelligent countenance than the Africans, they 
 have not in their look, and especially their smile, 
 either the mildness or benevolence of many of 
 the latter. The Coromantyns are distinguished 
 by the haughtiness of their gait and looks, without 
 any indication of ferocity; the Mandingoes, Foul- 
 has, and Mozambiques, by great mildness in their 
 look and smile ; the Mokos and Ibos by a narrow 
 and low forehead, small heads, projecting teeth, 
 eyes without expression; and the Creoles gene- 
 rally by traits of trick and cunning, which they 
 no doubt acquire in flattering the young whites 
 from their earliest infancy. But I have known 
 many estimable persons in all these tribes. A 
 Creole of Martinico, Mr. Blanchetiere Bellevue, 
 who was advantageously known to the Consti- 
 tuent Assembly by the brilliancy and vigour of 
 his talents, made a collection of their proverbs, 
 maxims, and songs. It contains some articles wor- 
 thy of being placed beside the Manual of Epic- 
 tetus, Aphorisms of Cervantes and of our most 
 witty songs. And who have been the authors of 
 them ? Negroes and Mulattoes, who are rigidly 
 prohibited from learning to read or write !* 
 
 * These opinions of the author are fully borne out by the asto- 
 nishing spectacle of a black dynasty in St. Domingo, unquestinably 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 
 
 CIVILIZATION OF ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 I think I already hear some of my readers speak 
 of their vices, their libertinism, knavery, and 
 
 the most extraordinary event to which the French revolution 
 has as yet given rise. When we reflect on the abject state of that 
 fine island in J 789, and view the richest portion of it in 1819, 
 governed by a legitimate monarch, who is not ashamed of his 
 origin, will any one deny that the age of revolutions has not at 
 length arrived ? Leaving this part of the wonder to its own merits, 
 we have only to contemplate the able organization of the new king- 
 dom, and the talents displayed by the members of its administra- 
 tion, and fresh sources of amazement burst upon the mind ! 
 Parochial and primary schools, on the Madras system, in every 
 part of King Henry's dominions; a royal college, with annual 
 prizes given to the most distinguished students. Academies for 
 music and painting, a regular national theatre, and royal resi- 
 dence, which, for elegance and chasteness of design is not inferior 
 to many of the palaces of Europe, a numerous clergy, and a long 
 train of nobles, are but a few of the wonders to which our attention 
 is now 60 irresistibly excited in that interesting quarter of the globe. 
 The reflections of a native and subject of Henry I. the Baron 
 de Vastey, in reply to observations contained in the French 
 Journals, deserve to be recorded, while they prove how capable 
 a black writer is of emulating his white brethren, even on the, 
 score of literature. " Five and twenty years ago, 11 says the en- 
 lightened baron, " we were plunged in the deepest ignorance, we 
 bad no notion of society, no distinct ideas of happiness, no power- 
 ful feelings ; our faculties, both physical and moral, were so over- 
 whelmed under the load of slavery, that I myself who am writing 
 this, thought the world finished at the horizon which bounded my 
 sight; my ideas were so limited that things the most simple were 
 incomprehensible to me ; and all my countrymen were as ignorant, 
 and, if possible, even more so than myself! I have known many 
 of them, who learned to read and write themselves without the 
 help of a master; I have seen them walking with their books in 
 their hands, inquiring of the passengers, and begging them to ex- 
 plain the signification of such a character or such a word, and in 
 this way, have many, already advanced in years, become able to 
 
■HI wnmKmUKRmmmm 
 
 ■ 
 
 KING IIKNRV I. 
 
 373 
 
 propensity to thieving 1 , &c. My reply is, that in 
 all times, those vices were and ever will be the 
 inseparable companions of slavery. 
 
 read and write without the benefit of education. Such men have 
 become notaries, attornies, advocates, and judges, astonishing the 
 worid by the sagacity of their judgment; others have become 
 painters and sculptors from their own exertions, and have also 
 surprized strangers by their productions!" 
 
 That his Haytian Majesty is determined to preserve the struc- 
 ture his talents has enabled him to raise, may be inferred from the 
 following extract from his manifesto in assuming the regal dignity. 
 ' ; The last of the Haitians," says this eloquent state paper, " will 
 breathe out his last sigh sooner than renounce his independence. 
 Free by right, and independent in fact, we will never relinquish 
 these blessings ; nor witness the subversion of the edifice which we 
 have raised and cemented with our blood. Faithful to our oath, 
 we will rather bury ourselves beneath the ruins of our country, 
 than suffer the smallest infringement of our political rights." In 
 addition to his military talents, Henry is represented by those who 
 know him, as humane and benevolent, eminently distinguished in 
 the exercise of social virtue, both as a kind parent, good husband, 
 and steady friend — strict in the observance of all the duties of 
 religion and iviorality! Contrary to the too prevalent custom 
 both in Europe and Hayti, he attached himself in early life to one 
 woman, whom lie never forsook. That woman is now Queen of 
 Hayti, beloved by all ranks and conditions of his subjects. The 
 King is said to possess a propriety and dignity of manner seldom 
 attained by the best educated man; and his proclamations, gene- 
 rally dictated by himself, are compositions of which the most 
 civilized cabinets of Europe need not be ashamed! Since this 
 extraordinary man, and honour to his species, has chosen the 
 kingly government as best suited to the genius and disposition of 
 his people, God grant, that in holding out an example of private 
 worth, so justly meriting imitation by many white contemporaries, 
 'us public conduct may be exempt from those vices which render 
 omeof the latter unpopulaj at home and contemptible abroad !--Eo. 
 
374 
 
 REVOLT OF NEGROES. 
 
 The cruelties and ferocity which they exercisod 
 on the whites in Surinam, St. Domingo, and the 
 British colonies, where they have revolted, will 
 nevertheless be remembered with horror, although 
 there can be no difficulty in tracing the original 
 cause. 
 
 Read the dismal history of revolutions, in all 
 times and amongst all nations, and you will every 
 where see that whenever slaves have succeeded 
 in breaking their chains, they have forged arms 
 from them to exterminate their masters. But 
 since we are on the subject of the character of 
 negroes, let us consider them in respect to forti- 
 tude and generosity, the first qualities in human 
 nature. I shall select some examples, extracted 
 from two respectable writers, Bryan Edwards, 
 and Mr. Stedman. 
 
 There was a revolt at Jamaica, in 1760. The 
 principal chief of the insurgents was named 
 Tacky, a Coromantyn negro : he had been a 
 chieftain in his own country, and was killed 
 about the commencement of the insurrection. 
 When government had quelled the revolt, it con- 
 demned one of the chiefs to be burnt alive, and 
 the two others to be hung up in iron cages, and 
 there starved to death, in the public square of 
 Kingston. The wretched being destined to be 
 burnt, was placed sitting on the ground, his body 
 chained to a post, when the fire was placed at his 
 feet. He did not utter a sigh, and saw his legs 
 burnt to cinders with a calm firmness ; but the 
 
M H H 
 
 FORTITUDE. 
 
 375 
 
 chain that conlined one of his hands, being loosen- 
 ed, he seized one of the firebrands that consumed 
 him and threw it in the face of his executioner. 
 
 The two others requested to have a good meal 
 before they were suspended in their cages, which 
 was granted. From that day, says the histo- 
 rian of the British colonies, until the one on 
 which they expired, they never complained, ex- 
 cept of the cold during the night ; but in the 
 day time, they conversed gaily with their coun- 
 trymen assembled round the gibbet. On the 
 seventh day it was rumoured amongst the spec- 
 tators, that one of them wished to communicate 
 an important secret to his master, " my near rela- 
 tion," says Mr. Edwards : " being absent in the pa- 
 rish of St. Mary, the commanding officer sent me 
 to hear it. I endeavoured, by means of an interpre- 
 ter, to extract the promised information, but we 
 could not hear his reply. I recollect that he and 
 his companion in misery laughed immoderately 
 at something that happened ; though I do not 
 remember what it was. On the following morning 
 one of them expired without uttering a word, 
 and the other died the next day, the ninth of his 
 punishment."* 
 
 Stedman, after having given a picture of the 
 cruelties practised on the negroes at Surinam, 
 relates that on his arrival in that colony, a white 
 
 * History of the British Colonics in the West Indies. Vol. II. 
 Book 1. 
 
376 
 
 HORRIBLE TORT (RES, 
 
 man was flogged by a black executioner, for having 
 stolen some money from the town-house ; and he 
 remarked that this negro inflicted the punishment 
 with great signs of commiseration. A negro 
 was broken on the wheel for the same crime, and 
 he bore that horrible punishment without a sigh. 
 A moment afterwards, they prepared to hang 
 another, and whilst the hangman was tying the 
 cord round his neck to launch him into eternity 
 he looked stedfastly, with a smile of contempt, 
 at his judges who were amongst the spectators of 
 the execution. " Having expressed to the per- 
 sons who were near me, (says Captain Stedman) 
 how much I was shocked with the injustice and 
 cruelty of those executions, and surprised at the 
 intrepidity of the negroes during the punishment, 
 a very decent looking man thus addressed me : 
 " Sir, you are newly arrived from Europe ; but if 
 you were better acquainted with negro slaves, 
 what you now see would neither excite your sur- 
 prise nor your pity. It is not long since I saw a 
 negro suspended from that very gibbet by the 
 ribs. The following is the manner in which it 
 was done : two incisions were made in his side, 
 in which was passed an iron hook attached to a 
 chain. He lived three days suspended in that man- 
 ner, his head and feet hanging down, licking from 
 his bleeding breast the drops of water that fell on 
 it, for it rained at the time. The sufferer did 
 not, however, utter a groan, and never once com- 
 plained. On the third day, another negro was 
 
BBSS J i !IS! MH tl ffl BH Bi MflBlHgffl B lll i H > ■■„ r: .' H fiSSHI " ^ 
 
 COKTEMPT of death. 
 
 3T7 
 
 flogged under the gallows, and having cried from 
 pain, the former reproached him for his want of 
 courage: Do gay fasy? " Are you a man?" said 
 he to him, "you behave like a child !'* A moment 
 afterwards the soldier who was sentry on the spot 
 taking pity on him, dashed out his brains with 
 the butt end of his musquet. I saw another negro 
 quartered,'' the narrator continued : "after hisarms 
 and legs were tied to four very strong horses, an 
 iron nail was driven under each nail of his hands 
 and feet. He suffered that without complaining, 
 requested a glass of rum, and ordered the execu- 
 tioners to let loose the horses. But that which 
 amused us most," continued this monster, " was the 
 humour of the fellow, who, when the hangman 
 presented the glass of rum to him that he had 
 asked for, told him to drink first, as he was very 
 much afraid of being poisoned, and desired him 
 to take care that his horses should not kick him. 
 As for old negroes being broken on the wheel, 
 and young women burnt alive, nothing is more 
 common in this colony ! ! !"* 
 
 * Narrative of a five Years Expedition against the revolted 
 Negroes of Surinam, by Captain I. G. Stcdman.t 
 
 t The proeess of suspending human beings by their ribs, has 
 alway« been a favourite mode of punishment, amongst many 
 others equally repulsive in the Dutch colonies. It is even con- 
 fidently asserted that the system of legislation by which these 
 horrible cruelties arc sanctioned is still in force at the Cape of 
 Good Hope : if so, God forbid that any individuals disposed to emi- 
 grate from this country, however great their suU'erings mav be ai 
 
378 
 
 A SPEECH. 
 
 Stedman's work is full of instances of the 
 cruelty of Europeans, and the heroism of the 
 martyred negroes. The noble speech of one of 
 those negroes, which I extract from the same 
 work, will not be misplaced here. One of the 
 fugitive, or revolted slaves, being brought before 
 his judges, who had condemned him previous to 
 hearing what he had to say in his defence, re- 
 quested to be heard for a few minutes before lie 
 was sent to execution ; when leave being granted, 
 he spoke to the following effect : 
 
 " I was born in Africa : while defending the 
 person of my prince in battle, I was taken pri- 
 soner and sold as a slave on the coast of Guinea. 
 One of your countrymen, who sits amongst my 
 judges, purchased me. Having been cruelly 
 treated by his overseer, I deserted and went to 
 join the rebels in the woods. There also, I was 
 condemned to become the slave of their chief 
 Bonnay, who treated me with still more cruelty 
 than the whites, which obliged me to desert a 
 second time, determined to fly from the human 
 species for ever, and to pass the rest of my life 
 
 home, should be induced to select the Cape, while so many less 
 exceptionable and more fertile regions are open to them. Let us 
 also hope that the meeting of parliament will be marked by a strict 
 inquiry into the causes of that war of desolation and bloodshed, 
 which is now waging between the poor Cafires, and those 
 whom they consider, no matter how erroneously in our opinion, as 
 usurpers and invaders. — Ed. 
 
^H ^H 
 
 £y$& 
 
 HKROISM. 
 
 379 
 
 innocently and alone in the woods. 1 had lived 
 two years in this manner, a prey to the greatest 
 hardships and the most dreadful anxiety, merely 
 attached to life by the hope of once more seeing 
 my beloved family, who are, perhaps, starving 
 owing to my absence. Two years of misery 
 had thus passed, when I w T as discovered by the 
 rangers, taken and brought before this tribunal, 
 which now knows the wretched history of my 
 life, and of which the only favour I request is, 
 to be executed on Saturday next, or as soon as 
 it may be convenient." 
 
 This speech was pronounced with the greatest 
 moderation, and by one of the finest negroes the 
 author had ever seen. His master, who, as he 
 had remarked, w T as one of his judges, made him 
 this atrociously laconic reply : " Rascal ! it is 
 of little consequence to us to know what you 
 have been saying ; but the torture shall make 
 you confess crimes as black as yourself as well 
 as those of your detestable accomplices." At 
 these words, the negro, whose veins seemed to 
 swell w T ith indignation and contempt, retorted in 
 showing him his hands ; " Master, these hands 
 have made tigers tremble ; yet you dare 
 to threaten me with that despicable instru- 
 ment ! No, I despise all the torments which 
 you can now invent, as well as the wretch who 
 is about to inflict them." On saying these words, 
 he threw himself on the instrument, where he 
 ■suffered the most dreadful tortures without utter- 
 
380 
 
 FIDELITY OF NtGROES. 
 
 ing a syllable. Nor was he heard to say another 
 word till the moment of ending his unhappy life 
 on the gallows.* 
 
 Does the history of the heroic times contain in- 
 cidents more worthy than those of exciting the 
 admiration and sympathy of generous minds, and 
 what do they require to reach the remotest 
 posterity ? 
 
 The interesting history of Stedman is replete 
 with trails of generosity and fidelity of the negroes 
 to their good masters. He mentions, amongst 
 others, a chief of the rebels, who had been treated 
 in the most cruel and insulting manner. Having 
 surrounded his master's plantation several times 
 at night, in the hope of finding the tyrant in it, 
 and of exercising his vengeance on him ; the 
 wife of the latter had remained in the house, and 
 each time that the negro chief came, she threw 
 herself at his feet, in tears, accompanied by her 
 little children. The negro raised her, caressed 
 his little masters (as he called them,) shed tears 
 of affection over them, and retired, without doing 
 the least injury to the plantation. He concluded 
 by promising his mistress, of whose conduct he 
 could not complain, that he would return no 
 more to trouble her. 
 
 Still there are those who assert that the negroes 
 are a race of degenerated men, inaccessible to 
 
 * Sec Vol. II. (if the same work, page 208= 
 
H 
 
 HBiMBWiilWHMMifl 
 
 AUTHOR S FMIMRTULTTY. 
 
 as I 
 
 every noble and generous sentiment ! Amongst 
 the Europeans, could we find, in such circum- 
 stances, many whites who w T ould display more 
 greatness of soul, and as feeling a heart, as 
 this negro of Surinam and his companions in 
 
 arms 
 
 8 '? 
 
 Bryan Edwards states in his account of the 
 insurrection at Jamaica, in 1700, that the rebels 
 spared Abraham Fletcher, the overseer of his 
 uncle, because the negroes on that plantation 
 assured the insurgents he had always treated 
 them with humanity : he adds very properly, 
 that this ought to be a lesson for overseers ! 
 
 In order to reply, by facts, to the interested or 
 ignorant writers who wish to make negroes pass 
 for a depraved and ferocious race of men, un- 
 worthy of participating in the advantages of 
 civilization and liberty, I have chosen rather to 
 quote two well known authors, Bryan Edwards, 
 proprietor of a plantation in Jamaica, w T here he 
 had four hundred negroes, and who certainly was 
 not anigrophilus, and Stedman, an officer in the 
 Dutch service, whose interesting voyage bears the 
 stamp of sincerity and the most generous feeling. 
 I have preferred, in speaking of the character of the 
 negroes, also to quote foreign authors, whose repu- 
 tation is established, than to relate a great num- 
 ber of facts witnessed by myself, and which are 
 highly honourable to the character of negroes 
 and people of colour. Some of these w T ill not, 
 however, I trust, be unacceptable to my readers. 
 
38*2 
 
 ESCAPE. 
 
 During the civil wars in Martinico, I wandered 
 one day to the outposts of our camp, and I found 
 myself surrounded in the bottom of a ravine by a 
 patrole of negroes and men of mixed blood. 1 
 thought myself lost, because the two parties 
 waged a war of extermination. Whilst they 
 were deliberating whether they should shoot me 
 immediately, or conduct me to head-quarters, 
 one of the negroes approached, and said : " It 
 was you who, on such a day, asked forgiveness 
 for me, when Mr. A. P. my master, would have 
 picketted me for a robbery, of which I was inno- 
 cent, and w^hich was committed by that comrade 
 you see there ! Vous bon bequ6, vous teni enco 
 coeur mouton France! Be tranquil, no harm shall 
 be done to you." After this address they no 
 longer thought of shooting me, but offered me 
 some rum; upon which I drank their healths, 
 and they drank to mine. They next proposed 
 that I should join their party, and promised to 
 appoint me as one of their officers. I answered 
 that if I were to accept their generous offers, it 
 would be said by my party, that I had deserted, and 
 was a traitor. Upon this they unanimously ap- 
 proved my view of the subject, and permitted 
 me to return to my camp, merely requiring my 
 word of honour that I would not mention what 
 had occurred to any one, adding, that if their 
 general (which general was a white) heard they 
 had spared me, they might readily lose their 
 lives for it. 
 

 PIUDE OF NEGROES. 
 
 .383 
 
 Afterwards, during the civil war in Saint Lucia, 
 one day when J carried an order to a post half a 
 league from our camp, I was aimed at by a detach- 
 ment of mulattoes and negroes concealed in a 
 thicket. Five or six shots were fired, none of 
 which reached me. A man of colour seized the 
 bridle of my horse, and whilst I was drawing 
 my sabre to rid myself of him, he shouted to his 
 comrades, " Stop firing, do not injure this white 
 man ;" and I remained motionless, with my 
 sabre lifted over his head. I was immediately 
 surrounded, he who held my bridle was told that 
 I must dismount to be shot. " You shall not 
 shoot this white man, or if you persist in it, I will 
 die with him !" was the reply of Belfond, in 
 a voice of thunder. " This white-man has never 
 despised people of colour : when he speaks to 
 
 us he always says Sir I went to his house 
 
 some time ago on business, he was at breakfast 
 and made me sit at table with him. Are there 
 many fellows of that cast ?" 
 
 Here I ought to mention what I have observed, 
 in common with all persons who have had the 
 means of studying the character of negroes and 
 people of colour ; it is, that there are no men in 
 the world more susceptible of contempt*. I have 
 
 * TIic negroes have naturally a groat deal of pride in their 
 character ; but it degenerates into vanity in the state of slavery. 
 With respect to negro vanity, the following circumstance hap- 
 pened at Blois last year. Some catholics and protestants exhort- 
 
381 
 
 Pit I OK. 
 
 seen negroes become furious by a contemptible 
 or ironical look from their master or overseer, 
 though not accompanied by any offensive ex 
 pression in language : I have seen them com- 
 plain of it in the most audacious tone, and at 
 the hazard of being knocked down. One day 
 when a negro annoyed me with his com- 
 plaints against a sorcerer, who, he said, had ren- 
 dered his cocks and hens barren, and given his 
 pigs the cholic, I shrugged up my shoulders in 
 looking at him with an air of compassion ; whilst 
 he, with eyes sparkling with rage, exclaimed ; 
 " strike me, if you please ; but do not look at me 
 awry !" To make amends for this involuntary 
 offence, I told him that if he had taken better 
 notice of me, he would have seen I did not 
 look at him with contempt, but that it was 
 an involuntary movement of pity, in seeing a 
 
 oil a young negro to be baptized. He was on the point of deciding 
 in favour of the protcstant faith. M. de M. ... undertook the 
 conversion of the sable candidate, and gained a victory over the 
 children of Calvin, for he was baptized by a parish priest. 
 M. dc M. . . . gave him twelve francs (ten shillings) as a present 
 on the day of his baptism. In what does the reader suppose 
 that he employed this money ? He inquired if there was not a 
 sedan chair in Blois, and found there was one. Upon which 
 our young proselyte gave the twelve francs to two chairmen, to 
 carry him through all the streets. At every moment ho put his 
 head out of the windows, to show his beautiful hair highly pow- 
 dered ! But what most flattered his self-love, on this occasion, was 
 doubtless to see himself thus carried by two while-, ! 
 
H 
 
 AFFECTION FOR CHILDREN. 
 
 385 
 
 sensible nogro like him, esteemed as he was by- 
 all the whites, believe in such nonsense. This 
 little compliment composed him : I saw a smile 
 on his lips, and satisfaction in his eyes ; but he 
 did not believe a whit the less in the influence of 
 sorcerers. 
 
 The negroes, in general, show the greatest 
 fondness for their children, and do not refuse 
 them any thing. It is, however, but truth to 
 say, that when they deserve chastisement, they 
 perform it with violence ; but their children are 
 the most obstinate weepers in the world, and the 
 father or mother after having beaten them several 
 times, generally finish by giving them playthings 
 or cakes to pacify them. 
 
 All I can say of the religion of the negroes 
 is, that some are idolaters, and others Maho- 
 metans ; but the greater part of them are cir- 
 cumcised. It appears certain that they practised 
 circumcision before Mahometanism was known to 
 them. The idolatrous negroes are of milder 
 manners than the Mahometans, probably because 
 their religion is not intolerant. 
 
 The two crimes most revolting to nature, abor- 
 tion and infanticide, ought to be very rare amongst 
 men who have so much affection for their chil- 
 dren ; yet there are frequent instances of them : 
 but it is only on plantations where negroes are 
 treated with injustice and cruelty. In such cases it 
 is not uncommon for a negro and his wifetoresolve 
 on poisoning themselves and their children, to 
 
380 
 
 MODE OF POISONING. 
 
 to be freed from misfortunes without a remedy. 
 They always begin by poisoning their children, 
 then some of the slaves who are most useful to 
 their masters, such as the refiners, carpenters, or 
 masons. Thus they have before they die the plea- 
 sure of seeing their masters exasperated and ruined 
 by the loss of their slaves. They usually employ 
 slow poisons, the effects of which endure for 
 several months ; thereby enjoying for a long time 
 the only revenge they can practise on their op- 
 pressors ; because, for themselves, they consider 
 death as a benefit, and passage to a better life. 
 It is very remarkable that when a negro has taken 
 a resolution to ruin his master, by poisoning his 
 gang, he is never informed against by his com- 
 rades, though they generally know who the 
 poisoner is, and that each expects to perish by 
 the effects of his vengeance : they preserve his 
 secret inviolably, which is often difficult to learn 
 from them even in the midst of punishments ! 
 Then the proprietor, who sees his fortune ruined 
 by the daily deaths of his slaves, demands from 
 government the appointment of a commission for 
 trying the poisoners. Those commissions bear, 
 in the French colonies, the name of burning- 
 chambers, and they are well termed. The pro- 
 prietor or his overseer fills the offices of accuser 
 and judge at the same time : in this simulation of 
 a trial, where sentence is always pronounced at 
 the will of the proprietor, who is at once accuser, 
 witness, reporter, and judge, pretended sorcerers 
 
■I 
 
 
 SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 387 
 
 are often employed to find out the guilty, who 
 have great influence on the minds of the negroes, 
 and who are themselves poisoners by profession. 
 It happens even at times that great proprietors con- 
 sider themselves sufficiently powerful, to do what 
 they call justice, in their blind fury at home, and 
 which consists in burning,by their private authority, 
 the negroes they believe to have been guilty of 
 poisoning. I expect already that certain persons 
 who cannot be cured of their prejudices by any 
 revolution, and whom no misfortune can render 
 reasonable, will term me a nigrophilus. I shall 
 not reply to such an accusation ; but merely say 
 that the colonial system in the American islands 
 is a monstrous anomaly. The slave trade makes 
 every European shudder, who has human feelings, 
 when he sees herds of negroes landed, who are 
 sold like beasts of burden. I appeal to the recol- 
 lection of all those who have been present at sales 
 from slave ships. What sensations did they ex- 
 perience, when, for the first time they saw those 
 bargains for human flesh, before the interest of 
 the moment and custom had familiarized them to 
 this abuse? The same, I suppose, that a man 
 feels, who for the first time is present at a scene 
 of carnage, or who commits his first bad action. 
 In favour of the actual colonial system, it will be 
 asserted that St. Domingo and our other colonies 
 enlivened our commerce, caused our manufactures 
 to flourish, and enriched France. I agree to all 
 that; but the cause and the source of those riches 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 was neither less odious nor unjust. The Bri- 
 tish East India Company might employ those 
 very arguments to justify all the crimes of which 
 its agents have been guilty. I believe it is proved 
 to every dispassionate mind and every honest 
 heart, that colonies would have been more popu- 
 lous, and rendered much more wealth to parent 
 states, if, in their origin, they had been peopled 
 with freemen. In fact, is it not known to all 
 those who have occupied themselves with this 
 matter, that it was necessary to renew the 
 slave population of our colonies every twenty 
 years, or, which amounts to the same thing, that 
 they annually lost the twentieth part of their po- 
 pulation ? Yet the colonies of freemen, situated 
 on the continent of North America, doubled 
 theirs every twenty-five years, and have doubled 
 it every sixteen years since their independence. 
 The means of subsistence are much less abundant, 
 and require more labour from man, in those co- 
 lonies, than in the Antilles ; and it is known that 
 when all other matters are equal, population in- 
 creases in proportion to the means of subsistence. 
 These facts, which cannot be denied by the apo- 
 logists for negro slavery, without modification,* 
 prove how bad this system is in respect to interest, 
 
 * I have put the expression without modification in italics, 
 because whoever proposes to ameliorate the situation of the people 
 of colour and negroes, is pointed out as an anarchist, by a class of 
 men whose prejudices are incurable. 
 
gMfflBP 
 
 SLAVES (J N PROFITABLE. 
 
 389 
 
 independently of its immorality. Mr. Edwards 
 has proved that the capital invested in the British 
 colonies, in agricultural establishments, does not 
 render five per cent, during twenty years, on the 
 greater part of the plantations. M. de Humboldt 
 has proved, in his Statistics of Mexico, that the 
 labour of slaves costs more than that of freemen. 
 Is it then worth the trouble of emigrating, re- 
 mitting property so far, and committing so much 
 injustice and cruelty, for such small profits ? It is 
 generally believed in Europe, that the money 
 employed in purchasing a good plantation in the 
 colonies, produces fifteen per cent, and sometimes 
 more. This is true, when the plantation is well 
 and humanely regulated. That which ruins the 
 greater part of the proprietors, is the mortality 
 of the negroes : of a thousand transported from 
 Africa, grief or ill-usage destroys one third, 
 in the first three months after their arrival ; and 
 at the end of six or seven years, seven or eight 
 tenths of the others are dead ! In Trinidad, To- 
 bago, and Grenada, it is considered very fortunate 
 when of thirty young negroes bought in the 
 course of a year, there may be six in good health 
 five years afterwards. On the greater part of 
 the plantations the negroes have few children ; 
 a third of those children do not reach the age 
 of one year, and the half of another third never 
 arrive at the age of four, the period at which 
 they are considered as escaped, according to the 
 expression of the country. 
 
390 
 
 Sift WlLtofAM YOI'S'G. 
 
 But I ought to state that there are plantations* 
 in the British and French colonies, where the 
 population augments, as in the best regulated 
 countries. It increases almost equally with the 
 white population in the Spanish and Portuguese 
 colonies, because the negroes there are treated 
 with great humanity. Of all the British, French, 
 and Spanish plantations I have known, the one 
 on which the most admirable order is preserved, 
 is undoubtedly that of Sir William Young at St. 
 Vincent's. This plantation, delightfully situated 
 partly on the declivity of a hill and partly in the 
 plain, on the sea coast, is watered by a fine river. 
 The negroes are as well lodged as the substantial 
 peasantry in the finest countries of Europe, while 
 their properties are inviolable. The father of the 
 present proprietor always took care that, in his 
 absence the plantation should be managed by a 
 man of known humanity, and his worthy son 
 follows the example. There, neither the manager 
 or his deputies have the privilege of flogging the 
 negroes. When a negro has committed a fault, 
 the manager or overseer gives an account of it to 
 the attorney, who pronounces sentence, after hav- 
 ing heard the accused and the witnesses he produces 
 in his defence. It is well known at St. Vincent's 
 that this plantation is that of the whole island on 
 which the fewest crimes are committed, and a whole 
 year sometimes passes without the necessity of pu- 
 nishing a negro on it, whilst a day seldom occurs 
 but some negro is flogged on the adjacent estates. 
 
nm^ m mmmmmm 
 
 HUMANE REGULATION*. 
 
 391 
 
 Amongst other excellent regulations made by 
 Sir William, one deserves to be particularly 
 noticed: as soon as the physician has declared 
 a negress with child, she is dispensed from all 
 work, and not required to labour until one month 
 after child-birth. As long as she suckles her 
 infant, she is allowed two hours more repose 
 every day than the other negroes, and on Saturday 
 she is not permitted to work. If she has two chil- 
 dren, she has two free days, without reckoning 
 Sunday, which all the others have. Should she 
 have three, she is allowed three days : in short, 
 she has a day free for each child of which she is 
 the mother, so that the negress who has six chil- 
 dren is exempted from all work at the plantation. 
 So that her whole time is free for the duties of 
 housewifery, and she does not the less receive her 
 rations of seven pots of meal and four pounds of 
 salt meat and fish, as well as a similar ration for 
 each of her children. There are on this planta- 
 tion a chaplain and physician, who take the great- 
 est care of the negroes ; for Sir William Young 
 has never employed any but men of probity. The 
 population is so increased on the estate, that not 
 only has there been no necessity for a long time 
 past to purchase any negroes, but there were in 1806 
 more than the number necessary for cultivating it ; 
 and yet the proprietor has had the good sense and 
 humanity not to sell any of his slaves, by whom he 
 is adored. When his father died at St. Vincent's, 
 the negroes presented a petition praying that the 
 
392 
 
 INSTANCE OF AFFECTION. 
 
 remains of their dear master might be interred in 
 the plantation : thus it was that they still called 
 him in 1804 ; and I have seen those of them who 
 wept in pronouncing his name, though it was 
 then more than twenty years since his death! 
 When the body of Sir William was conveyed on 
 board a vessel anchored off the wharf of the plan- 
 tation, to be sent to England, for the purpose of 
 being deposited in the vault of his ancestors, the 
 negroes who could not obtain boats to accompany 
 it on board, swam after it as far as the ship ; and 
 respectable persons in the island have assured me, 
 that some who were not good swimmers, drown- 
 ed themselves in this pious enterprize ! 
 
 The negro population increases on all the plan- 
 tations that are administered with humanity. 
 Amongst the establishments which I can men- 
 tion most favourably are, in the first place those 
 of the religious missionaries of Martinico and 
 Guadaloupe, where the negroes were treated in 
 a patriarchal manner, and instructed on princi- 
 ples of religion, and in which neither concubin- 
 age nor adultery are permitted. Many other 
 estates are managed with great humanity .- those 
 which I have most known, are the planta- 
 tions of Fortier, Du Buc, at the Grand Fond 
 and Gallion, of Lucy, Fossarieu, &c. ; in Marti- 
 nico and Guadaloupe the plantations of Poyen, 
 Gondrecourt, Desislets, and Decressoniere, Bel- 
 legarde, &c. I believe that on the greater part 
 of the plantations in the British and French co- 
 
^m 
 
 ■ 
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DELIRIUM. 
 
 393 
 
 lonies, the negroes are humanely treated, and 
 merely name those more particularly known to 
 me for good administration. 
 
 Let it not be supposed from what I have said 
 above, that I approve of the opinions of those 
 who, in the revolutionary delirium, liberated 
 the slaves without modification, and raised them 
 to the rank of citizens. Though a victim, like 
 a great number of the colonists, to the conse- 
 quences of that measure, I have not less esteem 
 and regard for some of its promoters. Their 
 sincere zeal for the cause of humanity, and the 
 exaggerated opinions of that period, which mis- 
 led them, form their excuse. I can distinguish 
 between some worthy men, whose sensibility and 
 imagination were inflamed by fictitious represen- 
 tations of the cruelties of the colonists, and the 
 mountebanks of philanthropy, such as Raynal* 
 and some of his disciples, who, whilst they en- 
 riched themselves in the negro trade, did not 
 cease to represent the colonists as tyrants. We 
 now know how to appreciate the false zeal and 
 hypocrisy of those pretended friends of huma- 
 nity, impostors who, if born in another age, 
 would have been fanatical monks. 
 
 Now that I have concluded this very imper- 
 fect sketch of the colonial system, and freely 
 
 f It is well known that Raynal hold shares in the slave ships 
 
 of the house of D of Nantes, and in those of the firm of 
 
 bollier, of Marseilles 
 
394 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 expressed my opinions on the condition and cha- 
 racter of the negroes, many of the colonists and 
 apostles of the liberty of the negroes will doubt- 
 less be greatly offended. For if the least im- 
 provement in the situation of the slaves, or small- 
 est shock on their authority be merely hinted, they 
 instantly exclaim, " he is a nigrophilus /" a term 
 of reproach which, in their language, is a gross 
 insult. But the past ought to serve as a lesson 
 for the future. The organization of the colonies 
 that are restored at a general peace, or those 
 which may be founded, in future times, ought 
 seriously to occupy the attention of government. 
 I shall make an observation in this place which 
 may appear paradoxical to many : it is, that 
 there is a much greater distance from the savage 
 to the pastoral state, than from the latter to one 
 of the highest civilization. Accordingly it would 
 be much more easy to give a horde of Tartars, 
 Hottentots, or negroes a taste for our manners, 
 customs and sciences, than it has been hitherto 
 found to persuade the American savages to rear 
 flocks and herds, or make them feel the advan- 
 tages of the most simple agriculture. But when 
 the negroes succeed in obtaining their liberty, 
 they are generally found to form new planta- 
 tions, and some of them, by dint of labour and 
 economy, become great proprietors in the end. 
 Others act as extensive traders, and such are seen 
 in all the colonies, especially at Trinidad, where 
 Ihev often become considerable merchants. 
 

 
 Mi'i.ATTor.s, 
 
 395 
 
 have thought it necessary to make this remark, 
 in order to point out a marked difference 
 between the character and dispositions of the 
 negroes and savages. Such a form of govern- 
 ment, and law, as may be good for the one, is 
 not lit for the others : this then is what those 
 who undertake to superintend their civilization 
 ought to be convinced of; for if they do vio- 
 lence to nature, they will cause her to retro- 
 grade instead of advancing. 
 
 This would be the proper place to speak of 
 people of mixed blood, who, in the European 
 languages are stigmatised with the insulting deno- 
 mination of Mulatto. And who are the men 
 that have given them this epithet ? Even those 
 who begot them in their brutality ! The fate of 
 those unfortunate people is at least as much to be 
 pitied as that of the negroes. They know that 
 they are the children of whites, and yet they are 
 treated by their fathers and brothers as an abject 
 and proscribed cast ! There are none, even to 
 the negroes, who do not arrogate to themselves 
 the privilege of despising them ; and the hatred 
 which is continually fomented between these two 
 classes, is one of the great pivots of colonial po- 
 licy. A white man forms a connection with a 
 negress or a mulatto woman ; he has children 
 by her '; the mother rears them with tender- 
 ness ; the father caresses and takes care of them, 
 though, in the greater part of the colonies they 
 are prohibited from giving him the fond appella- 
 
390 
 
 INHUMANITY. 
 
 tion of father.* This class is so degraded, that 
 a woman of colour considers it an honour to be 
 the concubine of a white man ; but she regards 
 herself as his wife, and generally maintains an 
 inviolable fidelity to him, though she knows that 
 her keeper will abandon her as soon as he may 
 take a fancy to marry a white woman. 
 
 Whatever education a man or woman of colour 
 may have received, whatever may be their vir- 
 tues, however considerable their fortunes, no- 
 thing can raise them to a level with the meanest 
 white, who is authorized by the prejudices of 
 the country to treat them with insolence. And 
 yet those men and women of colour are daily 
 seen to practise the kindest hospitality towards 
 unfortunate whites abandoned by every one else. 
 I could fill a volume with instances of gene- 
 rosity and humanity in the negroes and people 
 of colour, and shall conclude this chapter by the 
 following. 
 
 Mr. J. B. Solger was born in Grenada, the 
 offspring of a French officer and a negress. His 
 father never noticed him, nor ever took any care 
 
 * One of the most grave, rich and immoral magistrates in 
 Martinieo, had a child by a woman of colour in 1798. In 1802 
 this child, of whom it was positively asserted that the said magis- 
 trate was the father, ran after him crying " papa, papa .'"" whilst he 
 was riding in Lamentirf. The wretch made his horse trample on 
 the poor child, and struck it with his horsewhip ; saying to the 
 unhappy mother, " this will teach you how to make that little 
 serpent call me father again." 1 
 
FITJAI, AFFFXTION. 
 
 397 
 
 either of the son or his mother. Thanks to his 
 talents and industry, Mr. Solger has become one 
 of the greatest proprietors in Trinidad ; and this 
 fortune he owes entirely to his own activity and 
 prudence. His father, on the other hand, lost his 
 property and profession, during the troubles 
 which agitated Martinico, in the beginning of 
 the French revolution. Upon this his neglected 
 son allowed the unworthy parent a large pension 
 from the moment he was informed of the loss of 
 his fortune, until the day of his death ! 
 
398 
 
 INDIANS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Indians. — Classed into Caribs and Rarias. — Opinion of Rochefort. — 
 Contradictory Accounts of that Writer. — Analogies. — Religion of 
 the early Tribes. — Sorcery. — Sylvester. — Anecdote. — Curious Dia- 
 logue. — First Establishment of Missions. — Comparison. — Reflec- 
 tions.— Jesuits.— Mission of St. Joseph.— Mass of the Indians.— 
 A Review — Indians of Guiana. — Anecdote. — Degraded State of 
 some Tribes. — Custom of selling their Wives and Children. — 
 Indians of Trinidad. — Their uncivilized State. — Nefario.ua Conduct 
 of some English Proprietors. — The Arrouages. — Their Trade. — Ac- 
 couchement of the Indian Mothers. — Conjectures. — Account of the 
 Black Caribs of St. Vincent's. — Visit to Grand Sable, and curious 
 Description of a Carib Chief. — Concluding Remarks. 
 
 I distinguish the natives of the South Ameri- 
 can coast, comprised between the mouth of the 
 Amazons and that of the Orinoco, and from that 
 river as far as Cape de Vela, including' those who 
 formerly inhabited the Antilles, in two great 
 classes or principal casts, the Caribs and the Parias. 
 The Arrouages, Arrouakans, or Arroouaks (ac- 
 cording as those words are pronounced by the 
 Spaniards, British, or French), Galibis or Calibites, 
 Guaraouns and Guahiros, appear to be tribes of the 
 fine race of Caribs. A great number of tribes are 
 treated with much contempt by the Caribs and 
 
CLASSES. 
 
 399 
 
 Arroouaks, the two principal nations and rivals of 
 this part of South America. It is very remark- 
 able that Paria should be that cast of all others 
 which they most despise. 
 
 It appears that the primordial nation was sub- 
 divided previous to the conquest by the Euro- 
 peans, into a great number of tribes which were 
 different from each other in distinct customs and 
 languages, the effects of local causes and national 
 antipathies. 
 
 Previous to my hazarding some conjectures on 
 the origin of those nations, it will not be impro- 
 per to insert what is said of them by a traveller 
 who visited the Antilles about the middle of the 
 seventeenth century. Rochefort, in his Natural 
 and Moral History of the Antilles, says that the 
 Caribs of his tribe were as ignorant of their own 
 origin, as of monuments of antiquity, and as little 
 curious of the present, as of the future; that the 
 chief part of them believed themselves descended 
 from the G alibis, their allies and great friends, 
 and neighbours of the Arroouaks, in the country 
 known by the name of Guiana. 
 
 Some of the traditions relative to the origin of 
 the Indians have, it must be confessed, quite the 
 appearance of being fabricated by the European 
 writers of the seventeenth century, who were 
 anxious to make a figure amongst their contem- 
 poraries, as persons occupied in learned researches. 
 Their writings bear an appearance both of cre- 
 dulity and enthusiasm. Rochefort, who col- 
 
400 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 
 
 lected the stories of that time to give them a very 
 clumsy historical form, is full of glaring contra- 
 dictions in his reasoning. For instance, after hav- 
 ing said that the Caribs of the continent peopled 
 the desert Antilles, he says, a moment afterwards, 
 that they exterminated a race of Arroouaks, who 
 were the inhabitants of them. Still there are 
 found both in his relation, and that of Bistok, 
 whom he quotes with great praise, some inte- 
 resting facts for the learned, who are fond of in- 
 quiring into the origin and history of barbarous 
 nations. Some things may excite their curiosity 
 and inquiries, such as the words Carib and Amana, 
 common to the people of Florida and of South 
 America, and to the platforms or elevated plains 
 of those two countries so distant from each other., 
 It also appears by these writers that the Floridans 
 adore the sun ; and that the men did not give it 
 the same name that the women did. The for- 
 mer calling it hayeyou, and the latter kachi ; the 
 sun was the good principle with those people, 
 and they acknowleged a bad principle, which 
 they named mabouya ; a name which they gave 
 to mushrooms, and poisonous plants in general. 
 There are in the Antilles, at St. Lucia, for in- 
 stance, mountains which still bear the name of 
 Maybouya. They offered sacrifices of deer to 
 the good spirit, on elevated places, and made 
 offerings to Mabouya in caverns. They called 
 those offerings anacri. The Caribs worshipped 
 beneficent deities, subordinate to the Great Being ; 
 

 RELIGIOUS RITES. 
 
 401 
 
 According to the persons who collected these tra- 
 ditions during the seventeenth century, the wo- 
 men did not give to the inferior beneficent deities 
 the same names as the men ; they called them 
 tchemum, and in the plural tcheminum ; while 
 the men called the spirits of an inferior order je- 
 heiri in both numbers. These names are still found 
 in the superstitions of the savages who live in the 
 neighbourhood of the Orinoco, and in the vallies 
 of the coast range of Cumana, even amongst 
 many of those who frequent the missions. I 
 have never perceived that they worshipped the 
 good spirit or great being during the many years 
 I lived amongst them, with the authority of a 
 chieftain, and enjoying as much of their confi- 
 dence as they could well grant to a white. But, 
 they make many offerings to Mabouya, the bad 
 principle ; or to speak more correctly, to his 
 priests or sorcerers, who unite in their persons 
 all authority and science, the same individual ex- 
 ercising generally the functions of civil and mili- 
 tary chief, priest and physician, until a more 
 clever or a bolder impostor supplants him. Yet 
 these changes never produce any tumult or san- 
 guinary scenes. The various tribes of Indians 
 were independent previous to the arrival of the 
 Europeans ; they waged war against each other, 
 and then, no doubt, it was those who possessed 
 most cunning or courage, that obtained authority. 
 But since these tribes have been subjected or re- 
 strained by the descendants of the Europeans, it 
 
 d n 
 
402 
 
 A SORCERER. 
 
 is only by trick and knavery that an Indian suc- 
 ceeds in exercising some authority amongst his 
 people. I was enabled to observe a curious in- 
 stance of it in Trinidad. An old Indian, named 
 Sylvester, who was still living when I quitted the 
 island, although blind, exercised an authority 
 almost absolute over the Indians of the north part 
 of the island ; he was about sixty years old in 1806 : 
 he lost his sight in the following curious manner: 
 havinghad a species of ophthalmia in 1792, another 
 sorcerer persuaded him that he had an infallible 
 specific for curing him. On this occasion Syl- 
 vester allowed himself to be deceived by the other 
 cheat ; who blew some powder into his eyes, and 
 scratched them with a thorn of the mauritia acu- 
 leata. When he was convinced, some days after- 
 wards, that he had become blind from the malice 
 of his physician, he ordered him to be brought 
 into his presence, and after having reproached 
 him before the rest of his tribe with the crime, 
 which he attributed to an ambition of succeeding 
 him, he predicted that his rival should die in 
 torments in a few days, as a punishment for the 
 offence. In fact, he did die in the manner Syl- 
 vester had foretold. In pronouncing his male- 
 diction, the impostor added that this outrage, far 
 from destroying his authority and influence, 
 would consolidate them still more, and there is 
 no doubt that the prophecy was fully accom- 
 plished. Though execrated and despised by 
 the Indians, he maintained an absolute sway 
 
\ PROPOSITION. 
 
 403 
 
 merely from the fear with which his malignant 
 practices inspired them. When this abominable 
 old man hears of a pretty Indian girl, he orders 
 that she shall be brought to him, and as jealous 
 as the Indians are of their wives and daughters, 
 still none dare oppose his desires. An Indian would 
 believe himself damned if he consented to serve a 
 white man as hunter, fisher or servant, without 
 having obtained permission of Captain Sylvester, 
 (for that is the title he has chosen) and this per- 
 mission is only to be obtained by making him pre- 
 sents. While I held the office of corregidor in his 
 neighbourhood, which gave me authority over 
 him, I employed the means of persuasion, rather 
 successfully to dissipate the fascination and fears 
 of the Indians. When he found his authority 
 nearly extinct, he caused himself to be conducted 
 to my house one day, and requested a private 
 conference, which I granted, he then without 
 further preamble, proposed to divide his autho- 
 rity with me. I appeared to enter into his views, 
 on condition that he would initiate me into his 
 magical secrets ; to which he readily consented. 
 This first interview took place in the morning : 
 I invited him to dine with me, on condition that 
 he was to reveal his secrets after dinner. Whilst 
 waiting for the hour of dinner, I went to the 
 village to propose to some of the most superstitious 
 amongst the Indians, and some others of those 
 who were the least so, to come and be witnesses of 
 what was to pass between us. They agreed to it, 
 
 uu2 
 
404 
 
 CONVERSATIONS. 
 
 even to his brother Antonio, who has as much good 
 nature and frankness in his disposition, as Syl- 
 vester has cruelty and perfidy. I recommended 
 them to maintain a profound silence, and placed 
 them in a room, from whence they could see and 
 hear all that passed between the sorcerer and 
 myself. After having enlivened him with a good 
 dinner, and a few glasses of claret and Madeira, 
 our conversation turned on his knowledge of 
 magic. He supposed himself alone with me. " Is 
 it not true, Sylvester," said I, " that you would not 
 pass for so great a magician if your followers were 
 not such silly creatures ? It is not to reproach 
 you that I say this ; you are very right in taking 
 advantage of the superiority of your genius. It 
 is the same amongst us — men of talents live at the 
 expence of fools." 
 
 " Let me have another glass of Madeira, and a 
 cigar," replied Sylvester, with the usual smile of 
 deceit upon his countenance, " and I shall then in- 
 struct you in all I know about jt." He now made 
 a pompous display of his knowledge of plants, and 
 of his talent at employing them in the cure of dis- 
 eases, wounds, ulcers, <lc. " Is that all your witch- 
 craft, Sylvester?" — " It is indeed, master."—" How 
 then have you been able to persuade the Indians 
 that you knew so much, that you can find out 
 every thing, and that by your connection with 
 the great Mabouya, you could load them with 
 calamities, and even make them die ?" Sylvester 
 continued to smoke his cigar, and did not reply. 
 
SECRKTS. 
 
 405 
 
 "How did you manage to destroy the Indian, who 
 under the pretence of curing blinded you?"—" And 
 pray, Mr. Corregidor, if any one had put out your 
 eyes, would you not kill him if you could ?" — 
 " That is not to the point : I ask how you who are 
 blind could contrive to kill the fellow who blind- 
 ed you ?— " Then you believe he was a wicked 
 wretch?" — "Most certainly I do, Sylvester." — - 
 " I had him poisoned."-—" So then it was neither 
 the Devil nor the great Mabouya that killed him." 
 — " It is I who am the Devil and the great Ma- 
 bouya," exclaimed Sylvester with a loud laugh. 
 " Thus, Sylvester, all your magic consists in the 
 knowledge of plants, especially of those which 
 are fit for poisoning your enemies." — " I know 
 also how to make grimaces which frighten the 
 Indians." — " Do me the favour to inform me, 
 Sylvester, who it was taught you all those fine 
 things." — " He who was chieftain before me, 
 taught me a part, but I have invented much more 
 of them than he ever told me." 
 
 " I know, Sylvester, that it was you who hin- 
 dered the Indians from becoming christians ; that 
 it was vou who tore down the cross which the 
 missionaries had placed here some years ago ; 
 tell me sincerely : I will give you an anker of 
 rum, a hat, shirt, and pair of shoes, if you say 
 the truth."— " The missionaries are more expert 
 magicians than myself. I should no longer have 
 any influence if there was a priest here : those 
 priests are great rascals ; Messrs. * * * have told 
 
406 
 
 A DISCOVLKY. 
 
 me so."—" Sylvester, those you mention are very 
 bad people, and libertines ; they could not debauch 
 the Indian women, and cheat the men, if there 
 were a priest in the village." — " Gossip Corregi- 
 dor, for my own part I don't like priests !" 
 
 Here the dialogue ended ; when, addressing 
 myself to the Indians, I observed," this is the man 
 in whom you blindly believed, and who makes you 
 do either good or evil, according to his interest or 
 caprice, and who has made you bear false witness." 
 Upon this nearly all the Indians, not excepting 
 his brother, overwhelmed him with reproaches, 
 abuse and curses. A moment before, he believed 
 himself alone with me ; he was now petrified, and 
 had not a word to say : immediately afterwards, 
 he requested a glass of spirits, in a violent tremor, 
 and returned home amidst the hootings of his for- 
 mer admirers, conducted by an orphan girl of fif- 
 teen years old, who he had instructed to be the 
 minister of his infamy. I never saw a countenance 
 exhibit a more guilty expression than that of this 
 wretch, at the conclusion of the above scene. 
 
 At the commencement of the seventeenth 
 century, the Jesuits established several missions 
 about this part of South America, and the Ca- 
 ribs advanced towards civilization as rapidly as 
 could be expected from their indolence and 
 that carelessness produced by a mild climate, 
 where the earth produces spontaneously and 
 without labour a great quantity of roots and 
 fruits fit for the sustenance of man ; where the 
 
MODE OF LIFE. 
 
 407 
 
 forests abound in game, and the rivers and coasts 
 in fish. To these natural advantages the Caribs 
 add the cultivation of some plants, such as the 
 banana, yam, sweet potatoe, the manioc or mani- 
 hot, maize, &c. The fruitfulness of the soil is such, 
 that seven or eight days of moderate labour in 
 the course of the year, will furnish a Carib abun- 
 dantly with all the vegetable part of his food. 
 The chase and the fisheries, which for him are 
 not labour, but exercise and amusement, supply 
 the remainder. A day of hunting or fishing ge- 
 nerally yields subsistence for a family for a 
 fortnight : what is not eaten fresh, is salted or 
 smoke dried. 
 
 But how much the situation of the South Ame- 
 rican Indian differs from that of him who inhabits 
 the northern regions ! The latter neither plants 
 nor sows : some wild fruits, not very nourishing, 
 compose his vegetable diet ; it is true that for 
 seven or eight months, during which his spring, 
 summer and autumn last, the forests supply him 
 with game, and the lakes and rivers with fish ; 
 but how deplorable is his fate during a severe 
 winter of four or five months ! Then, torment- 
 ed and excited by hunger, like the wild beasts 
 that dispute the empire of the deserts with him, 
 he penetrates the forest with his family, to give 
 chace to bears and deer. He is sometimes weeks, 
 nay, whole moons without finding any means of 
 subsistence, on a ground covered with snow, or 
 fish in those rivers and lakes indurated with ice. 
 
408 
 
 PROSPECT OF CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Yet the child of nature is passionately attached 
 to this poor, and wandering but free life : he 
 speaks with contempt of our riches, dress and 
 palaces, and he holds our social institutions in 
 horror. Still, however, if a germ of civilization 
 should be introduced amongst these people, it 
 will make rapid and durable progress. There is 
 in the physical and moral constitution of the in- 
 digenous inhabitants of America, situated in the 
 same latitudes as Europe, an energy of charac- 
 ter, an apitude for the abstract combinations of 
 the mind, and a taste for eloquence, as well as a 
 beauty and strength of body, which render them 
 very superior to the indolent and apathetic abo- 
 riginal of the hot countries of the same conti- 
 nent. Some tribes of the United States already 
 give the most brilliant hopes, particularly the 
 Illinois, Creeks, and Cherokees. They have, in 
 fact, made the most difficult step towards civiliza- 
 tion. The great Washington had the happiness 
 and glory of introducing the use of the plough 
 amongst them ; a glory, in my opinion, equal to 
 that of having been the hero of his country's 
 independence.* 
 
 * Whatever the policy of General Washington may have been, 
 towards the poor Indian tribes, all his successors have not justi- 
 fied the praises of M. Lavaysse, as most amply proved by the 
 recent war of extermination, carried on against the ill-fated 
 Seminole and Creek Indians. The whole conduct of that war, 
 including its origin, progress and sanguinary climax, the murder 
 of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, furnish materials for history, by 
 
JESUITS. 
 
 409 
 
 Amongst those who have laboured to propa- 
 gate Christianity in South America, the Jesuits, 
 no doubt, met with great success ; they devoted 
 themselves with admirable skill and perseverance 
 to give savages a taste for agriculture and the arts 
 which are indispensable to it ; and though the in- 
 vitations which have succeeded them, be not as 
 ably organized and administered as theirs, yet it 
 is but justice to say, that there are in South Ame- 
 rica missions in which the greatest order reigns, 
 and where the Indians live as happily as our na- 
 ture permits. I have been enabled to observe 
 those of the Island of Trinidad, and the provinces 
 of Venezuela. One of the most interesting is 
 that of Saint Joseph, situated almost at the foot 
 of the mounts Ithamaques. This is on the bank 
 of a small stream which flows into the Caroni, and 
 not far from the junction of that river with the 
 Orinoco. It is really an enchanting scene, and 
 
 which the American character will be judged in future times. It 
 has already produced its lull moral effect on the people of Europe, 
 for notwithstanding their boasted freedom, and affected love 
 of independence, every impartial and honest man declares that 
 where such bloody deeds are suffered to pass not only unpunished, 
 but with approbation, there, must iniquity and corruption dwell ! 
 Hut let the American executive continue to sanction the persecu- 
 tion of the weak and helpless Indians whose soil they have 
 usurped: whirfe such a system is marked by the just detestation of 
 present times, and the execrations of posterity, the same retri- 
 butive power which visits the sins of the fathers on their children 
 in Europe, will also remember the unworthy descendants of a 
 Penn, a Franklin, and a Washington ! — Ed. 
 
410 
 
 SAINT IGNATIUS. 
 
 truly worthy of having been the residence of the 
 Jesuits, who were the original founders. When I 
 visited it, there were some portraits of those 
 fathers there, which the Capuchins, their succes- 
 had respected : these, though taken by 
 
 sors, 
 
 bad painters, are, as are all those of the Jesuits 
 which I have seen, the representations of men 
 more or less talented, except what appears incom- 
 prehensible, that of their founder, Saint Ignatius, 
 which represents the physiognomy of a madman ! 
 It is not one of the least amusing and inexpli- 
 cable anomalies in the history of the human mind, 
 that a society, of which cunning and policy were 
 the principal characteristics, had for its founder, 
 the knight-errant, or Don Quixote of the Virgin 
 Mary. But every one does not know, that the 
 true founder and author of the institutions of this 
 society, was neither a madman or enthusiast, his 
 name was James Laines. It was he who made 
 the statutes by which the society was to be com- 
 posed of politicians, learned men and saints. They 
 were accused of having been opponents to the 
 progress of knowledge ; but this is an error. 
 They merely wanted to modify and direct its pro 
 gress, according to their own views and principles. 
 At the period when this society was destroyed, 
 it was preparing to direct the course of philoso- 
 phical learning, as it had regulated liferary edu- 
 cation : this may be seen from the fine and able 
 discourse of Guinard, that gained the prize at 
 the French Academv, in 1757 ; one of the best, 
 
MISSION A UltS. 
 
 411 
 
 according to the opinion of many persons, which 
 had ever received a premium from that body. 
 
 The mission of Saint Joseph belongs at present 
 to the Catalan Capuchins; it has several chapels 
 of ease in this province. The church and house 
 of the missionaries are large and handsome, but- 
 very simple. The village of the Indians is of 
 a square form, where each Indian family has 
 a house built of mud, or unburnt bricks well 
 beaten, the roof of which is covered with the 
 magnificent foliage of palm trees. Each has a 
 little gallery in front, which contributes to its 
 coolness. This situation, at the foot of the moun- 
 tains, on the banks of a chrystal stream which 
 loses itself in the majestic Orinoco ; the contrast 
 of the beautiful church, the European architec- 
 ture of the convent, with the cottages of the 
 Indians covered with foliage, are truly interesting 
 to the European visitor. 
 
 Recovered from the involuntary train of 
 thought inspired by this novel scene, I was desi- 
 rous of examining the details and administrative 
 economy of the mission, when my reason was as 
 much satisfied, as my imagination had been 
 exalted. I am happy to be able to do justice to 
 those worthy Spanish missionaries, and it is a very 
 agreeable duty for me to refute the calumnies of 
 which they have been the object both in America 
 and Europe. To stigmatize such men, it is 
 necessary to be possessed of the very genius of 
 evil ; and it is to have an apathetic soul, inacces- 
 
 :••,■/ 
 
412 
 
 MAGISTRATES. 
 
 sible to every virtue, not to love and venerate 
 them. I shall endeavour to give the reader an 
 idea of what a mission is in the Spanish colonies : 
 it is a place where from four or five hundred, as 
 far as one thousand Indians are assembled in a 
 village built very regularly, and always on the 
 banks of a river. The head of this society has 
 the title of corregidor, and is a kind of governor, 
 or rather a magistrate, who unites, in those coun- 
 tries, the authority of a justice of peace and 
 mayor. The corregidors of the Indians were 
 appointed by the viceroys and captains-general. 
 They are not lucrative employments, but those 
 which are most respected in the Spanish colonies. 
 The corregidor has many alcaldes or municipal 
 officers under his orders, who are also justices of 
 peace : the corregidor and alcaldes are white 
 men, chosen from amongst the most respectable 
 and enlightened proprietors of the country. There 
 is also in each mission a certain number of Indian 
 alcaldes, subordinate to the corregidor and white 
 alcaldes. Those copper-coloured magistrates are 
 extremely proud of their places ; their costume 
 and staves of office, are in every thing similar to 
 those of the white magistrates : the hierarchy ends 
 with the alguazils or bailiffs. 
 
 The agriculture and industry of the Indians 
 united in missions, consists at first in growing the 
 provisions already mentioned : such as the banana, 
 sweet potatoe, manihot, maize, yam, &c. and of 
 some other objects in which they carry on a little 
 
CAPUCHINS. 
 
 413 
 
 trade, such as cotton, indigo, arnotto, hammocks 
 and baskets. There is no instance known of an 
 Indian who has had the industry to become a 
 regular trader. They sell those objects to the 
 publicans who settle in the missions, and who 
 are at the same time dealers in hardware, linens, 
 groceries, &c. All that the Indians earn, is swal- 
 lowed up by those traders, as the natives are 
 strangers to economy. 
 
 The pastor of the mission is a monk. I believe 
 that almost all those in the province of Caraccas 
 belong to the capuchins, recollets, or some other 
 branch of the order of St. Francis. There are 
 some missions whence several missionaries go 
 every Sunday to perform divine service for the 
 neighbouring hamlets, and catechise them. I 
 visited that of the Arragonian Capuchins, twice in 
 1807 : it is situated between Cariaco and Carupano 
 in the province of Cumana. Thefirsttimel went 
 there I alighted at the house of the corregidor, 
 a native of the country, and son of a Biscay an, an 
 old officer of artillery. I was struck with the 
 fine figure, polite manners and natural eloquence 
 of this elegant young man : to fair hair, the com- 
 plexion of a Fleming or an Englishman, he united 
 the slender person of a Basque, and the muscles of 
 a Hercules. I was recommended to him by three 
 of his friends, Don Juan Mayoral, commandant 
 of Cape de Paria, Don Miguel de Alcala, comp- 
 troller of Carupano, and Don Juan Martin de 
 Arestimuno, one of the principal proprietors of 
 
Ill 
 
 UKLHilOL'S WORSHIP. 
 
 the province of Cumana, the most virtuous and 
 benevolent men I have met in my travels. I was 
 perfectly well received by the corregidor : it be- 
 ing Sunday, he proposed that we should go to 
 the Indians' mass, where I accompanied him. I 
 was surprized to find in that wild place a large and 
 beautiful church, the choir of which was very well 
 gilt ; this was also the work of the Jesuits. The 
 mass had begun, the Indians w T ere all kneeling, 
 and in two lines : they had large rosaries in their 
 hands : when the priest elevated the host, they 
 prostrated themselves with their faces to the earth, 
 and when they rose, the females chaunted a psalm, 
 in w T hich some of the men sang the chorus. At 
 the communion, in which very few of them were 
 allowed to participate, they struck their breasts 
 violently. I observed that the young people, 
 male and female, appeared more devout than the 
 old ones : this is a remark that I have made more 
 than once. 
 
 On leaving the church, my young corregidor 
 invited me in the kindest and most obliging 
 manner to pass a day with him on his cocoa plan- 
 tation, at about a league from the Indian village. 
 My business not permitting me to accept his 
 invitation, he ordered breakfast in his Indian 
 cottage. Our repast was composed of milk, choco- 
 late, white bread and cakes of maize for the first 
 course ; for the second, fresh eggs, an omelet with 
 ripe bananas, very large and delicate cray fish of 
 the river, smoked fish, wild boar's ham, sweet- 
 
INDIAN SOLDIERS. 
 
 415 
 
 meats, Spanish and Madeira wine, and lastly, 
 colFee. 
 
 When we had done breakfast, the negro and 
 Indian maid servant of the corregidor, took away 
 all that we had left, placed it on a table which 
 was in the gallery or portico, and regaled 
 themselves together with my negro and the 
 three Indian guides. They furnished me with a 
 new opportunity of remarking what I had often 
 observed, that the negroes and the Indians, though 
 habitually sober at home, eat voraciously when 
 they can get food that pleases their palates. 
 
 The amiable corregidor next told me that it 
 was necessary I should decide on staying with 
 him that evening, as my Indian swine (puercos 
 d'lndios) were incapable of attending me. To 
 make my stay in his village the more agree- 
 able, he ordered a review and exercise of his 
 battalion of Indians. General Miranda having 
 formerly made a descent at Ciro, the captain 
 general of Caraccas had formed a kind of batta- 
 lion of Indians in various parts of the province. 
 Each soldier had a straw hat, shirt and trowsers 
 of gingham; their arms consisted of a bow, a 
 quiver of sixty arrows, a large knife, and cutlass 
 suspended to the girdle by a string. The officers 
 were distinguished by a musquet instead of the 
 bow and arrows, a round black hat ornamented 
 with feathers, and by their shoes, which they wear 
 only on parade days. Their exercise consisted in 
 turning to the right or left, and of separating into 
 
416 
 
 DANG K US. 
 
 platoons of five, ten, fifteen, and of twenty : three 
 platoons of twenty form a company, which has 
 for its officers a captain, lieutenant, sergeant, and 
 three corporals. They shoot from their bows 
 standing and kneeling, with admirable quickness 
 and precision. 
 
 As I was desirous not leave this place without 
 becoming acquainted with the missionaries, I 
 requested the corregidor to conduct me to them, 
 but their servant informed us that two of the 
 reverend fathers were taking their mid-day nap, 
 or siesta, and that the third had gone to catechise 
 in the neighbourhood. It was five o'clock, and 
 therefore necessary to decide on departing from 
 this romantic spot, provided my Indians were in 
 a travelling state. I awoke them and made them 
 smoke a cigar, after which they went to bathe, and 
 we took leave of our excellent host. 
 
 I visited this mission again, a month afterwards. 
 I had left the worthy Arestimuno at Cariaeo, in 
 the morning, to go to Carupano, from whence I 
 was to embark for Guadaloupe. It is about ten 
 post leagues, across deserts and forests, from 
 Carupano to Cariaeo. We travelled with rather 
 a numerous caravan ; for in this country travel- 
 ling is performed in caravans as in the deserts 
 of Africa and Asia. It is not bands of robbers 
 which are feared, but jaguars and venomous 
 reptiles. Without a guide, one might be easily 
 lost in the paths which intersect those forests in 
 various direction?. The chief of our caravan was 
 
AUUA<;OMAN CAPUCHINS. 
 
 417 
 
 a merchant of Guadeloupe, who conducted a 
 number of wild mules, which he had bought in the 
 province of Cumana. Tired with the slowness of 
 the march, caused by the tricks of the mules to 
 escape from their keepers, I determined on sepa- 
 rating from the caravan, so as not to pass the 
 night in the woods. I had hired a Spanish mulatto 
 and two Indians : the mulatto was mounted on 
 a horse, the negro rode a mule, which was also 
 laden with my portmanteau : one Indian carried 
 the remainder of my luggage, and the other some 
 provisions, and a case containing wine, lemonade 
 and rum. To arrive at the mission of the Arra- 
 gonian Capuchins, it is necessary to ascend and 
 descend a mountain : at ten o'clock in the morn- 
 ing we were on its summit. It was intensely hot ; a 
 thermometer of Farenheit that I carried with me, 
 stood at 84° : however, I felt it more hot than in 
 a similar degree of thermometrical heat in Trini- 
 dad or Martinico, because there was no wind. 
 
 After suffering excessively from thirst owing to 
 there being no water at hand, we arrived at the 
 mission about noon. 
 
 The Indians of Guiana live on the banks of the 
 different rivers which flow between the mouth of 
 the Amazons and those of the Orinoco. The 
 Arrooauks and Caribs are the most remarkable 
 nations ; then follow the Accaouas, Worrows or 
 Ouaraous, the Tairas, Salibas, Pinnacotaous and 
 Paria tribe. Stedman, in his voyage to Surinam, 
 mentions the Worrows as an extremely depraved 
 
 e e 
 
418 
 
 VARIETIES OF NATIONS. 
 
 tribe, being lazy, filthy and brutal. The word 
 Worrows, as the English pronounce it, resem- 
 bles Gouaraoun or Ouaraoun, the name of the 
 islanders who inhabit the islets situated at the 
 mouth of the Orinoco. If, as Stedman asserts, 
 there are in the neighbourhood of the Dutch 
 possessions, natives who bear this name, it is pro- 
 bable that they belong to the same tribe as those 
 settled at the mouth of the Orinoco, as the Caribs 
 of the Antilles, now almost extinct, are identi- 
 fied with the Caribs of the continent. If the 
 remark of Stedman be true, as to the depravity 
 of the Ouaraous of Dutch Guiana, it is in my 
 opinion merely the effect produced by the vicinity 
 of Europeans, and the contagion of their vices ; 
 for my friends the Gouaraouns are, as I have 
 already said, a people strikingly amiable from 
 the mildness and vivacity of their manners. I 
 cannot refrain from relating the following anec- 
 dote, which is highly honourable to their cha- 
 racter ; and as in Europe there is a propensity, 
 not without reason, to accuse travellers of orna- 
 menting their descriptions with fabulous episodes, 
 to amuse the reader at the expence of truth, 
 I shall mention by his name the European, well 
 known at Martinico and Trinidad, who is the 
 hero of the tale. 
 
 M. Lazare, a native of Provence, and trader 
 of Martinico, in the beginning of the French re- 
 volution, but since residing at Port Spain, em- 
 barked on board a Spanish launch of the Orinoco, 
 
PIRACY. 
 
 419 
 
 which was to take him to San Thome de Angos- 
 tura. He carried a very considerable venture 
 with him, and had a young negro of fourteen 
 years old as his servant. 
 
 When the boat arrived at the islets of the Ori- 
 noco, a Spanish sailor proposed to his comrades to 
 murder Lazare and his negro and seize on the 
 cargo. As all the rest were not so ferocious as 
 the author of the proposal, it was decided that 
 Lazare should be left on one of those desert islets ; 
 and fearing that he might escape by swimming 
 to some adjacent one inhabited by the Gouara- 
 ouns, they bound him to a cocoa tree, thus con- 
 demning him to die of hunger. When those 
 monsters returned on board the boat, they delibe- 
 rated on what they could do with the young negro, 
 and it was decided that he should be drowned. 
 He was therefore thrown into the river ; they 
 also gave him some blows on the head with an 
 oar, but these did not prevent him from diving and 
 swimming to the islet on which his master had 
 been left : fortunately the darkness of the night 
 hindered them from seeing him when he reached 
 the shore. At day-break the little negro roved 
 about the island, and at length discovered his 
 master, whom he supposed to be dead, fastened to 
 the tree. Lazare's joy and surprize on this un- 
 expected sight of his servant may be readily 
 imagined : the cord which bound him having 
 been untied, his first expression of gratitude was 
 a positive promise of liberty to his slave. They 
 
 e e 2 
 
420 
 
 A FRIGHT. 
 
 next went in search of some food to satisfy their 
 hunger ; but perceiving traces of human footsteps, 
 Lazare, shivering with fear, spoke to his negro of 
 people who roast and eat men. After mature 
 deliberation, they determined that from the cer- 
 tainty in which they were of starving, or of not 
 being able to escape, they might just as well go and 
 meet the men-eaters. Following the track they 
 soon heard human voices ; and a little after saw 
 men perched on the trees, in a species of nest 
 proportioned to their sizes : come, comS* said a 
 Gouaraoun to Lazare, looking at him from his roost. 
 ie Heavens !" cried the Provencal, who understood 
 Spanish, " they want to eat us." " No, Massa," 
 replied the little negro, who had some know- 
 ledge of the English language, " they are only 
 calling us to them." The Gouaraoun soon put an 
 end to their anxiety by showing them two large 
 pieces of fish, and inviting them by signs to climb 
 up the tree, and partake of his meal. The little ne- 
 gro soon reached his host', but the lubberly Lazare 
 not being able to climb they threw down several 
 pieces of fish, some raw and others dressedwhich he 
 devoured most voraciousJy.-f' At length the Goua- 
 raouns descended from their trees, to talk with 
 him. He that had cried t " comS, comi" spoke a 
 little Spanish, and supposed Lazare to be a man 
 
 * Comer in Spanish signifies to eat , but the Indian intended it 
 as English. 
 
 f Smoked or baked fish, is substituted for bread, with the raw fish. 
 
GRATITUDE. 
 
 421 
 
 who, disgusted with the slavery of social life, had 
 come peacefully to enjoy the advantages of liberty 
 amongst them. This Gouaraoun, w T ho was a man 
 of importance amongst his tribe, extolled the pro- 
 ject highly, told Lazare he would give him a wife, 
 dog and canoe, and that he would also teach him 
 to shoot with a bow. But when the trader related 
 his disastrous adventure, they testified a consi- 
 derable degree of contempt for him. Having next 
 requested them to convey him to Trinidad, and 
 made them the most magnificent promises, the 
 Gouaraoun told him, in bad Spanish, that he 
 could not conceive why he did not prefer living 
 with them, happy, tranquil and without masters, 
 rather than to return to those villainous white 
 people ! 
 
 When they saw that he was determined to 
 return to Trinidad, they equipped a pirogue to 
 carry him there, without its ever occurring to 
 them to stipulate for the price of his passage. 
 At length, Lazare having arrived at Port Spain, 
 gave the Gouaraouns some knives, hatchets, and a 
 small cask of rum, and they departed satisfied. 
 The reader will be impatient to know how he re- 
 compensed the slave who had saved his life : ho 
 will naturally follow him in his mind's eye, con- 
 ducting the faithful negro before a magistrate, to 
 establish his freedom. Vain illusion ! the infamous 
 Lazare being in want of money, a short time after- 
 wards sold this very negro!! 
 
 The other tribes are very far from being so 
 
422 
 
 DRUNKENNESS, 
 
 estimable as the Gouaraouns. What were the 
 manners of those islanders at the time of their con- 
 quest by the Europeans ? The writers of that 
 time represent them as anthropophagi, and exces- 
 sively depraved. But can men be believed who had 
 an interest in vilifying those whom they exter- 
 minated, because they would not permit them- 
 selves to be reduced to slavery ? Still it is but 
 too true, that the present tribes who live along the 
 sea coasts, or on the banks of large rivers, are 
 composed of very immoral and despicable men. 
 The Accaouas, Worrows, Tuitas, Pinnacotuaus, 
 Salives and Parias, present a picture of the human 
 species in its last stage of degradation: we may 
 therefore be well ashamed to partake the name of 
 men with such beings. The first four of the six 
 nations I have named, live on the extremity of 
 the territories of Surinam and Demerara. When 
 made drunk, they sell their wives and children. 
 Their passion for spirituous liquors is generally so 
 violent, that it is sometimes merely necessary to 
 show them a bottle of it, and they become tran- 
 sported with joy and fury. They then seek their 
 wives and children, and deliver them to the 
 traders, who make slaves of them, or to libertines 
 who thus recruit their seraglios. I was a witness 
 to it at Demerara, in 1793. In this view the 
 Indians are much beneath the negroes, who not- 
 withstanding the state of ignorance and debase- 
 ment to which they are reduced, nevertheless 
 preserve the most tender attachment to their 
 
SALE OF CHILDREN. 
 
 423 
 
 wives, and especially for their children. But the 
 greater part of the negroes have a vital energy 
 and sentiment, far superior to the indolent abori- 
 ginal native of South America, To return to this 
 unnatural custom of selling their own children, 
 which is the most culpable, what shall we say of 
 the Europeans, who having received an education, 
 and been reared in the bosom of Christianity, 
 instigate through drunkenness to the commission 
 of such a crime ? 
 
 The Indians who inhabit the countries north of the 
 Orinoco, and in the northern part of Trinidad, have 
 not been united in missions, so that civilization has 
 made but little progress amongst them. They 
 live by the chace and fishing, scarcely cultivating 
 what is sufficient to prevent them from starv- 
 ing. Unfortunately I have been but too well able 
 lo ascertain how much the neighbourhood of some 
 worthless Europeans and swindlers from Barba- 
 does, who had settled in their vicinity, at the peace 
 of Amiens, had contributed to corrupt those 
 savages, who previous to their arrival, were 
 neither vicious nor wicked. I well know it was 
 in vain that some of those robbers endeavoured, in 
 1803, to procure women, by the means employed 
 at Demerara; that one of them, assisted by his 
 negro, having attempted to force an Indian female 
 into his house, w T as obliged to let her go, when he 
 saw an Indian aiming his arrow at him ; and that 
 all the bottles of rum he offered to the offended 
 savage, to permit him to carry off his weeping 
 
12 1 
 
 A MONSTER. &<\ 
 
 prey, made no impression on the former. The 
 command of this part of the island (Toco and 
 Cumana) being afterwards given by Governor 
 Hislop, to W. T. a runaway surgeon from Barba- 
 does, Grenada and Tobago, for forgeries and 
 swindling, that contemptible little tyrant forced 
 a great many of those Indians to settle on a plan- 
 tation which he obtained by the most dishonest 
 means, and where he made them work as his 
 slaves, in 1806 and 1807. Those who pleaded 
 the cause of the Indians, were not only persecuted, 
 but the crime having remained unpunished, others 
 imitated his base example, particularly the swin- 
 dler H ; who, when I left Trinidad, had a 
 
 considerable number of Indians, slaves in fact, on 
 his plantation. 
 
 This treatment has so exasperated the Indians, 
 that many have sought refuge in the woods of the 
 interior, where they live in the manner of Maroon 
 negroes, others escaped in their canoes to the 
 continent, where they have become the implacable 
 enemies of the British name. But historical im- 
 partiality requires me to add, that this atrocious 
 conduct towards the Indians, excited the indie*- 
 
 o 
 
 nation of the respectable part of the British popu- 
 lation of this island. 
 
 This subject gives me an opportunity of saying 
 a few words on the relations of the British with 
 the indigenous inhabitants, in all parts of Ame- 
 rica where the former have effected establish- 
 ments. In general, the natives detest them, not 
 
AKHOOCAKS. 
 
 425 
 
 because they are more oppressed by them than 
 any other European nation, but owing to the 
 disdainful contempt with which they are treated 
 by them. Now, no one feels contempt more keenly 
 than a savage ; so that a man must be saturated 
 with pride, to behave so as to make a poor Indian 
 feel his inferiority. For a long time past, the Spa- 
 niards used to protect and treat them with justice ; 
 as for the French, we treat them like children, 
 playing and joking with them : and, in spite of 
 their nudity and strange costume, we admit them 
 to our tables ; they are allowed to speak to us 
 with familiarity, we call each other gossip, con- 
 sequently they prefer us to all other nations. 
 
 The Arrouagas or Arroouaks are considered 
 the handsomest nation of Guiana : they are less 
 copper coloured than their neighbours ; which may 
 result from their not tattooing themselves with 
 arnotto. Their manners are social, and they have 
 the reputation of keepingtheir promises faithfully: 
 they are friendly to Europeans, and very humane ; 
 butthis does not prevent them from taking their 
 neighbours as slaves, and selling them. The 
 Arrouagas carry on a considerable trade with the 
 Spaniards and Dutch, in balsam of copaiva, arnotto, 
 sarsaparilla, sassafras, hiarie roots, vanilla, dye- 
 stuffs, a kind of ebony, wax and honey, ham- 
 mocks, baskets, monkeys, parrots and other 
 birds ; they take in exchange fire-arms, some 
 light stuffs, combs, looking-glasses, toys, hatchets, 
 knives, saws, nails, &c. 
 
 The insular Caribs are almost extinct ; there 
 
426 
 
 CALIFOURNANS. 
 
 are not more than a score of their families in 
 the Island of St. Vincent ; three families in that 
 of Tobago, and seven or eight families in Trini- 
 dad, where they had retired, when they aban- 
 doned the island of Dominica, during the Ame- 
 rican war, which terminated in 1783. These last 
 call themselves Califournans : and though I have 
 had many of them in my service as hunters, 
 fishers and servants,* I never could learn the 
 etymology of Califouman : all they could inform 
 me about it was, that they came from a country 
 far, far, far ! I give their own expression. They 
 are in general a very handsome race of men, and 
 both active and intelligent. Some of their women 
 are also very pretty, and in general all are well 
 made. These Califournans are polygamists, like 
 the chief part of the Indians; and they have this 
 in particular, that when one of them marries the 
 eldest daughter of a family, he has a right to 
 espouse the younger sisters, according as they 
 arrive at the age of puberty. Many travellers 
 have been fond of describing a very singular cus- 
 tom of the Caribs ; stating that when a woman 
 is delivered, she makes caudle for her husband, 
 who, they say, places himself in his hammock, 
 groans, and, in short, acts the lying-in person. 
 The fact is, that when a female Carib finds the 
 pains of labour coming on, she goes to the nearest 
 stream, accompanied by another woman : here 
 she is delivered, regulates her child, and bathes 
 
 I brought a young individual of (his tribe to Europe. 
 
THE C A RIBS. 
 
 427 
 
 with it in tho stream. When returned to her 
 hut, after placing the infant in a hammock, she 
 makes some broth. During this time, the hus- 
 band swings and jolts in his hammock as usual, 
 and takes some of the broth which she has made : 
 but it is not true that they groan and ape the act 
 of child-birth. The Caribs know that the whites 
 have invented this tale, and therefore consider 
 them notorious liars ! 
 
 The difference which exists between the Caribs 
 and the other tribes of the united provinces of Ve- 
 nezuela ; the great physical and intellectual supe- 
 riority of the former, appears to prove that they 
 have had a different and more noble origin. 
 Though they were as far removed from civilization 
 as the Parias, when the Europeans first arrived, 
 still the Caribs considered, and to this day think 
 themselves a privileged race. They speak of 
 the other savages with as much contempt and 
 disdain, as the ignorant and illiberal part of a 
 certain insular nation speak of all other people. 
 However unjust the pretensions of the Caribs are, 
 however ridiculous savages may be who pretend 
 to exercise a paramount right over other savages 
 like themselves, it is nevertheless true that the 
 hereditary habits of command on one side, and of 
 servitude and fear on the other, have produced 
 amongst the inhabitants of the forests the same 
 effects as between civilized nations. Among the 
 first, they have engendered frankness, courage 
 and generosity, qualities which result from the 
 
428 
 
 BLACK. CAHIBS. 
 
 consciousness of strength and power, with the 
 abuse of them which men are liable to make, who 
 have naturally a bad disposition ; and amongst 
 the persecuted and degraded tribes, perfidy and 
 cowardice, flattery, and egotism. 
 
 According to the principle I venture to adopt, 
 the Arroouaks, Guaraouns and Guahiros of the 
 Rio de la Hache, must be considered as descen- 
 dants of the Carib nation. Every thing induces 
 a belief that those are remains of the conquering 
 race ; and that the Salives, Chaymas, Ottomaques 
 and Parias, belong to an indigenous and con- 
 quered race. It is a circumstance well worth the 
 most serious meditations of those who study the 
 philosophical history of the human species, to see 
 savage tribes living in the same climate, using 
 nearly the same food, each as little influenced at 
 present by European civilization, yet completely 
 distinguished physically and morally by features 
 as opposite as those which separate the Caucasian 
 race from the Mogul, and the latter from the 
 European, named by zoologists the Arab Caucau- 
 sian race. 
 
 Much has been said of the Black Caribs of St. 
 Vincent's, and they have been the subject of many 
 stories and fables. I have had the means of becom- 
 ing acquainted with them, having passed some 
 months in that island, during the civil wars in 
 the French colonies. It appears that the English 
 established themselves there in 1672; and that 
 they had sent negroes to it in 1675. According 
 
lU.HF.LLION. 
 
 120 
 
 to Sir William Young, a slave ship coming from 
 the coast of Benin, laden with Moco negroes, was 
 wrecked that very year on Bequia, an islet situated 
 two leagues from St. Vincent's, where the ship- 
 wrecked negroes retired, and were subsequently 
 joined by a great number of Maroon negroes from 
 the adjacent islands. It is related in the French 
 colonies, that though those negroes had been hos- 
 pitably received by the Caribs, they exterminated 
 their hosts at night, to possess themselves of 
 their wives and the country. But according to 
 the respectable authority of Sir William Young, 
 this fact is controverted. I have myself heard the 
 baronet give a very different account of that 
 event, as he had heard it from his father, formerly 
 governor of tho island, where his virtues and 
 those of his son are proverbial. According to Sir 
 William Young, the Caribs made slaves of the 
 negroes ; but finding they were becoming more 
 numerous than themselves, they resolved to put 
 all the male children to death. The commence- 
 ment of this barbarity caused a revolt amongst the 
 negroes, who conquered in the conflict. 
 
 The first use made of their success was to exter- 
 minate a great number of their masters, and seize 
 on their wives and daughters, from whom proceeds 
 the mixed breed known by the name of Black 
 Caribs. There still exists in the island of Saint 
 Vincent some families of red Caribs, who have 
 never contracted an alliance with their black 
 brethren, from wjiom they keep at a distance, and 
 
430 
 
 VISIT TO THE BLACK C'AKIBS. 
 
 who did not interfere in the war between the 
 latter and the British, in 1795 : they live there under 
 their protection to this day, whilst the blacks have 
 been transported to the Island of Rattan, in the 
 Bay of Honduras. 
 
 The reader will not perhaps be displeased with 
 the account of a visit I paid to the Black Caribs. 
 In January, 1793, I embarked at the east end of 
 Saint Lucia, in a canoe eighteen feet long 1 , and 
 two and a half in its greatest breadth : it was 
 navigated by three Caribs. The friend who had 
 procured this frail conveyance for me, had warned 
 me that the Caribs would inquire if I could swim, 
 and that it was necessary I should reply in the 
 negative ; in which case I might be tranquil, as 
 they would save me if the canoe was upset or 
 wrecked. Having left St. Lucia, at midnight, we 
 arrived at the Grand Sable, the principal wharf of 
 the Caribs, on the following morning about eleven 
 o'clock. 
 
 The sea is always agitated by the north winds 
 during this season, in the Antilles, and breaks 
 with fury on the eastern coasts of those islands. 
 Though the weather was otherwise very fine, I 
 was so wetted by the waves which had broken 
 over me, that I resembled a statue of salt. How- 
 ever, our passage was made without any accident. 
 When the canoe was about one hundred yards 
 from the shore, on which is a reef of coral, I 
 saw a multitude of savages plunge into the sea 
 and swim towards us. There was a frightful surf, 
 
FRIENDLY RECEPTION. 
 
 431 
 
 the sea was all foam; I saw nothing but the 
 heads of the Caribs, men and women, who ap- 
 peared like so many Tritons and Nereids. A 
 painter or poet might have made fine pictures 
 from this scene: on the shore were seen groups 
 of Caribs, men, women and children ; behind them 
 a smiling plain, and two limpid streams which wa- 
 tered it, terminated by a chain of mountains, the 
 chief part of them pointed, and covered with the 
 beautiful vegetation of the climate. The savages 
 pressed round the pirogue, seized it on both sides, 
 some with their right, others with their left hand, 
 while my three travelling companions jumped into 
 the water, their favourite element, dived and re- 
 appeared; while I alone in the canoe, only wanted 
 a trident to have all the air of a Neptune borne on 
 the waves by the inhabitants of the ocean ! At 
 length, thanks to those able and intrepid swim- 
 mers, the canoe thus raised above the waves, 
 cleared the coral bank without touching it, and on 
 gaining the beach I found myself in the midst of a 
 great crowd, the colour of the men was copper, 
 inclining to black : nearly all were armed with 
 bows and musquets, they pressed around me, to 
 look at a white man, dressed in a light coloured 
 surtout, and whose hair was for the moment whiten- 
 ed, at the age of nineteen, by a quantity of sea salt 
 that had formed on it during the passage. I saw a 
 Carib who had a small looking-glass hanging about 
 his neck, and requested him to permit me to look 
 at myself: on seeing the little chrystals that 
 
432 
 
 HOSPITALITY. 
 
 whitened my hair, I could not refrain from laugh 
 ing heartily, and was joined in it hy the savages, 
 that accompanied me to the owner of the canoe, 
 who expressed a wish to be my host. It being 
 necessary to cross the fine river I had seen from 
 the canoe, I stripped myself to bathe ; some 
 young and handsome female Caribs, and a troop 
 of young males threw water on me, and \v<> 
 began to chat as if we had known each other for 
 years. The pleasure of having escaped from a 
 gang of robbers, in Saint Lucia, who had con- 
 spired to murder me, the balh, sprightliness of 
 my hosts, the view of a beautiful country, and 
 an air perfumed with the odoriferous plants of the 
 Caribs' gardens, situated on both banks of this re- 
 freshing stream, soon restored my strength, which 
 had been exhausted with vexation, and by more than 
 one bad night's rest. I soon arrived at the house 
 of Larose, the name of my host. It was only a 
 short time before I had seen the Indians of Trini- 
 dad, almost strangers to agriculture ; but here the 
 properties of the Caribs were divided by hedges 
 of orange trees, perfectly well kept, and their 
 gardens filled with all the beautiful plants of the 
 country. Their houses had an appearance of ele- 
 gant simplicity, and were provided with all that 
 could be necessary for comfort and convenience ; 
 that of Larose was the handsomest of this village ; 
 it was built of squared timber, and covered 
 with shingles ; a gallery ran in front, and it was 
 divided into three rooms, of which that in the 
 
A RENCONTRE. 
 
 433 
 
 middle served as a saloon. Here a hammock was 
 slung for me, and after we entered Larose, shak- 
 ing my hand in the English style, said, " you 
 are now at home, therefore make yourself as easy 
 and comfortable as you can." After this compli- 
 ment he introduced to me one of his wives, who 
 was very well dressed, like the women of colour 
 in our colonies. " Bonjoumouche, good morning 
 to you sir," said she, making a low curtesy, " bon 
 jou, ma chee ; et bon Die ! qui ce qui mene vous 
 dans pays cy ! Si mouee pas trompc, vous mila- 
 tr esse la MartineqV " Good morning, my dear ; 
 and in God's name ! what has brought you to this 
 place ! If I am not mistaken you are a mulatto 
 of Martinico?" — Et oui, cht metre', " So lam, 
 my dear sir," she replied with a melancholy and 
 languishing look. 
 
 " I am going out for some moments to settle 
 some business," said Larose to rne, " and shall leave 
 this prattler to attend you during my absence." 
 I then prevailed on the lady to sit beside my 
 hammock, and relate her adventures amongst the 
 Caribs. The history of poor Marguerite is not 
 long. Ten years ago, when at the age of twenty, 
 she was then very pretty, and had not much pre- 
 dilection for black lovers. Larose, who traded 
 with Saint Lucia and Martinico, paid his addresses 
 to her, and proposed taking her with him to 
 Saint Vincent's, where she would be a great lady 
 amongst the Caribs. She suffered herself to be 
 
 p v 
 
434 
 
 A GRASS WIDOW. 
 
 persuaded : but, alas ! the chaste Helen was not 
 aware that there are Caribs who have as many as 
 three or four wives! "How do they manage, my 
 friend," said I, with a significant smile, " to make 
 you all happy? " Ah, my dear youth," she replied, 
 with tears in her eyes, " look out at the window, 
 and you will see three huts in the garden there." — 
 " So that in every three weeks you are a widow for 
 a fortnight ?" " Yes," said she, pressing my hand 
 and rolling her eyes affectionately : " it was so at 
 first ; but it is long since Larose has ceased to 
 think of me !" 
 
 Looking out I saw the black bashaw in the 
 gallery with his two favourites, who were laugh- 
 ing heartily at our dialogue : happily poor Mar- 
 guerite, whose back was turned to the door, did 
 not see them. Entering soon after, " come, come, 
 carrion" said he, " instead of prating with this 
 white, and making love to him, you would do 
 much better to prepare our dinner. There is a 
 fowl I have just killed, and some fish: make us also 
 a crab soup." 1 endeavoured to prevail on Larose 
 to treat his old favourite with less severity, but 
 his only reply was a loud laugh. He next intro- 
 duced to me his two young sultanas, one of whom 
 was about seventeen ; both were handsome, and 
 formed like nymphs, the whole of their dress 
 consisted of chintz petticoats, and Madras yellow, 
 green, and red hankerchiefs on their heads, which 
 seemed very well suited to their bronze complexions. 
 
A CARIB DINNER 
 
 435 
 
 They now began to prepare a salad, rincethe hand- 
 some cut glasses, and make punch. During this 
 time M. Larose smoked his cigar and swangin his 
 hammock ; looking somewhat maliciously at me, 
 he gave warning that those two, pointing to his 
 young protegees, u were forbidden fruit !" A great 
 many Caribs now arrived, and I had to shake 
 hands with each of them, according as they came 
 in to see me : they sat down round the room, while 
 Larose and myself placed ourselves at table, at- 
 tended by his three concubines. In addition to the 
 crab soup, we had stewed and fried fish, a roasted 
 fowl with salad ; bananas, cassava, and potatoes, 
 were substituted for bread : excellent fruits, wine, 
 rum and beer, covered the table after the repast. 
 Such was the dinner of a Carib trader ; it was 
 served on very fine white table linen, and in dishes 
 and plates of Wedgewood's ware, with silver 
 forks, spoons, &c. 
 
 We had just finished our meal, when T saw a 
 Carib enter, of about six feet high ; his dress con- 
 sisted of a blue check shirt, and a round hat orna- 
 mented with a plume of variegated feathers. He 
 carried a musquet in his hand, had a large sabre by 
 his side, while a silver case hung to his belt. The 
 stranger had the look and air of one accustomed 
 to command. Larose rising mysteriously, whis- 
 pered, " this is Captain Lavalle, our king." 
 
 I rose to salute his majesty: he advanced and offer- 
 ed me his hand, complimenting me on my arrival in 
 
 f i 2 
 
436 
 
 A ltOYAL VISITOR, 
 
 his states, which had an extent of five leagues long 
 by three in breadth ! "My residence is some distance 
 from hence," said he : u I was hunting in the neigh- 
 bourhood, when I heard of your arrival : if I had 
 not been so far from home, I would hare put on 
 my red breeches and uniform of a French marshal, 
 which the king of France sent me with the order of 
 Saint Louis, during the American war." He now 
 invited me to be seated, and took the place of his 
 lieutenant general, Larose, who remained standing 
 respectfully, without uttering a word. The other 
 Caribs, however, did not rise on the entrance of 
 their chief, nor did they show him any kind of 
 honour. But Larose was half-civilized, and a 
 courtier. " Be seated," said the prince to him ; " I 
 am going to assist in finishing your mess." When 
 he had satisfied his appetite, we toasted and drank 
 together : after which he recounted his feats 
 during the American war : it was then that M. 
 de Bouille had sent him the uniform, cross, and 
 decorations of a French marshal, with a letter 
 from Louis XVI. After repeating the above 
 circumstance, he took the silver box which hung 
 by his side, opened it, and showed me a letter from 
 the king, written, I have no doubt, at Martinico, in 
 which that monarch thanked gossip Lavalle for 
 the good and agreeable services which he had ren- 
 dered him : the monarch next insisted that I should 
 sleep at his house. By this time I saw clearly he 
 was tormented with an anxiety to display himself 
 
AND PORTRAIT. 
 
 437 
 
 to me in all his pomp ; I therefore acceded to his 
 request. Presented to his family as the aid de 
 camp of a general, I was received with great 
 honours. His house was built like that of Larose, 
 but larger ; he had five or six negro slaves, who 
 cultivated coffee, cotton, arnotto, cocoa and pro- 
 visions. Three women, by whom he had ten 
 children, of different ages, composed his family. 
 Whilst I was chatting with his sons, who spoke 
 French and Creole-English, lo and behold his 
 majesty re-enter, resplendent in magnificence ! 
 On his bronzed front was a large cocked hat, 
 with a white feather, a cockade of the same co- 
 lour, surmounted with a button of German pebble 
 as large as a coffee cup, ordered to be made ex- 
 pressly for him by Louis XVI. and which had 
 cost one hundred thousand crowns ! His coat was 
 that of a general officer, with enormous epau- 
 lettes, and laced on every seam : from one of the 
 button-holes of this dress, a gold cross was sus- 
 pended by a red ribband, it was the insignia of 
 St. Louis ; a large star of gold and silver on the 
 breast, convinced me that he was also a knight 
 of the Holy Roman Empire ! His majesty wore 
 two other orders, of which I could not ascertain 
 the names ; a red waistcoat bedaubed with gold ; 
 scarlet breeches laced on the seams ; boots with 
 red morocco tops, and ornamented with an enor- 
 mous pair of copper spurs, which had once been 
 gilt, completed this singular costume ; he wore no 
 
 
438 
 
 A REGAL SUPPEtt. 
 
 stockings ; but collars with little bells, such as are 
 put on lap-dogs, ornamented his ancles ! 
 
 I really believe that there never was a happier 
 sovereign than Lavalle thought himself at this mo- 
 ment : he paraded about the gallery : directing his 
 piercing sight towards the sea, he saw in the twink- 
 ling of an eye, the extent of his territories from east 
 to west, and from north to south. Supper was 
 announced by a discharge of artillery, which con- 
 sisted of two swivels. He constantly took out his 
 snuff-box to offer me a pinch, and provoked at my 
 not admiring that beautiful trinket, he desired me 
 to examine it well. It was of an enormous size and 
 silver gilt, ornamented with a bad portrait of 
 Louis XVI. set with German pebbles, another 
 article made expressly for him, and which he also 
 believed to have cost one hundred thousand crowns. 
 But he shewed me some arms that were really 
 magnificent, and from the Versailles manu- 
 factory. 
 
 After having passed a good night in a royal 
 hammock, I received, in the morning, a visit from 
 my friend Larose, who came to conduct me to 
 M. Augier, a French proprietor in the environs of 
 Kingston. All Lavalle's cavalry consisted of a mule 
 and an ass, which he offered to escort me in the 
 most gracious manner ; but I preferred performing 
 the journey on foot, as far as the residence of Mr. 
 Clapham, the nearest proprietor to the Caribs, and 
 whose good nature was so highly praised by Larose 
 
MR. CLAP HAM. 
 
 139 
 
 that I took my chance, stranger and unknown as 
 I was, to request the loan of ahorse. Though I 
 was not very genteelly dressed, I was received in 
 the kindest manner by Mr. Clapham, who not 
 only invited me to breakfast with him, but lent 
 me a horse to take me to my destination. I was 
 then far from suspecting that this unfortunate 
 gentleman, who was so eulogized by the Caribs, 
 should be, two years afterwards, the first victim 
 immolated by those very men ! It does not form 
 a part of my plan to give the history of this war 
 of the Caribs against the inhabitants of St. Vin- 
 cent's. I must, however, do the latter the justice 
 to say, that they had done nothing to provoke 
 the aggressions of the savages. This colony is 
 not like some others, peopled with the refuse 
 and scum of the British nation. Though it has 
 belonged to Great Britain for a long time, it 
 is only since the American war it has acquired 
 its actual colonial importance. The governors, 
 Sir William Young, and Mr. Melville, who have 
 made so many improvements there, were men 
 of rare virtue and merit : such characters have 
 always a great influence on the manners of a new 
 society; so that this has been composed of re- 
 spectable persons who went from Europe, Anti- 
 gua, and St. Christopher's, colonies composed of 
 people of good dispositions, 
 
 General Sir Ralph Abercrombie put an end, 
 in 1797, to this cruel war, which had been com- 
 
 dUft 
 
440 
 
 CUSTOMS. 
 
 menced in 1795, when, as already observed, all the 
 Black Caribs of St. Vincent's who remained alive, 
 were transported, in British vessels, to the Island 
 of Rattan. 
 
 Those Caribs have adopted many customs of 
 the Red Caribs, amongst others that of flattening 
 the foreheads of new-born infants.* But they 
 are not indolent like them, and they surpass the 
 Indians on the score of intellect. Each family has 
 its territorial property, which is inclosed with 
 hedges, and carefully cultivated. The men apply 
 themselves as much to agriculture as the women. 
 They do not like to be called negroes, and con- 
 sider this term as a gross insult, no doubt because 
 the negroes, their neighbours, are in slavery. It 
 is flattering to them to be called Caribs,, and it is 
 
 * This singular process is performed in the following manner : 
 when a Carib mother feels the pains of child-birth she proceeds, as 
 before described, to the nearest river; for all their villages that I 
 have seen, are either on the banks or very contiguous to a stream 
 of running water. After the ceremony of bathing is over, and 
 the parties reach their hut, they place the head of the child 
 between two very smooth boards, as far as the root of the nose ; 
 these boards arc about eight inches long, and fastened together 
 with cords applied at each end; they arc not removed from the 
 infant's head for nine days, which is perhaps one reason why so 
 many children die of lock jaw and convulsions at this tender age. 
 After the tenth day the boards are only applied during the night, 
 but they are not totally discontinued till the period of weaning, 
 which usually takes place at the age of fifteen or eighteen months. 
 Nearly all the Caribs who have embraced Christianity have re- 
 nounced this strange custom. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 441 
 
 probably for the purpose of resembling the latter 
 still more, that besides the flattening of the fore- 
 head, they have also adopted the custom of tattoo- 
 ing themselves with arnotto* 
 
 The Black Caribs have not embraced Christi- 
 anity : the few religious ideas they have, are 
 a mixture of the Fetishism of the negroes, 
 and the superstitions of the ancient Caribs : 
 like the latter, they believe in a good and a 
 bad principle. 
 
 END OF DESCRIPTION, &C, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, &c. 
 
 Alluded to in the Introduction, illustrative of the fore- 
 going Work, and to which the attention of the Public 
 is particularly requested. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Proclamation of General Sir Thomas Picton, Governor 
 of Trinidad, first circulated amongst the Spanish Co- 
 lonies near that Island, in 1797, and which has been 
 already quoted in the Introduction.* 
 
 By virtue of an official paper, which I, the governor of 
 this island of Trinidad, have received from the Right 
 Honourable Henry Dundas, minister of His Britannic 
 Majesty, for Foreign Affairs, dated April 7, 1797, which 
 1 here publish, in obedience to orders, and for the use 
 which your Excellencies may draw from its publication, 
 in order that you may communicate its tenour, which is 
 literally as follows. " The object which, at present, I 
 desire most particularly to recommend to your attention, 
 is, the means which might be most adapted to liberate 
 the people of the continent near to the Island of Trinidad, 
 
 * These important papers, with the exception of the extracts from 
 the Supreme Chief's Speech, are reprinted from the Expose, and ano- 
 ther book, containing public documents, published by Mr. William 
 Walton, who has done much towards elucidating the past and present 
 condition of Spanish America. 
 
446 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 from the oppressive and tyrannic system, which supports, 
 with so much rigour, the monopoly of commerce, under 
 the title of exclusive registers, which their government 
 licences demand; also to draw the greatest advantages 
 possible, and which the local situation of the island pre- 
 sents, by opening a direct and free communication with 
 the other parts of the world, without prejudice to the 
 commerce of the British nation. In order to fulfil this 
 intention with greater facility, it will be prudent for your 
 Excellency to animate the inhabitants of Trinidad, in 
 keeping up the communication which they had with those 
 of Terra Firma, previous to the reduction of that island, 
 under the assurance, that they will find there an entrepot, 
 or general magazine of every sort of goods whatever. To 
 this end, His Britannic Majesty has determined, in coun- 
 cil, to grant freedom to the port of Trinidad, with a direct 
 trade to Great Britain. 
 
 With regard to the hopes you entertain of raising the 
 spirits of those persons, with whom you are in corre- 
 spondence, towards animating the inhabitants, to resist 
 the oppressive authority of their government, I have little 
 more to say, than that they may be certain, that whenever 
 they are in that disposition, they may receive at your 
 hands, all the succours to be expected from H. B. Ma- 
 jesty ; be it with forces, or with arms and ammunition to 
 any extent ; with the assurance, that the views of II. B. 
 Majesty, go no further than to secure to them their inde- 
 pendence, without pretending to any sovereignty over 
 their country, nor evpn to interfere in the privileges of the 
 people, nor in their political, civil, or religious rights. 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS FICTON. 
 
 Port Spain, Trinidad, 
 June 26, IT97. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 417 
 
 No. II. 
 
 It is the opinion of onr immortal countryman Locke, 
 " that all legitimate government is derived from the con- 
 sent of the people, that men are naturally equal, and that 
 no one has a right to injure another in his life, health, 
 liberty, or possessions, and that no man, in civil society, 
 ought to be subject to the arbitrary will of others, but 
 only to known and established laws, made by general con- 
 sent, for the common benefit. That no taxes are to be 
 levied on the people, without the consent of the majority, 
 given by themselves, or by their deputies. That the ruling 
 power ought to govern by declared and received laws, 
 and not by extemporary dictates, and undetermined reso- 
 lutions. That kings and princes, magistrates, and rulers 
 of every class, have no just authority but what is dele- 
 gated to them by the people ; and which when not em- 
 ployed for their benefit, the people have always a right to 
 resume in whatever hands it may be placed. 
 
 " That revolutions happen not upon every little mis- 
 management of public affairs. Great mistakes in the 
 ruling part, many wrong and inconvenient laws, and all 
 the slips of human frailty, will be borne by the people 
 without mutiny or murmur. But if a long train of abuses, 
 prevarications, and artifices, all tending the same way, 
 make the design visible to the people, and they cannot 
 but feel what they lie under, and see whither they are 
 going, it is not to be wondered, that they should then 
 rouze themselves, and endeavour to put the rule into such 
 hands which may secure to them the ends for which go- 
 vernment was at first erected; and without which, ancient 
 names and specious forms, are so far from being better, 
 that they are much worse than the state of nature, or pure 
 anarchy, the inconveniencies being as great, and as near, 
 but the remedy further off, and more difficult." 
 
448 
 
 APl'LNDIX. 
 
 No. III. 
 ACT OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 In the Name of the All-powerful God, 
 
 We the Representatives of the United Provinces of 
 Caracas, Cumana, Varinas, Margarita, Barcelona, Merida, 
 and Truxillo, forming the American Confederation of 
 Venezuela, in the South Continent, in Congress assembled, 
 considering the full and absolute possession of our Rights, 
 which we recovered justly and legally from the 19th of 
 April, 1810, in consequence of the occurrences in Bayonne, 
 and the occupation of the Spanish Throne by conquest, 
 and the succession of a new Dynasty, constituted without 
 our consent ; are desirous, before we make use of those 
 Rights, of which we have been deprived by force for more 
 than three centuries, but now restored to us by the poli- 
 tical order of human events, to make known to the world 
 the reasons which have emanated from these same occur- 
 rences, and which authorise us in the free use we are now 
 about to make of our own Sovereignty. 
 
 We do not wish, nevertheless, to begin by ailedging the 
 rights inherent in every conquered country, to recover its 
 state of property and independence ; we generously for- 
 get the long series of ills, injuries, and privations, which 
 the sad right of conquest has indistinctly caused, to all the 
 descendants of the Discoverers, Conquerors, and Settlers 
 of these Countries, plunged into a worse state by the very 
 same cause that ought to have favoured them ; and, draw- 
 ing a veil over the three hundred years of Spanish dominion 
 in America, we will now only present to view the authentic 
 and well-known facts, which ought to have wrested 
 from one world, the right over the other, by the inver- 
 sion, disorder, and conquest, that have already dissolved 
 the Spanish Nation. 
 
 This disorder has increased the ills of America, by 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 449 
 
 rendering void its claims and remonstrances, enabling the 
 Governors of Spain to insult and oppress this part of the 
 Nation, thus leaving it without the succour and guarantee 
 of the laws. 
 
 It is contrary to order, impossible to the Government 
 of Spain, and fatal to the welfare of America, that the 
 latter, possessed of a range of country infinitely more ex- 
 tensive, and a population incomparably more numerous, 
 should depend and be subject to a peninsular corner 
 of the European continent. 
 
 The cessions and abdications at Bayonne, the Revolu- 
 tions of the Escurial and Aranjuez, and the Orders of the 
 Royal Substitute, the Duke of Berg, sent to America, 
 suffice to give virtue to the rights, which till then the 
 Americans had sacrificed to the unity and integrity of the 
 Spanish Nation. 
 
 Venezuela was the first to acknowledge, and gene- 
 rously to preserve, this integrity; not to abandon the 
 cause of its brothers, as long as the same retained the 
 least hope of salvation. 
 
 America was called into a new existence, since she 
 could, and ought, to take upon herself the charge of her 
 own fate and preservation ; as Spain might acknowledge, 
 or not, the rights of a King, who had preferred his own 
 existence to the dignity of the Nation over which he 
 governed. 
 
 All the Bourbons concurred to the invalid stipula- 
 tions of Bayonne, abandoning Spain, against the will 
 of the People ; — they violated, disdained, and tram- 
 pled on the sacred duty they had contracted with the 
 Spaniards of both Worlds, when with their bJood and 
 treasure they had placed them on the Throne, in despite 
 of the House of Austria. By such a conduct, they were 
 left disqualified and incapable of governing a Free Peo- 
 ple, whom they delivered up like a flock of slaves. 
 
 Notwithstanding our protests, our moderation, gene- 
 rosity, and the inviolability of our principles, contrary to 
 the wishes of our brethren in Europe, we were declared 
 
 G G 
 
450 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 in a state of rebellion ; we were blockaded ; war was de- 
 clared against us ; agents were sent amongst us, to excite 
 us one against the other, endeavouring to take away our 
 credit with the other Nations of Europe, by imploring 
 their assistance to oppress us. 
 
 Without taking the least notice of our reasons, without 
 presenting them to the impartial judgment of the world, 
 und without any other judges than our own enemies, we 
 are condemned to a mournful incommunication with our 
 brethren: and, to add contempt to calumny, empowered 
 agents are named for us, against our own express will, 
 that in their Cortes they may arbitrarily dispose of our 
 interests, under the influence and force of our enemies. 
 
 In order to crush and suppress the effects of our Repre- 
 sentation, when they were obliged to grant it to us, we 
 were submitted to a paltry and diminutive scale; and the 
 form of election was subjected to the passive voice of the 
 Municipal Bodies, degraded by the despotism of the Go- 
 vernors: which amounted to an insult on our plain dealing 
 and good faith, more than to a consideration of our incon- 
 testible political importance. 
 
 Always deaf to the cries of justice on our part, the 
 Governments of Spain have endeavoured to discredit all 
 our efforts, by declaring as criminal, and stamping with 
 infamy, and rewarding with the scaffold and confiscation, 
 every attempt, which at different periods some Americans 
 have made, for the felicity of their country: as was that 
 which lately our own security dictated to us, that we 
 might not be driven into a state of disorder which we 
 foresaw, and hurried to that horrid fate which wc are 
 about to remove for ever from before us. By means of 
 such atrocious policy, they have succeeded in making our 
 brethren insensible to our misfortunes ; in arming them 
 against us ; in erasing from their bosoms the tender im- 
 pressions of friendship, of consanguinity ; and converting 
 into enemies a part of our own great family. 
 
 In this mournful alternative we have remained three 
 years, in a state of political indecision and ambiguity, so 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 451 
 
 fatal and dangerous, that this alone would suffice to au- 
 thorise the resolution, which the faith of our promises and 
 the bonds of fraternity had caused us to defer, till neces- 
 sity has obliged us to go beyond what we at first pro- 
 posed, impelled by the hostile and unnatural conduct of 
 the Governments of Spain, which have disburdened us of 
 our conditional oath, by which circumstance, we are 
 called to the august representation we now exercise. 
 
 But we, who glory in grounding our proceedings on 
 better principles, and not wishing to establish our felicity 
 on the misfortunes of our fellow-beings, do consider and 
 declare as friends, companions of our fate, and participa- 
 tors of our felicity, those who, united to us by the ties of 
 blood, language, and religion, have suffered the same 
 evils in the anterior order of things, provided they ac- 
 knowledge our absolute independence of the same, and of 
 any other foreign power whatever ; that they aid us to 
 sustain it with their lives, fortune, and sentiments ; de- 
 claring aud acknowledging them (as well as to every other 
 nation), in war enemies, and in peace friends, brothers, 
 and co-patriots. 
 
 In consequence of all these solid, public, and incontes- 
 tible reasons of policy, which so powerfully urge the ne- 
 cessity of recovering our natural dignity, restored to us by 
 the order of events; and in compliance with the impre- 
 scriptible rights enjoyed by nations, to destroy every pact, 
 agreement, or association, which does not answer the pur- 
 poses for which governments were established ; we be- 
 lieve that we cannot, nor ought not, to preserve the bonds 
 which hitherto kept us united to the Government of 
 Spain ; and that, like all the other nations of the world, 
 we are free, and authorised not to depend on any other 
 authority than our own, and to take amongst the powers 
 of the earth the place of equality which the Supreme Be- 
 ing and Nature assign to us, and to which we are called 
 by the succession of human events, and urged by our own 
 good and utility. 
 
 Notwithstanding we are aware of the difficulties that 
 g g 2 
 
452 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 attend, and the obligations imposed upon us, by the rank 
 we are about to take in the political order of the world ; 
 as well as the powerful influence of forms and habitudes, 
 to which unfortunately we have been accustomed ; we at 
 the same time know, that the shameful submission to 
 them, when we can throw them off, would be still more 
 ignominious for us, and more fatal to our posterity, than 
 our long and painful slavery ; and that it now becomes an 
 indispensable duty to provide for our own preservation, 
 security, and felicity, by essentially varying all the forms 
 of our former constitution. 
 
 In consequence whereof, considering, by the reasons 
 thus alledged, that we have satisfied the respect which we 
 owe to the opinions of the human race, and the dignity 
 of other nations, in the number of whom we are about to 
 enter, and on whose communication and friendship we 
 rely : We, the Representatives of the United Provinces of 
 Venezuela, calling on the SUPREME BEING to witness 
 the justice of our proceedings and the rectitude of our 
 intentions, do implore his divine and celestial help ; and 
 ratifying, at the moment in which we are born to the 
 dignity which his Providence restores to us, the desire we 
 have of living and dying free, and of believing and de- 
 fending the holy Catholic and Apostolic Religion of Jesus 
 Christ. We, therefore, in the name and by the will and 
 authority which we hold from the virtuous People of 
 Venezuela, DO declare solemnly to the world, that its 
 united Provinces are, and ought to be, from this day, by 
 act and right, Freej Sovereign, and Independent States ; 
 and that they are absolved from every submission and 
 dependence on the Throne of Spain, or on those who do, 
 or may call themselves its Agents and Representatives ; 
 and that a free and independent State, thus constituted, 
 has full power to take that form of Government which 
 may be conformable to the general will of the People — 
 to declare war, make peace, form alliances, regulate 
 treaties of commerce, limits, and navigation ; and to do 
 and transact every act, in like manner as other free and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 453 
 
 independent States. And that this, our solemn Declara- 
 tion, may be held valid, firm, and durable, we hereby mu- 
 tually bind each Province to the other, and pledge our 
 lives, fortunes, and the sacred tie of our national honour. 
 Done in the Federal Palace of Caracas ; signed by our 
 hands, sealed with the great Provisional Seal of the Con- 
 federation, and countersigned by the Secretary of Con- 
 gress, this 5th day of July, 1811, the first of our Indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of forty deputies; also a 
 confirmatory decree signed by the President and other 
 principal Ministers of the Republic] 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Correspondence between General Hodgson, Governor 
 of Curacoa, and General Bolivar of Venezuela, respect- 
 ing certain Spanish prisoners, and in which those who 
 have either through ignorance or malevolence charged the 
 Supreme Chief with cruelty, will find a complete and 
 circumstantial refutation of their calumnies. 
 
 Government House, Cura9oa, September 4, 1813. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Having been informed that many European 
 Spaniards, are now confined in the prisons of La Guira 
 and Caracas, in consequence of the part they took in the 
 late unfortunate disturbances of Venezuela, and who pos- 
 sibly may suffer death ; I have the honour to address you 
 on this subject. Although I am perfectly sure, from the 
 well known humanity of your character, that you will 
 take no measure of that kind, nevertheless, as there may 
 be persons vested with the authority, in the above places, 
 who may not be possessed of your generous sentiments, 
 and who may, perhaps, from erroneous principles, recur 
 to acts of cruelty, I esteem it a duty of humanity to inter- 
 cede in their favour, and request you to grant them pass- 
 
 mnnm 
 
454 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ports to leave the province. The brave are always mer- 
 ciful. I am, &c. 
 
 (Signed) J. HODGSON. 
 
 To Don Simon Bolivar, <fcc. <fec. <fcc. 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 Head Quarters, Valencia, October 2, 1813. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to answer your Excellency's 
 letter, of the 4th of September, ultimo, which I have 
 this day received, delayed, without doubt, by causes of 
 which I am ignorant, on its way from your island to La 
 (juira. 
 
 The attention which I ought to pay to a British officer, 
 and to the cause of America, place me under the necessity 
 of manifesting to your Excellency, the unhappy causes 
 of the conduct, which in spite of myself, I observe to the 
 Spaniards, who, within the last year, have wrapt Vene- 
 zuela in ruins, by committing crimes which ought to have 
 been thrown into eternal oblivion, if the necessity of jus- 
 tifying, to the eyes of the world, the death war which we 
 have adopted, did not oblige us to draw them to light, 
 from the scaffolds and horrid dungeons, with which they 
 are covered, and to place them before your Excellency. 
 
 A continent, separated from Spain by immense seas, 
 more populous and richer than her ; subject, for three 
 centuries, to a degrading and tyrannical dependence, 
 hearing, in the year 1810, of the dissolution of the govern- 
 ments of Spain, by the occupancy of the French armies, 
 placed itself in motion, to preserve itself from a similar 
 fate, and to escape the anarchy and confusion which 
 threatened it. Venezuela, the first, institutes a Junta 
 preserving the rights of Ferdinand VII., and in order to 
 wait the decisive issue of the war. It offers to the Spa- 
 niards desirous of emigrating, a fraternal asylum ; it in- 
 vests many of them with the supreme magistracy, and 
 preserves in their offices, all who were placed in those of 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 455 
 
 the greatest influence and importance. Evident proofs of 
 the views of union which animated the people of Vene- 
 zuela : views, to which the Spaniards, deceitfully, cor- 
 responded ; most of whom, abused this public confidence 
 by black perfidy. 
 
 In fact, Venezuela adopted the above measure, impelled 
 by irresistible necessity. Under circumstances less cri- 
 tical, provinces of Spain less important than herself, had 
 erected governing Juntas to save themselves from disorder 
 and tumult. And, was it not equally the duty of Vene- 
 zuela, to provide a shelter from so many calamities, and 
 to secure her existence against the rapid vicissitudes of 
 Europe? Was it not even injurious to the Spaniards of 
 the Peninsula, to remain exposed to the troubles and con- 
 fusion, which were about to succeed to the loss of the 
 acknowledged government ; ought they not even to have 
 been grateful, for our thus obtaining for them a safe asy- 
 lum? Could any one have thought, that a rigorous 
 blockade and cruel hostilities, would have been the returns 
 of so much generosity ? 
 
 Confident, as was Venezuela, that Spain had been com- 
 pletely subjected, and as was also believed in every other 
 part of America, she adopted the above measure ; which 
 even, before, she had a right to have done, authorized by 
 the example of the provinces of the Peninsula, with whom 
 she was declared equal in rights and in political represen- 
 tation. The Regency afterwards was formed in a tumul- 
 tuous manner in Cadiz, the only point where the French 
 eagles had not penetrated ; from whence it fulminated 
 its destructive decrees against a free people, who, without 
 any obligation, had maintained their relations and national 
 integrity, with a nation, of whom they were naturally in- 
 dependent. 
 
 Such was the generous spirit which animated the first 
 revolution of America, one effected without blood, odium, 
 or vengeance. Might not Venezuela, Buenos Ayres, and 
 New Granada, have displayed their just resentments for 
 so much injury and violence, by destroying tho.*e 
 
 S»i^iST' - S X 
 
466 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Viceroys, Governors, and Regents ; all those rulers, exe- 
 cutioners of their own species, who, gratified with the de- 
 struction of the Americans, made the most illustrious and 
 virtuous perish in horrid dungeons ; who spoiled the good 
 man of the fruit of his labour, and in general, persecuted 
 industry, the useful arts, and every thing else, that could 
 alleviate the horrors of our slavery ? 
 
 For three centuries, did America groan under this 
 tyranny, the worst that ever afflicted the human race ; 
 three centuries, did she lament her fatal riches which 
 were so attractive to her oppressors ; and when just Pro- 
 vidence presented her with the unexpected opportunity, 
 of breaking hei chain";, far from thinking of avenging 
 these outrages, she invites even her own enemies, by offer- 
 ing to share with them her gifts and asylum. 
 
 On new beholding almost every region of the new 
 world, busied in a cruel and ruinous war; on seeing dis- 
 cord agitating with its furies, even the inhabitants of the 
 cabin ; sedition fanning the devouring flame of war, even 
 in the remote and solitary villages, and the American 
 fields crimsoned with human blood, it is natural to enquire, 
 the cause of all this strange confusion, in this lately 
 peaceful continent, whose docile and benevolent children, 
 had always been an example of mildness and submission, 
 unknown in the histories of other nations. 
 
 The ferocious Spaniard, cast on the shores of Columbia, 
 to convert the finest portion of the globe, into a vast and 
 odious empire of cruelty and rapine, in him may your 
 Excellency behold the fatal author of all the tragic scenes 
 we have now to deplore. His entry into the new world, 
 was marked with death and desolation ; he caused its 
 primitive inhabitants to disappear from the face of the 
 earth, and when his savage fury found no more beings to 
 destroy, he turned it against his own children, whom he 
 had in the land he had usurped. 
 
 Your Excellency might behold him, thirsting for blood ; 
 contemn things the most holy, and sacrilegiously trample 
 on those engagements wjiich the world venerates, and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 457 
 
 which have received the inviolable sanction of all ages 
 and people. A capitulation, last year, delivered up to 
 the Spaniards, all the independent territory of Venezuela ; 
 and an absolute and tranquil submission on the part of 
 the inhabitants, convinced them of the pacification of the 
 people, and of the total renunciation they had made, of 
 their late political pretensions. But, at the same time, 
 that Monteverde swore to the people of Venezuela, the reli- 
 gious fulfilment of his offered promises, the most barba- 
 rous and impious infraction was seen ; the towns were 
 sacked, buildings were burnt ; the fair sex outraged • 
 nearly the whole inhabitants of cities shut up in caverns s 
 the imprisonment of an entire people, being for the first 
 time then realized. In fact, none but those obscure vic- 
 tims, who could escape from the sight of the tyrant, pre- 
 served their miserable liberty, by hiding themselves in 
 solitary huts, or by living in the woods amidst wild 
 beasts. 
 
 How many respectable old men and venerable clergy 
 were bound in stocks and other infamous fetters, con- 
 founded with criminals, and exposed to the scorn of a 
 brutal soldiery, as well as of the vilest of men ? How 
 many expired, bent down under the weight of insupport- 
 able chains, deprived of air, or starved with hunger or 
 misery ? At the time the Spanish constitution was pub- 
 lishing, as a shield to civil liberty, hundreds of victims 
 were dragged away, loaded with chains, to deadly and 
 loathsome vaults, without any cause being assigned for 
 such proceedings, nay, without even the origin or political 
 opinions of the victims, being known. 
 
 Your Excellency may here see, the not exaggerated, 
 but unheard of picture of Spanish tyranny in America : a 
 picture, which at the same time, excites feelings of indig- 
 nation against these executioners, and of the most just 
 and lively sensibility for the victims. Nevertheless, we 
 did not then see, any feeling souls intercede for suffering 
 humanity, nor claim the compliance of a compact, which 
 interested the whole world. Your Excellency at present 
 
 B£S5bC. >2 
 
458 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 interposes your respectable mediation, for the most fero- 
 cious monsters, the authors of all these evils. Your Ex- 
 cellency may believe me, when the troops of New Gra- 
 nada, under my command, came to avenge nature and 
 society so much outraged, neither the instructions of the 
 beneficent government of that piace, nor my designs, 
 were to exercise the right of reprisal on the Spaniards, 
 who, under the title of insurgents, were carrying all the 
 Americans, worthy of that name, to infamous execution, 
 or to torture still more cruel and infamous. But seeing 
 these tygers sport with our noble clemency, and secure in 
 their impunity, continue, even when conquered, the same 
 sanguinary fierceness, 1 then, in order to fulfil the holy 
 commission confided to my responsibility, and to savethe 
 threatened lives of my fellow-countrymen, made an effort 
 to divest myself of my natural sensibility, and to sacrifice 
 the sentiments of a pernicious clemency, to the safety of 
 my country. 
 
 May your Excellency permit me to recommend to you, 
 the perusal of the letter of the ferocious Zerveris, the idol 
 of the Spaniards in Venezuela, to General Monteverde, 
 contained in the Caracas Gazette, No. 3 : you will there 
 discover, the sanguinary plans which these wicked people 
 intended to effect. Being informed, before hand, of their 
 sacrilegious intentions, which a cruel experience, imme- 
 diately ^ afterwards, confirmed, I resolved to carry on a 
 death war, in order to deprive these tyrants, of the 
 incomparable advantage which their destructive system 
 offered. 
 
 On my army opening the campaign in the province of 
 Varinas, unfortunately, Colonel Antonio Nicolas Briseno, 
 and other officers of distinction, were taken, whom the 
 barbarous and cowardly Tiscar had shot, in the number 
 of sixteen. Similar spectacles, were repeated in Calabozo, 
 Espino, Cumana, and other provinces, accompanied by 
 such circumstances of inhumanity, that I conceive the 
 repetition of such abominable scenes, unworthy of your 
 Excellency and of this letter. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 459 
 
 Your Excellency may see a slight sketch of the fero- 
 cious acts, in which Spanish cruelly satiated itself, in the 
 Caracas Gazette, No. 4. The general massacre rigo- 
 rously committed in the peaceful town of Aragua, by the 
 most brutal of men, the detestable Zuazola, is one of 
 those phrenzied and sanguinary acts of blindness, which 
 have seldom degraded humanity. There were seen, men 
 and women, old and young, with their ears cut off, some 
 skinned alive, and then cast into venomous lakes, or assas- 
 sinated by painful and slow means. Nature, was even 
 attacked in its most innocent origin, and the unborn, were 
 destroyed in the wombs of their mothers, by blows and 
 stabs of the bayonet. 
 
 San Juan de los Moros, an agricultural and innocent 
 town, presented similar spectacles and equally agreeable 
 to the Spaniards, committed by the barbarous Antonan- 
 zas and the sanguinary Boves. Still, are there to be seen, 
 in the fields of that unhappy country, the dead bodies 
 suspended on the trees. The genius of crime, there appears 
 to hold his empire of death, to whom no one could ap- 
 proach, without feeling the furies of his implacable ven- 
 geance. 
 
 But it is not Venezuela, alone, that has been the theatre 
 of these horrid butcheries. The opulent Mexico, Buenos 
 Ayres, and Peru, as well as the unhappy Quito, are 
 scarcely to be compared to any thing else, than to so 
 many vast charnel-houses, where the Spanish government 
 assembles the bones of those, who have fallen under its 
 murdering steel. 
 
 Your Excellency may find in Gazette, No. 2, the 
 basis on which a Spaniard founds the honour of 
 his nation. The letter of Father Vicente Marquetich 
 affirms, that the sword of Regales in the field, and on the 
 scaffold, has immolated 12,000 Americans in one year, 
 and shews, that the glory of the navy officer Rosendo 
 Porlier, consists in his universal system of not giving 
 quarter ; even to the saints, were they to appear before 
 him in the dress of insurgents. 
 
460 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I refrain from shocking the sensibility of your Excel- 
 lency, by prolonging the picture of the enormities which 
 Spanish barbarity has committed against humanity, in 
 order to establish an unjust and shameful dominion over 
 the unoffending Americans. Would to God, that an im- 
 penetrable veil could hide from the knowledge of man, 
 the excesses of his fellow-beings. Oh ! that a cruel neces- 
 sity did not impose upon us, the inviolable duty of exter- 
 minating such treacherous assassins ! 
 
 Let your Excellency place yourself, for a moment, in 
 our situation, and then ask, what kind of conduct ought 
 to be observed towards our oppressors ? Let your Excel- 
 lency then decide, whether the freedom of America, can 
 ever be secured, as long as such obstinate enemies breathe. 
 Fatal experience, daily urges us to the harshest measures ; 
 and even I might add, that humanity itself dictates them. 
 Placed, by my strongest sentiments, under the necessity of 
 being clement with many Spaniards, after having left 
 them amongst us at full liberty, and when their heads 
 were scarcely free from the avenging knife, they have 
 stirred up the unfortunate people, and perhaps, the atro- 
 cities recently committed by them, equal the most horrid 
 of the whole. In the valleys of Tuy andTacats, and in the 
 towns of the West, where one would have thought, that 
 civil war could never have carried its desolating ravages, 
 these wretches have already raised lamentable monuments 
 of their savage cruelly. =& Even women, young children, 
 the aged, have been found skinned, with their eyes and 
 entrails torn out ; nay, one would be induced to think, 
 that the tyrants of America were not of the human 
 species. 
 
 In vain, would you solicit in favour of those who are 
 now detained in our prisons, passports for your island, or 
 
 * These circumstances principally allude to the enormities com- 
 mitted by the armed slaves on their masters, whom till now the civil 
 war had scarcely disturbed. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 4G1 
 
 for any other point out of Venezuela. To the great injury 
 of the public peace, we have already experienced the fatal 
 consequences of this measure ; for we can assert, that 
 almost all who have obtained passports, notwithstanding 
 the oaths by which they were bound, have disembarked on 
 the points in possession of the enemy, in order again to 
 enlist themselves in the parties of assassins, which disturb 
 these defenceless towns. In their very prisons, they are 
 plotting subversive projects, undoubtedly more fatal for 
 themselves, than for a government, obliged to use its efforts, 
 more to repress the fury of the zealous patriots against the 
 seditious who threaten their lives, than to disconcert the 
 black machinations of the former. 
 
 Your Excellency may be able to judge, whether the 
 Americans ought to suffer themselves to be patiently ex- 
 terminated, or whether they are to destroy an iniquitous 
 race, which as long as it breathes is incessantly labouring 
 at our destruction. 
 
 Your Excellency is not mistaken in supposing in me, 
 sentiments of compassion ; the same characterise all my 
 countrymen. We could compassionate the Caffres of 
 Africa; but Spanish tyrants, contrary to the most power- 
 ful sentiments of the heart, impel us to reprisals. Ame- 
 rican justice, will, nevertheless, at all times, know how to 
 distinguish the innocent from the guilty ; and even the 
 latter, shall be treated with all the humanity due to the 
 Spanish nation. 
 
 I have the honour to, &c. 
 (Signed) SIMON BOLIVAR. 
 
 To the Governor of Curayoa, &c. &c. &c. 
 
<1G2 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Act of Installation of the Second Congress of 
 Venezuela. 
 
 In Ihe City of St. Thomas of Angostura on the fifteenth 
 day of the month of February, in the year of our Lord 
 one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, ninth of the 
 independence of Venezuela, at half-past ten iu the morn- 
 ing, were assembled in virtue of a summons of the Su- 
 preme Chief of the Republic, Simon Bolivar, in the 
 Government Palace, for the Installation of the Sovereign 
 National Congress, convoked by the said Supreme Chief 
 on the twenty-second day of October last. 
 
 The Supreme Chief opened the Session with reading 
 a long Speech, the chief object of which was to explain 
 the fundamental principles of the project of a Constitution 
 he presented to the Congress, and to shew that it was the 
 best adapted to our country. He spoke very briefly of 
 his own administration under the most difficult circum- 
 stances, intimating that the Secretaries of State would 
 give an account of their respective departments, and ex- 
 hibit the documents necessary for illustrating the real and 
 actual state of the Republic, and only enlarged when re- 
 commending to the Congress the confirmation of theLiberty , 
 granted to the slaves without any restriction whatever — 
 the Institution of the Order of Liberators — and the Law 
 for the division of the National Property amongst the 
 Defenders of the Country, as the only reward for their 
 heroic services. He likewise charged the Congress in 
 the most particular manner to turn its serious attention to 
 the funding of the National Debt, and providing means 
 for its speedy extinction, as was due in gratitude, justice, 
 and honour. 
 
 On his Speech being ended, he added, " The Congress 
 of Venezuela is installed, — in it from this moment is 
 centered the National Sovereignty ; my sword (grasping 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 46.3 
 
 it) and those of ray illustrious Fellows-in-Arms are ever 
 ready to maintain its august authority. God save the 
 Congress of Venezuela." At this expression, several 
 times repeated by the crowd, a salute of artillery was 
 fired. 
 
 The Supreme Chief then invited the Congress to pro- 
 ceed to the election of an Interim President, that he might 
 deliver up to him his command. The Deputy Francisco 
 Antonio Zea having been elected by acclamation, his 
 Excellency took the oath on the Holy Evangelists, and 
 in which he was followed by all the Members, succes- 
 sively. When his Excellency had taken the oath, he placed 
 the President in the Chair which he had himself occupied 
 under the canopy, and addressing the military, said, 
 " Generals, Chiefs, and Officers, my Fellows-in-Arms, 
 we are nothing more than simple citizens until the Sove- 
 reign Congress condescend to employ us in the classes 
 and ranks agreeable to them ; reckoning on your submis- 
 sion, I am about to give them, in your names and my 
 own, the most manifest proof of our obedience, by deli- 
 vering up the command entrusted to me." On saying 
 which he approached the President of the Congress, and 
 presenting his staff of offiee, continued, "I return to the 
 Republic the General's Staff, entrusted to me — to serve in 
 whatever rank or class the Congress may place me, can- 
 not but be honourable ; — in it I shall give an example of 
 that subordination and blind obedience which ought to 
 characterize every Soldier of the Republic." The Presi- 
 dent, addressing the Congress, said, " The confirmation 
 of all the ranks and offices conferred by his Excellency 
 General Simon Bolivar, during his command, does not 
 appear to admit of any discussion ; I however request the 
 express approval of the Congress for declaring it. Is the 
 Congress of opinion that the ranks and offices conferred 
 by his Excellency General Simon Bolivar, as Supreme 
 Chief of the Republic, be confirmed ?" All the Deputies 
 standing up, answered yes, and the President continued : 
 " The Sovereign Congress of the Republic confirms in the 
 
 r./iv,^w./.-.' 
 
464 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 person of his Excellency the Captain General Simon 
 Bolivar, all the ranks and offices conferred by him during 
 his Government," — and returning him the staff, placed 
 him in the seat on his right. After a silence of some 
 moments, the President spoke as follows : — 
 
 " The artless splendour of the noble act of patriotism, 
 of which General Bolivar has just given so illustrious and 
 memorable an example, stamps on this solemnity a cha- 
 racter of antiquity, and is a presage of the lofty destinies 
 of our country. Neither Rome nor Athens, nor even 
 Sparta, in the purest days of heroism and public virtue, 
 ever presented so sublime and so interesting a scene. The 
 imagination rises in contemplating it, ages and distances 
 disappear, and we think ourselves contemporary with the 
 Aristides, the Phocions, the Camillus', and the Epami- 
 nondas of other days. The same philanthropy and the 
 same liberal sentiments which united to the Republican 
 Chiefs of high antiquity, those beneficent Emperors, Ves- 
 pasian, Titus, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius, who so wor- 
 thily trod the same path, will to-day place amongst them 
 this modest General, and with them he will shine in history, 
 and receive the benedictions of posterity. It is not now 
 that the sublime trait of patriotic virtue, which we have 
 witnessed and admire, can be duly appreciated ; when 
 our Institutions will have had the sanction of time, when 
 every thing weak, and little in our days, when pas- 
 sions, interests, and vanities will have disappeared, and 
 great deeds and great men alone remain, then the abdica- 
 tion of General Bolivar will receive all the justice it so 
 richly merits, and his name will be mentioned with pride ' 
 in Venezuela, and with veneration throughout the universe. 
 Forgetting every thing he has achieved for the establish- 
 ment of our liberties — eight years of affliction and dangers 
 — the sacrifice of his fortune and repose — indescribable 
 fatigues and hardships — exertions of which scarcely a 
 similar example can be quoted from history, that constancy 
 proof against every reverse — that invincible firmness in 
 never despairing of the' salvation of our country, even 
 
*r>PENLMX. 
 
 465 
 
 when he saw her subjugated, and he destitute and alone 
 forgetting, I say, so many claims to immortality, to fix 
 his attention only on what we have seen and admired. If 
 the had renounced the Supreme Authority when it pre- 
 sented nothing but troubles and dangers ; when it brought 
 on his head insults and calumnies, and when it appeared 
 nothing more than an empty name, although it would not 
 have been praise-worthy, it would at least have been 
 prudent ; but to do it at the very moment when the 
 authority begins to enjoy some attractions in the eyes of 
 ambition, and when every thing forebodes a speedy and 
 fortunate issue to our desires, and to do it of himself, 
 from the pure love of liberty, is a deed so heroic, and so 
 splendid, that I doubt whether it ever had an equal, and. 
 despair of its ever being imitated. But what ! shall we 
 allow General Bolivar to rise so much above his fellow- 
 citizens, as to oppress them with his glory, and not at 
 least endeavour to compete with him in noble and patri- 
 otic sentiments, by not •permitting him to quit the pre- 
 cincts of this august assembly without re-investing him 
 with the same authority, which he had relinquished in 
 order to maintain liberty inviolable, but which was in 
 fact the way to risk it ?" " No, no," replied General 
 Bolivar, with energy and animation, " never will I take 
 upon me again an authority which from my heart I have 
 renounced for ever on principle and sentiment." He con- 
 tinued explaining the dangers which Liberty would be 
 exposed to, by continuing for a length of time the same 
 man in possession of the chief authority ; he shewed the 
 necessity of guarding against the views of every ambitious 
 person, and even against his own, as he could not be sure 
 of always acting and thinking in the same way, and 
 finished his speech with protesting in the strongest and 
 most decisive tone, that in no case, and on no considera- 
 tion, would he ever accept an authority which he had so 
 sincerely and so cordially renounced, in order to secure 
 to his country the blessings of Liberty. His reply being 
 ended, he begged permission to retire, to which the 
 
 H H 
 
466 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 President acceded, and appointed a Deputation of ten 
 Members to conduct him. 
 
 A discussion then took place in the Congress about the 
 nomination of an Interim President of the Republic, but 
 several difficulties arisiDg in the election, it was agreed 
 that General Bolivar should exercise that power for 
 twenty-four, or at most for eight and forty hours, and a 
 Deputation, with General Marino at their head, was sent 
 to communicate the resolution. General Bolivar replied 
 that it was only in consideration of the urgency of the 
 case, that he accepted the charge, and on the'' precise 
 condition that it should only be for the time fixed. 
 
 This important business being disposed of, and the day 
 far. advanced, the Sovereign Congress resolved to meet the 
 following morning at half-past nine, and in a body, accom- 
 panied by the Executive Power, the Staff, the Generals, 
 Chiefs and Officers of the Army and Place, to proceed 
 to the Holy Cathedral Church, and return thanks to 
 Almighty God for his mercies in having granted the 
 happy re-assembling of the National Representation, to 
 fix the lot of the Republic by giving it a free Constitution 
 capable of raising her to the height of glory destined for her 
 by nature. 
 
 The President declared the Sitting of the Installation of 
 the Sovereign Congress of Venezuela ended, and the Act 
 should be signed by all the Deputies and the Supreme 
 Chief, who had this day laid down his Authority, and 
 that it be countersigned by the Secretary appointed ad 
 interim for that purpose. 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of twenty-six Deputies, out 
 of thirty of which the Congress ought to consist, also those 
 of the President and Supreme Chief.] 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 467 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Extracts from the justly celebrated Speech of General 
 Bolivar to the Congress of Venezuela, Feb. 19th, 1819. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 I account myself one of the beings most favoured by 
 Providence, in having the honour of re-uniting the Repre- 
 sentatives of Venezuela in this august Congress; the only 
 source of legitimate authority, the deposit of the sovereign 
 will, and the arbiter of the Nation's fate. 
 
 In delivering back to the Representatives of the People 
 the supreme power entrusted to me, I satisfy the desires 
 of my own heart, and calm the wishes of my Fellow- 
 Citizens and of future generations, who hope every thing 
 from your wisdom, rectitude, and prudence. In fulfilling 
 this delightful duty, I free myself from the boundless 
 authority which oppresses me, and also from the 
 unlimited responsibility which weighs on my feeble 
 
 hands. 
 
 An imperative necessity, united to a strongly expressed 
 desire on the partof the People, could have alone induced 
 me to assume the dreadful and dangerous charge of 
 Dictator, Supreme Chief of the Republic. Now, 
 however, I respire in returning the authority, which, 
 with such great risk, difficulty and toil, I have maintained 
 amidst as horrible calamities as ever afflicted a social 
 
 body. 
 
 In the epoch during w T hich I presided over the Republic, 
 it was not merely a political storm that raged, iu a san- 
 guinary war, in a time of popular anarchy,but the tempest 
 of thedesert, a whirlwind of every disorganised element, 
 the bursting of an infernal torrent that overwhelmed the 
 land of Venezuela. A man ! and such a man as I am ! what 
 
 h H 2 
 
 '.•J., 1 ,-J;/ , 
 
4G8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 bounds, what resistance, could he oppose to such furious 
 devastation? Amidst that sea of woes and afflictions, I 
 was nothing more than the miserable sport of the revolution- 
 ary hurricane, driven to and fro like the wild bird of the 
 Ocean. I could do neither good nor evil ; an irresistible 
 power above all human controul directed the march of 
 our fortunes, and for me to pretend to have been the prime 
 mover of the events which have taken place, would be 
 unjust, and would be attaching to myself an importance 
 I do not merit. Do you desire to know the sources from 
 which those occurrences took their rise, and the origin of 
 our present situation ? Consult the annals of Spain, of 
 America, and of Venesuela ; examine the laws of the 
 Indies, the conduct of your ancient Governors, the influ- 
 ence of Religion, and of foreign Dominion ; observe the 
 first Acts of the Republican Government, the ferocity of 
 our enemies, and the national character. I again repeat 
 that I cannot consider myself more than the mere instru- 
 ment of the great causes which have acted on our Country. 
 My life, my conduct, and all my actions, public and 
 private, are however before the people — and, Represen- 
 tatives, it is your duty to judge them. I submit to your 
 impartial decision, the manner in which I have executed 
 my command, and nothing will I add to excuse — I have 
 already said enough as an apology. Should I merit your 
 approbation, I shall have acquired the sublime title of a 
 good Citizen, preferred by me to that of Liberator, 
 bestowed on me by Venezuela ; to that of Pacificator, 
 given by Cundinamarca, and to all others the universe 
 couid confer ! 
 
 Legislators! — I deposit in your hands the Supreme 
 command of Venezuela, and it is now your high duty to 
 consecrate yourselves to the felicity of the Republic; in 
 your hands rest the balance of our destiny, and the means 
 of our glory. — You will confirm the Decrees which esta- 
 blish our Liberty. 
 
 The Supreme Chief of the Republic is, at this moment, 
 nothing more than a simple Citizen, — and such he wishes 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 469 
 
 to remain until his latest hour. He will, however, serve 
 with the armies of Venezuela, as long as an enemy treads 
 her soil. 
 
 The continuation of authority in the same individual, 
 has frequently proved the termination of democratical 
 Governments. Repeated elections are essential in popular 
 systems, for nothing is so dangerous as to suffer power to 
 remain a long time vested in one Citizen ; the People 
 accustomed to obey, and he to command, give rise to 
 usurpation and tyranny. A strict jealousy is the guaran- 
 tee of Republican Liberty ; and the Citizens of Venezuela 
 ought to fear with the greatest justice, that the same 
 Magistrate who has governed them for a length of time 
 may do so for ever. 
 
 Casting a glance on the past, we shall see what is the 
 basis of the Republic of Venezuela. 
 
 The separation of America from the Spanish Monarchy 
 resembles the state of the Roman Empire, when that enor- 
 mous mass fell to pieces in the midst of the ancient world. 
 Every dismemberment then formed an independent nation, 
 conformable to its situation and interests ; but with this 
 difference, that those associations returned to their origi- 
 nal principles. We do not retain vestiges of what we 
 were in other times ; we are not Europeans, we are 
 not Indians, but a middle race betwixt the Aborigines and 
 the Spaniards. Americans by birth, and Europeans in 
 rights, we are placed in the extraordinary predicament of 
 disputing with the natives our privilege of possession, and 
 of maintaining ourselves in the country which gave us birth, 
 against the efforts of the original Invaders — and thus, 
 our situation is the more extraordinary and complicated. 
 
 Our lot, moreover, has ever been purely passive, our po- 
 litical existence has ever been nugatory ; and we, there- 
 fore, encounter greater difficulties in establishing our 
 Liberties, having hitherto been in a lower degree of de- 
 gradation than even servitude, and being not only robbed of 
 our freedom, but not suffering an active and domineering 
 tyranny, which would have excited feelings of indignation. 
 

 
 
 
 470 APPENDIX- 
 
 
 Permit me to explain this paradox : 
 
 in the exercise 
 
 of authorized absolute power, there are no limits ; the 
 will of the Despot is the supreme Law, arbitrarily exe- 
 cuted by inferiors, who participate in the organized 
 oppression, in proportion to the authority they hold, being 
 entrusted with all functions, civil, political, military, and 
 religious. America received all from Spain, was with- 
 out the practice and exercise of an active tyranny, and 
 was not permitted to] share in the administration of her 
 domestic concerns and interior arrangements. 
 
 This abject state of depression rendered it impossible 
 for us to be acquainted with the course of public affairs, 
 and as little did we enjoy the personal consequence 
 and respect, which the shew of authority commands in 
 the eyes of the people, and which is of such importance 
 in great revolutions. I say again, that we were abstracted 
 and absent from the world in every thing having a re- 
 ference to the science of Government. The people of 
 America, bound with the triple yoke of ignorance, 
 tyranny, and vice, could not acquire either knowledge, 
 power, or virtue. 
 
 Pupils of such pernicious masters— the lessons we re- 
 ceived, and the examples we followed — were the most 
 destructive. We were governed more by deceit and 
 treachery, than by force, and were degraded more by 
 vice than superstition. Slavery is the daughter of dark- 
 ness, and an ignorant person is generally the blind in- 
 strument of his own ruin ; ambition and intrigue take 
 advantage of the credulity and inexperience of men 
 totally unacquainted with every principle of political 
 and civil economy ; the uninformed adopt as realities 
 what are mere illusions, they mistake licentiousness 
 for Liberty, treachery for Patriotism, and revenge for 
 J ustice. 
 
 A corrupt People, should it gain its liberty, soon loses 
 it again, for in vain are the lights of experience exercised 
 in shewing that happiness consists in the practice of 
 virtue, and that the Government of Laws is more power- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 471 
 
 ful than that of Tyrants, because they are more inflexible, 
 and all ought to submit to their wholesome severity ; 
 that good morals and not force constitute the pillars of 
 the Law, and that the exercise of Justice is the exercise 
 of Liberty. 
 
 Many ancient and modern nations have shaken off 
 oppression, but few of them have known how to enjoy a 
 few precious moments of freedom ; very soon have they 
 returned to their former political vices, for the People 
 more frequently than the Government bring on tyranny. 
 The habit of submission renders them insensible to the 
 charms of honour and national prosperity, and leads 
 them to regard with insensibility the glory of being free 
 under the protection of laws dictated by their own will. 
 The history of the world proclaims this dreadful truth. 
 
 The Constitution of Venezuela, although founded on 
 the most perfect principles, differed widely from that 
 of America in an essential point, and without doubt the 
 most important. The Congress of Venezuela, like that 
 of America, participates in some of the attributes of 
 the Executive power. But we go further, and subdivide 
 it by committing it to a collective body, and are con- 
 sequently subject to the inconvenience of making the ex- 
 istence of the Government periodical, of suspending and 
 of dissolving it whenever the Members separate. Our tri- 
 umvirate is void, as one may say, of unity, duration, 
 and personal responsibility ; it is at times destitute of 
 action, it is without perpetual life, real uniformity, and 
 immediate responsibility ; and a Government, which does 
 not possess continuance, may be denominated a nullity. 
 Although the powers of the President of the United States 
 are limited by excessive restrictions, he exercises by him- 
 self alone all the functions of authority granted him by 
 the Constitution, and there can be no doubt that his 
 Administration must be more uniform, constant, and truly 
 proper, than that of a power divided amongst various indi- 
 viduals, the composition of which cannot but be monstrous. 
 
 The Judicial power in Venezuela is similar to that ia 
 
 .■>V/v,V,-A/. J 
 
472 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 America, indefinite in duration, temporary and not per- 
 petual, aDd it enjoys all the independence necessary. 
 
 Alt the citizens of Venezuela enjoy by the constitution 
 a political equality ; and if that equality had not been a 
 dogma in Athens, in France, and in America, we ought 
 to confirm the principle, in order to correct the dif- 
 ference which may apparently exist. Legislators ; my 
 opinion is, that the fundamental principle of our system, 
 depends immediately and solely on equality being esta- 
 blished and practised in Venezuela. That men are ali 
 born with equal rights to the benefits of society, has been 
 sanctioned by almost all the sages of every age ; as has 
 also, that all men are not born with equal capacities 
 for the attainment of every rank, as all ought to practise 
 virtue ; and all do not so ; all ought to be brave, and 
 ail are not so ; all ought to possess talents, and all 
 do not so. From this arises the real distinction observed 
 amongst individuals of the most liberally established 
 society. 
 
 If the principle of political equality be generally ac- 
 knowledged, not less so is that of physical and moral 
 inequality. It would be an illusion, an absurdity to 
 suppose the contrary. Nature makes men unequal in 
 genius, temperament, strength, and character. Laws 
 cowect that difference by placing the individual in society, 
 where education, industry, arts, sciences, and virtues, 
 give a fictitious equality, properly called political and 
 social. The union of all classes in one state is eminently 
 beneficial ; and in which diversity is multiplied in pro- 
 portion to the propagation of the species. By it alone 
 has discord been torn up by the roots, and many jea- 
 lousies, follies, and prejudices avoided! 
 
 The most perfect system of government is that which 
 produces the greatest degree of happiness, of social se- 
 curity, and political stability. 
 
 A republican government has been, is, and ought to 
 be that of Venezuela ; its basis ought to be the sove- 
 reignty of the people, the division of power, civil liberty, 
 
Al'I'l'.NIHX. 
 
 173 
 
 the prohibition <>i' slavery, and the abolition of mo- 
 narchy aud privileges. We want equality for recast- 
 ing-, as I may say, men, political opinions, and public 
 customs. Throwing our sight over the vast field we 
 have to examine, let us fix our attention en the dangers 
 we ought to avoid, and let history guide us in our career. 
 
 Passing from ancient to modern times, we find England 
 and France deserving general attention, and giving im- 
 pressive lessons in every species of government. The 
 revolutions in those two great states, like brilliant meteors, 
 have filled the world with so great a profusion of political 
 light, that every thinking being has learned what are the 
 rights and duties of man : in what the excellency of 
 governments consists, and in what their vices : all know 
 how to appreciate the intrinsic value of the theoretical 
 speculations of modern philosophers and legislators. In 
 short, this star in its brilliant course inflamed even the 
 apathetic Spaniards, who also entering the political 
 whirlwind gave ephemeral proofs of liberty, and have 
 shewn their incapacity of living under the mild dominion 
 of the law, by returning after a short blaze to their origi- 
 nal bondage. 
 
 Rome and Great Britain are the nations which have 
 most excelled amongst the ancients and moderns. Both 
 were born to command and be free, and yet neither had 
 constitutions modelled in Liberty's most brilliant form, 
 but solid establishments ; and on that account therefore I 
 recommend to you, Representatives, the study of the Bri- 
 tish constitution, which appears to be the one destined to 
 produce the greatest possible effect on the people adopt- 
 ing it ; but perfect as it may be, I am very far, at the 
 same time, from proposing a servile imitation of it. When 
 1 speak of the British constitution, I refer solely to the 
 democratical part of it ; and in truth it may be denomi- 
 nated, a monarchy in system, in which is acknowledged 
 the sovereignty of the people, the division and equilibrium 
 of power, civil freedom, liberty of conscience, and of the 
 press, and every thing that is sublime in politics. A 
 greater degree of liberty cannot be enjoyed in any kind of 
 
 r.sl'<;y;cJ-./.. •) 
 
474 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 republic, and it may indeed claim a higher rank in social 
 order. I recommend that constitution as the best model 
 to those who aspire to the enjoyments of the rights of man, 
 and of all that political felicity compatible with our frail 
 natures. 
 
 [Here follows the Supreme's opinion of the advan- 
 tages likely to accrue from an hereditary senate, toge- 
 ther with a recommendation of such a body — perhaps the 
 only part of his admirable discourse that will meet objec- 
 tions amongst his republican friends and admirers in Eu- 
 rope. As the General's observations on our constitution, 
 apply to an administration of it, which a very large majo- 
 rity of the nation do not admit to exist, the Editor has 
 also passed them over.] 
 
 Whilst the people of Venezuela exercise the rights they 
 lawfully enjoy — let us moderate the excessive pretensions 
 which an incompetent form of government might suggest 
 — and let us give up that federal system which does not 
 suit us — let us get clear of the triumvirate executive power, 
 and concentrate it in one president, and let us commit to him 
 sufficient authority to enable him to resist the inconveniences 
 arising from our recent situation, from the state of war- 
 fare we have been suffering under, and from the kind of 
 foreign and domestic enemies we had to deal with, and 
 with whom we shall still have to contend for a length of 
 time. Let the legislative power resign the attributes 
 belonging to the executive, and acquire nevertheless fresh 
 consistency, and fresh influence in the equilibrium of 
 authority. Let the courts of justice be reformed by the 
 permanency and independence of the judges, by the es- 
 tablishment of juries, and of civil and criminal codes, not 
 dictated by antiquity nor by conquering kings, but by 
 the voice of nature, by the cry of justice, and by the 
 genius of wisdom ! 
 
 To form a stable government, a national feeling is 
 required, possessing an uniform inclination towards two 
 principal points, regulating public will, and limiting 
 
aim»l:m>!\. 
 
 475 
 
 public authority, the bounds of which are difficult to be 
 assigned, but it may be supposed that the best rule for 
 our direction, is reciprocal restriction and concentration, 
 so that there may be the least friction possible betwixt 
 legitimate will and legitimate power. 
 
 Love of country, laws, and magistrates, ought to be 
 the ruling passion in the breast of every republican. 
 Venezuelans love their country but not its laws, because 
 they are bad, and the source of evil ; and as little could 
 they respect their magistrates, as the old ones were 
 wicked, and the new ones are hardly known in the career 
 they have commenced. If a sacred respect does not exist 
 for country, laws, and constituted authorities, society is 
 a state of confusion, an abyss, and a conflict of man with 
 man, and of body with body. 
 
 To save our incipient republic from such a chaos, all 
 our moral powers will be insufficient, unless we melt the 
 whole people down into one mass; the composition of the 
 government is a whole, the legislation is a whole, and 
 national feeling is a whole. Unity, unity, unity, ought 
 to be our device. 
 
 Popular education ought to be the first care of the 
 Congress's paternal regard. Morals and knowledge are 
 the cardinal points of a republic, and morals and know- 
 ledge are what we most want. 
 
 Let us take from Athens her Areopagus, and the guar- 
 dians of customs and laws ; — let us take from Rome her 
 censors and domestic tribunals, and forming a holy 
 alliance of those moral institutions — let us renew on earth 
 the idea of a people not contented with being free and 
 powerful, but which desires also to be virtuous ! 
 
 Let us take from Sparta her austere establishments, 
 and form from those three springs a reservoir of virtue. 
 
 Let us give our republic a fourth power, with autho- 
 rity to preside over the infancy and hearts of men — 
 public spirit, good habits, and republican morality. Let 
 us constitute this Areopagus to watch over the education 
 of youth and national instruction, to purify whatever 
 
 >V*v,'.vv 
 
•17() 
 
 APl'KNDIX. 
 
 may be corrupt in the republic — to impeach ingratitude, 
 egotism, luke-vvarmness in the country's cause, sloth and 
 idleness, and to pass judgment on the first germs of cor- 
 ruption and pernicious example. 
 
 We should correct manners with moral pain, the same 
 as the law punishes crime with corporal, not only what 
 may offend, but what may ridicule, not only what may 
 assault, but what may weaken, and not only what may 
 violate the constitution, but whatever may infringe on 
 public decency. 
 
 The jurisdiction of this really sacred tribunal ought to 
 be effective in every thing regarding education and in- 
 struction, and only deliberative as to pains and punish- 
 ments ; and thus its annals and records, in which will be 
 inscribed its acts and deliberations, and the moral prin- 
 ciples and actions of citizens, will be the registers of vir- 
 tue and vice. Registers which the people will consult 
 in their elections, the magistrates in their determinations, 
 and the judges in their decisions. Such an institution, 
 however chimerical it may appear, is infinitely easier to 
 realize, than others of less utility to mankind, established 
 by some ancient and modern legislators. 
 
 Meditating on the most efficient mode of regenerating 
 the character and habits, which tyranny and war have 
 given us, I have dared to suggest a moral power, drawn 
 from the remote ages of antiquity, and those obsolete 
 laws, which for some time maintained public virtue 
 amongst the Greeks and Romans, and although it may 
 be considered a mere whim of fancy, it is possible, and 
 I flatter myself, that you will not altogether overlook an 
 idea, which, when meliorated by experience and know- 
 ledge, may prove of the greatest efficacy. 
 
 Terrified at the disunion which has hitherto existed, 
 and must exist amongst us from the subtle spirit charac- 
 terising the federative system, I have been induced to 
 solicit you to adopt the concentration and union of all (he 
 states of Venezuela intoone republic, one, and indivisible. 
 A measure, in my opinion, urgent, vital, and saving, and 
 
\ PPEND1X. 
 
 177 
 
 of such a nature that without it, the fruit of our regene- 
 ration would be destruction. 
 
 I will not notice the most momentous acts of my com- 
 mand, although they concern most of my countrymen, and 
 will call your attention only to the last memorable revolu- 
 tion. Horrid, atrocious, and impious slavery, covered with 
 her sable mantle the land of Venezuela, and our atmosphere 
 lowered with the dark gloomy clouds of the tempest, 
 threatening a fiery deluge. I implored the protection of 
 the God of nature, and at his Almighty word, the storm 
 was dispelled. The day-star of liberty rose, slavery 
 broke her chains, and Venezuela was surrounded with 
 new and grateful sons, who turned the instruments of her 
 thrall and bondage, into arms of freedom. Yes! those 
 who were formerly slaves, are now free ; those who were 
 formerly the enemies of our country, are now its defenders. 
 
 I LEAVE TO YOUR SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY THE REFORM 
 OR REPEAL OF ALL MY ORDINANCES, STATUTES, AND 
 DECREES ; BUT I IMPLORE YOU TO CONFIRM THE COM- 
 PLETE EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES, AS I WOULD BEG 
 MY LIFE, OR THE SALVATION OF THE REPUBLIC ! ! ! 
 
 To exhibit the military history of Venezuela, would 
 be to bring to our recollection the history of republican 
 heroism amongst the ancients ; it would shew that Vene- 
 zuela had made as brilliant sacrifices on the sacred altar 
 of liberty. The noble hearts of our generous warriors, 
 have been filled with those sublime and honourable feel- 
 ings which have ever been attributed to the benefactors 
 of the human race. 
 
 Men who have given up all the benefits and advan- 
 tages they formerly enjoyed as a proof of their virtue 
 and disinterestedness — men who have undergone every 
 thing horrible in a most inhuman war, suffering the most 
 painful privations, the cruellest anguish — men so deserv- 
 ing of their country, merit the attention of government, 
 and I have therefore given directions to recompense them 
 out of the national property. 
 
 Since the second epoch of the republic, our armies 
 
 ■^.T'.-.p- ,•••/'•.,' , •; 
 
478 
 
 AI'PKNDIK. 
 
 wanted the necessaries of war ; they were constantly 
 void of arms and ammunition, and were at all times badly 
 equipped ; but at present the brave defenders of inde- 
 pendence are not only armed with justice, but with 
 power, and our troops may rank with the choicest in 
 Europe, now that they possess equal means of destruction. 
 
 For these important advantages, we are indebted to 
 the unbounded liberality of some generous foreigners, 
 who, hearing the groans of suffering humanity, and see- 
 ing the cause of freedom, leason, and justice, ready to 
 sink, could not remain quiet, but flew to our succour with 
 their munificent aid and protection, and furnished the 
 republic with every thing needful to cause the triumph of 
 their philanthropical principles. Those friends of mankind 
 are the guardian geniuses of America, and to them we 
 owe a debt of eternal gratitude, as well as a religious 
 fulfilment of the several obligations contracted with them. 
 The national debt, Legislators, is the deposit of the good 
 faith, the honour, and the gratitude of Venezuela : respect 
 it as the holy ark which encloses not only the rights of 
 our benefactors, but the glory of our fidelity. Let us 
 perish rather than fail, in any the smallest point, in the 
 completion of those engagements, which have been the 
 salvation of our country, and of the iives of her sons. 
 
 The union of New Grenada, and Venezuela, in one 
 great state, has uniformly been the ardent wish of the 
 people and governments of these republics. The fortune 
 of war has effected this junction, so much desired by 
 every American, and in fact we are incorporated. These 
 sister-nations have entrusted to you their interests, rights, 
 and destinies. In contemplating the union of this im- 
 mense district, my mind rises with delight to the stu- 
 pendous height necessary for viewing properly so won- 
 derful a picture. 
 
 Legislators ! — Condescend to receive with indulgence 
 the declaration of my political creed ; the highest wishes 
 of my heart and earnest petition, which in the name 
 of the people, I have dared to address you. 
 
Al'l'KNDlX. 
 
 179 
 
 Vouchsafe to grant to Venezuela a government purely 
 popular, purely just, and purely moral, which will enchain 
 oppression, anarchy, and crime. A government which 
 will cause innocency, philanthropy, and peace to reign. 
 A government which, under the dominion of inexorable 
 laws, will cause equality and liberty to triumph ! ! ! 
 
 Gentlemen ! — Commence your duties, I have finished 
 mine. 
 
 God save the Congress ! 
 
 the end. 
 
 W. Shaokell, Printtr, 
 
 Johiuon'j-oouft, 
 Meet-street, London. 
 
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