Class _. Book_ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/visittocolombiai01duan A VISIT TO COLOMBIA, ii BY LAGUAYRA AND CARACAS, OVER THE CORDILLERA TO BOGOTA, AND THENCE BY THE MAGDALENA TO CARTAGENA. BY COL. WM. DUANE, OF PHILADA. '^ PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED BY THOMAS H. PALMER, FOR THE AUTHOR. 1826. Eastehn District of Pennsylvania, to wit : BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the 5th day of June, in the fiftieth yea? of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1826, William Dtjane, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit : "A Visit to Colombia, in the Years 1822 and 1823, by Laguayra and Caracas, over the Cordillera to Bogota, and thence by the Magdalena to Cartagena. By Col. Wm, Duane, of Philada." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing- the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." And also to the act entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled, ' An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the Eastern District of PennsylvaniQ, ^' m^ U^'f PREFACE. THE Visit to the Colombian Republic was made on behalf of persons in the United States, having claims against the govern- ment, of which other agents had not procured the liquidation. It was supposed that I should be more likely to accomplish that ob- ject, and the business required that the first steps should be at Ca- racas. I proceeded thither, and thence across the Cordillera to Bo- gota, where I accomplished the settlement to a considerable amount. The parties in seeking to outwit each other embarrassed themselves; they however at length received the amount settled by mC' — but contrived to cheat me out of my commissions. The fact would not be noticed, were it not possible, that an entire silence tnight be con- strued into acquiescence in a transaction of transcendant knavery, meanness, and ingratitude. Thirty years ago I became acquainted with some inen of virtue and intellect, who Avere preparing the way for that revolution in South America, which is now realized. Those intimacies had, by exciting my sympathy, led me to bestow more earnest attention on the history, geography, and the eventual destiny of those countries. I perceived the commercial and political importance of those rich regions to the United States — countries possessing every thing that nature had bestowed on the other parts of the globe, and much more which none else possessed. A new creation springing out of chaos ; inviting the republic, which had only a few years preceded, to com- municate its institutions, exchange its useful products, anc| promote a family of republics, whose institutions must eventually regenerate humanity. A free press enabled me to communicate my anticipations and conceptions, which I continued to make known, even though laughed at — and by persons too who are now as zealous friends^ as they were IV PHEFACE. before sceptical, hostile, and — worse. The generous love of liberty in a free nation, however, triumphed over insidious and open enmity to the new republics, and procured for my essays and my opinions a more rational reception ; the government of Colombia thought my efforts worthy of a vote of thanks ; and the kindness and hospitality which I experienced in a long journey of thirteen hundred miles, afforded me ample vengeance for the sneers of those who have now become the admirers of a revolution, which they before reviled or deprecated. No labour has been attempted in this work ; a mere conversational narrative, such as I should give to a circle of private friends, is all that I pretend to. I had proposed to comprise my volume within five hundred pages, but it has swelled to a hundred and twenty more ; and I find I have not said one half of what my opportunities and materials would enable me to say — on the internal state of the country — its commerce, domestic and foreign — its constitution — laws and policy — its statesmen and its parties — finances— public economy — colonization— arts. I meant to have said something abouv the Amphyctions of Panama, with the origin of which I was ac- quainted before any other person now living in the United States — and I proposed to bestow a chapter on the grand work of the strait of Panama^ to effect which I have made proposals to the Colombian government (sustained by capitalists) — and which, if accomplished, as I know it is practicable, would render the communication between the two oceans as free and more secure than the passage of the straits of Sunda or Gibraltar. When this sheet was going to the press, advices have been receiv- ed of a gust of civil war, at Valencia, in which the reputation of a hero of the revolution is involved. The occurrence is to be lament- ed, though the consequences carry nothing serious to the republic. The cause of this rumor may be found in the federative spirit — the spirit of party— and the blind passions of personal envy and personal disappointment, incident to all revolutions, and which are possibly necessary to complete the career of the revolution, and es- tablish the power of the laws, where the passions only had prevailed for so many ages. Circumstances dependant not on myself, will determine whether I shall publish any more on the subject. CONTENTS. PREFACE Page 3 CHAPTER I. Voyage to Laguayra ••••« • ••• • 9 CHAPTER n. Residence in Laguayra and incidents there ••••••••••••••••••••« 24 CHAPTER m. Further anecdotes, and departure for Caracas ...••....•.•••«••••»•••••• 37 CHAPTER IV. Caracas — first impressions — manners — oriental style of building* •••• • 52 CHAPTER V. Plaza Mayor — market — college — library— ecclesiastical affairs • ••••••••••• 69 CHAPTER Vr. Religious processions — visit to the country — military parades 87 CHAPTER VH. Bolivar's birth-day — musical party — a coifee plantation • •••«••••*• 101 CHAPTER Vni. Departure, preparations for — hints to travellers • 114 CHAPTER IX. Cross the Guayra — cavalcade — the route to San Pedro — San Mateo • 128 CHAPTER X, Sugar-mill at the Hacienda of the President Bolivar — pass of La Cabrera — Paez • 143 CHAPTER Xr. Lake of Valencia — strategy at Naguanagua ....•••• •••».•.•••••• 160 VI . CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIT. Grenadiers of Colombia — Senator Penalver— barbarity of Boves»»» Page 177 CHAPTER XHI. Carabobo — Captain Spence and Morales ••....«••• t. ■••■•■••« 190 CHAPTER XIV. San Carlos— El Altar—buttress tree 204 CHAPTER XV. Barquisimeto — Alcalde — dismal plain — Tucuyo 218 CHAPTER XVI. Humacaro Baxo — knavish Alcalde — wild country. •••. 236 CHAPTER XVn. Obispos — Carache — Santa Ana — treaties there •• ....•• 249 CHAPTER XVIII. Truxillo — Gen.Clemente — soldier's widow — Mendoza — Christmas day. • « . • 262 CHAPTER XIX. Motatan river — Timothes — curate — tournament — Erica — the Virgin of Chin- chinquira • • 280 CHAPTER XX. Hospitality at Muchachees — Merida— Gov. Paredes — Sierra Nevada* •«••• 294 CHAPTER XXI. Esido — I.agunillas — Natron Lake — turbulent Chama* »•••... 307 CHAPTER XXII. Bayladoves — agriculture — Col. Gomez — Gritja — ruse de guerre — Post-house atElCobre 320 CHAPTER XXIII. Army magazines — Challomar — a bivac — Gen. Urdaneta — Capacho — Cucuta 335 CHAPTER XXIV. Fandango — Saltikal post-house — Indian rancho, happy condition— Pamplona 351 CHAPTER XXIV. Military depot — arsenal — military drills — training horses — Volcan de Agua — good Franciscan 3J'2 CHAPTER XXV. Goitre — Capitanejo — bridge — videttes — Suata — Senora Calderon — Sativa 384 CONTENTS. VH CHAPTER XXVI. Boyacca — traditions — Serinza — a French traveller* ••• Page 399 CHAPTER XXVH. Santa Rosa — beautiful town and plain — hospitality — handsome population — Paypa — los diablos. azulos •• ••....•..••.••.••.«•••#•♦. 415 CHAPTER XXVHI. Peeling winds — sublime wilds — Virgin of Chinchinquira, becomes a patriot — bull teazing •• • 428 CHAPTER XXIX. Pra. Garcia — Tunja — Senor Soto — education* •••• 442 CHAPTER XXX. Suesca — Hacienda — plain of Bogota — approach to the city — Plaza Mayor* * • 455 CHAPTER XXXI. Cathedral — palace — market — Calle Real — artisans •••• **• 471 CHAPTER XXXII. Cataract Taquendaraa — Suacha — Franciscan monastery* ••***••****• 490 CHAPTER XXXIII. Geographic sketch — political distribution of the Republic*** •*•*•*..*... 501 CHAPTER XXXIV. Congress of 1823 — state of the Republic, foreign relations'* **• 513 CHAPTER XXXV. Affairs of interior ******* •••*... 526 CHAPTER XXXVI. Financial Report— Report of the War Department— Naval Report 546 CHAPTER XXXVII. Leave Bogota — Quindiu, Guaduas, Honda — hints to travellers* ***** 569 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Rapids — passage of the Magdalena — Mompox ***... 586 CHAPTER XXXIX. Leave Mompox — TenerifFe — anecdotes— Barranca Nueva — the digue — Tur- bajo — Cartagena * ** gQo APPENDIX.— No. I. Fundamental law of Angostura, 1819 623 No. n. Fundamental law of Cucuta, 1821 625 No, in. Itineraries*** ••*•*•*•*••*«••*••»*»»••» *»*••*• 627 THE PLATES. The Pass of Cabrera, to face the title. The Fall of Taquendama, to face Chap. XXXII. A VISIT TO COLOMBIA. CHAPTER I. Embarcation, and reception on board. — A sister of Bolivar occupies same cabin. The mess a variety of cheei'ful and agreeable company. — Pass Sandy Hook, 3d Oct. — ^joined by the Vincador, our consort — make sail S. E. — character and force of both ships, — The horse latitudes — conjectures concerning. — Ship put in fighting trim. — Anecdote of Sefiora Bolivar. — See Sombrero 14th, afternoon — passed close to Orchilla — glimpse of Cape Codera. — Coast as approached Caravallada — historical anecdote of its spirited population. — Foundation of Laguayra. — The Sierra Avilla seen, and the Silla— aspect of the mountains in front. — Palm trees at Maquiteia — and town. — Casemates of Laguayra con- stantly beaten by the surf — prison and grave of patriots. — Anchor on 1 8th with fourteen fathoms cable out — salute, and salute returned. — The U. S. corvette Cyane, CSpt. Spence — his manly conduct — land the 18th.— A harbour easily formed here secure against all storms. — Find acquaintances unexpectedly. — Kindness of American consul, and Commodore Daniels — introduced to Com- mandant — quarters. — Oriental style of building and living. — Politeness of a friend. — Baggage not examined. — Mode of carrying ashore — paying porters. The Colombian Government, through their agent, Com- modore Daniels, had purchased the beautiful corvette Her- cules, built by Mr. Eckford of New York, in the fall of 1822 : the Commodore, understanding I was about to visit Colombia, with his accustomed generosity, offered me a pas- sage, which was extended with the same kindness to my daughter Elizabeth, and stepson Lieut. R. Bache, of the U. S. Artillery. We were at New York in time, and embarked at noon on the second of October, 1822 ; and the same evening anchored within Sandy Hook. 2 10 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, • The experience and kindness of the commodore had anti«. cipated every thing that could render our passage and ac- commodations pleasant* The state cabin had been appro- priated to Stnora Antonia Bf>livar and her daughter Jose- phine ; the otht r two births, one to Elizabeth, and one to myself. Young Pablo, the son of Stnora Antonia, and Lieut. Bache, were lodged in the two births next contigu- ous. The state cabin was also the mess room, and besides the Commodore and those above mentioned, the mess con- sisted of Captain Austin, who navigated on the part of the owners ; the ship's husband ; and such of the officers and passengers on board, in rotation, as the space would con- veniently admit. We had a great variety of characters, and (what does not always happen on board crowded ships) there was not a single squabble nor dispute during the voyage ; good humor, and an unstudied disposition to afford every ser- vice that could be agreeable, rendered the passage rather a party of pleasure on a river than a voyage at sea in a ship of war. Capt. Austin, who was to deliver the ship at Laguayra, united the literary character with the seaman, and left no- thing on his part undone to contribute to the general comfort and pleasure. The officers who occasionally dined with us gave a diversity to our company, and there appeared to be no sort of contention but who should be most obliging and atten- tive. Our fare, to the hour we landed, was in every respect equal to what we should expect at the best hotel in New York ; and the wines were equally excellent and abundant. The first dawn of the 3d of October found us under top- sails outside Sandy Hook, of which we very soon lost sight. About 11 o'clock descried a sail, which proved to be the Vincador, Colombian sloop of war, Capt. Shannon, who had been cruizing for us several days. After the usual commu- nications between the ships, made sail our course to the S. E. till otherwise ordered. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 11 The corvette being to be delivered only at Laguayra, car- ried the stripes and stars. The Vincador, the colors of Co- lombia. The Hercules, which after her transfer took the name of Bolivar, carried twenty five 32 pounders, such as are usually carried by U. S. corvettes ; besides two brass 24 pound cannon on her forecastle. Her crew consisted of 220 prime seamen, principally of the crew lately discharged from the U. S. frigate Macedonian. The Vincador carried fourteen guns, and her ordinary complement of 150 seamen, besides the like number of vo- lunteers intended for other ships of the Colombian navy. On board both ships there were several experienced naval officers extra, destined for the same service ; arnong whom were Lieut. Christie, formerly of the U. S. navy, Mr. Mur- ray, formerly of the British navy, Capts. Clerke, Swaine, &c; men experienced in naval and military service ; besides a number of tyros, candidates for appointments in the naval service. The weather was fair and winds propitious ; nor had we a rough sea or foul weather during the passage, excepting the cobbling, sea and hazy atmosphere in what the sailors denominate the horse latitudes. It would seem that this agitation of the sea and clouded atmosphere are produced by the encounter of adverse cur- rents. The waters of the great current of the Orinoco, which is the grand feeder of the Gulf stream, do not all flow to the westward, and between Cape Catoche and Cape An- tonio ; much of those waters arc thrown to the N. E. and pass through the channels of the Windward Islands and the Antilles ; and I suspect that the warmth which is perceptible in those currents, brought from the regions beneath the equa- tor, meeting at those latitudes the currents from the N. W., which bring them within the cold temperature of the north, produce at once this short and broken sea, and the vapour which for two days excluded the cheering rays of the sun. IS VISIT TO COLOMBIA. The sailors assign as the origin of the name horse latitudes, that it has been given by those who, in supplying horses to the West India islands, here often encountering a more than usually rough sea, are compelled for safety to throw their cargoes overboard. I am not aware that this is the same maritime position to vyhich the Spaniards give the name of El Mare de los Mulas. This bickering of the waves, which appeared trifling to persons accustomed to the sea, was considered very rough weather by those whose first voyage it was. Our course was not materially interrupted, and the third day restored us to sunshine, and our dining table to a horizontal position, and the gallant ship again floated majestically on an even keel eight and ten knots an hour. Indeed, the passage resem- bled more the even movement of a steamboat on a spacious river, than that of a ship of war on the broad and often bois- terous Atlantic. Our consort never parted company, reporting alongside at sunrise and sunset, and sometimes exchanging visits; which to some of the passengers was very satisfactory, under the apprehension that we might be overhauled by Spanish ships of war ; an apprehension totally unfounded, as there was no ship then in those seas of sufficient force to encounter us; and if there were, independent of the importance of our con- sort, our ship was completely equipped, and was soon after putting to sea prepared for such a contingency : our flag, it was reasonable to think, would have prevented a conflict ; but if the worst should occur, we had a heavy broadside, an expe- rienced and intrepid ship's company, and about a dozen gal- lant ofl&cers on board, each competent to command, and who had seen some rough service and given some hard knocks. The sailors disliking nothing so much as lounging in their hammocks, or on the spars, or the forecastle, and besides it being good for their health, the fine weather was used to put the ship in fighting trim. The routine of discipline, which VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 13 is that of the U. S. navy, in the distribution of duties and the assignment of stations, was soon accomplished, and every gun had its captain, gunner, and assistants. Gangs of board- ers were organized, and helmets, hangers, pikes, axes, and hand grenades distributed. The idlers (that is, all on board who are not of the ship's complement) were organized as marines, furnished with rifles, and assigned to the poop, forecastle, and tops; and the spirit-stirring drum beat all hands to quarters. In an instant every thing was in a bustle, cours'es hauled up, matches lighted, water tubs placed, and every gun manned. The silence was as emphatic and im- pressive as the momentary agitation. The word Jire / was echoed by the roar of the guns ; and succeeded by the same impressive silence. The guns being scaled and reloaded, the sham-fight closed with a real frolic, — abundance of grog for the ship's company. To those who are unaccustomed to the " note of prepara- tion" for military action, this mere semblance could not but be impressive. In the course of the preparation Senora Antonia requested the commodore to inform her where she was to take her station in case of an action ? The commodore, with per- fect presence of mind, assured her. that she had not been ne- glected ; that no station on board in time of action was more important than the charge of the magazine, which was never entrusted but to the most worthy and confidential ; that this charge would be committed to herself, and Miss Josephine and Miss Elizabeth should be her assistants. She appeared for an instant satisfied, but the commodore adding ; that the ma- gazine was below the range of shot, and therefore perfectly out of danger, the countenance of the good lady, before per- fectly composed, appeared to be lighted up by indignation, and her eye sparkling, she exclaimed — " JVo ! no^ Senor Commodore ! no quiero ! — mi nombre es Bolivar, y 7ni lugar es en frente del peligro.''^ No ! no, Mr. Commodore, this 1* VISIT TO COLOMBIA, must not be ; my name is Bolivar, and when there is danger my station is in front. It was the emotion of a moment ; the expression was ani- mated, and the effect electrical ; it was not until the commo- dore assured her of a station near himself on the quarter deck, in case of any adventure, that she was reconciled. To me the incident was the more remarkable, because when the sea chanced to be agitated in the horse latitudes at night, or the ship leaned with a stiff breeze, her hours were devoted to unceasing prayer ; the holy rosary was repeated; and the responses .by her amiable daughter, as long as tlie ship was any way disturbed in its motion. On the evening of the 14th of October the island of Som- brero was distinctly marked on our starboard bow ; and wp changed our course to the westward. On the morning of the 15th Saba rose ahead, apparently about the size and shape of an inverted teacup ; by one o'clock it was largely defined to the S. S. E. about ten miles, and as we passed at ten knots an hour, under our upper sails, the figure constant- ly changed. About five o'clock St. Christophers and Ne- vis were in sight, and, in the dim distance, St. Eustatia with its double summit S. W. The whole groupe of islands in that direction, bore the appearance of headlands to a conti- nuous continent, and as if stretching from S. E, to N, W. This navigation is so well known, that nothing novel could be said about it; what has been said is intended ra- ther to show the good judgment by which the track was cho- sen, the facility of the passage, and the short time in which it was performed. Our course lay by the northward of the celebrated leHge, at the extremity of which is Bird-island ; and then parallel with its west side, our course nearly south. On the 16th we heard the surges beat against the steep ° solitary rock of Orchilla, distant about three miles on our larboard ; the boisterous surf seemed to rage in eternal anger at its base. At half past four we had the first glimpse of VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 15 terra firma on our larboard bow. The atmosphere was loaded with a sleepy vapor, which appeared like a curtain hung hori- zontally about one hundred feet above our topmast heads ; the space beneath dimly but distinctly lighted, so that we could discern Cape Codera as if growing out of the sea as we approached land ; after some time it presented its rounded summit and bteep north tace to the ocean; and on the south side inclined gradually to the margin of the shore, where the view was- concealed by clouds of vapor of different light and shade. The lake of Ticaragua lies to the eastward of Cape Codera a few leagues, it is an oval bason of twenty by fifteen miles, lormtrly open to the sea like the Cinegas of Maracaibo and La Hacha, but now only accessible in small boats. This Cinega receives the waters of many valleys, and particularly those of the Tuy and Caracas. The evapora- tion Ironi these waters 1 presume intercepted the view, and gave the position an appearance of an inland gulph or the mouth of a vast river. A little farther west lies the dark base of the Sierra, which seems placed like a barrier against the ocean, which perpetu- ally beats like a battering ram against its feet, and retiring only to return again with never exhausted force. The coast from Cape Codera to Laguayra, about eighty miles apart, has an ample curve, more apparently regular than real ; nor do the mountains rise so abruptly and precipitous within the Cape, as nearer to and^ in front of Laguayra. The coast is rugged and rocky, westward of the Cape ; farther west there is some space between the sea and many recesses in the line of mountains, upon which scenes of a highly picturesque char- acter are open to the sea : many small plantations covered with verdure, and trees too minute to tell their character or class ; rocky cliffs again appear ; and not less than seventeen small rivers issue from the Sierra, some of which carry boats two or three miles inland through those narrow valleys, that seem crevices in the mountain, and along the margin of lb VISIT TO COLOMBIA. which are fine fields of sugar cane and cacao plantations ; near Caravellada, the position at first selected for a port on this coast, cultivation is more extensive, and the coast is composed of detached hills which bear their verdure to their summits. De Pons has given a concise account of the cause of its abandonment, which becomes of more interest from the events that have since taken place, than when he narrated it, as it corroborates the declarations of intelligent men, that notwith- standing the iron despotism of the Spanish government, and the more galling tyranny of its deputies, there was alivays in S. America a latent spirit which required only a spark to kindle it into a general blaze. Caravellada was established by Losada in 1568, and had a cabildo or corporation : the members of cabildos throughout America were elected by the people. In 1586, Roxas the governor undertook to di- vest the people of the right of election, and appointed alcaldes himself, ordering the four regidors to be arrested. The peo- ple assembled and came to an unanimous resolution to aban- don the place, and they fulfilled their engagement, retiring to Caracas, Valentia, and other places. The affair being ■made known in Spain, the regidors were released, and the inhabitants invited to return ; they never returned ; but some of them selecting. the position of Laguayra, it be- came the port of 'entry and clearance for Caracas, and has continued to be. The places of note west of Laguayra are Catia, Arrecifes, La Cruz, Coroni, »Ocumare bay, Turia- mo, Barbaruta, and Porto Cabello. The veil which appeared suspended above us, now seemed to rise and expose the summit of the first ranges of the Sierra, holding vast fleeces of snow-white clouds behind them, and concealing ranges in yet greater elevation and remote succes- sion, which Soon appeared in more distinctness, but still clad with clouds in the utmost distance. The line of the Sierra Avilla, which is the mountain that separates Caracas from the coast, was now clearly defined, but the Silla, like a coy VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 17 damsel of the region, still retired her head, scarcely con- cealed by a gauzy veil, the skirt of which flared in the air to the south-west. A brighter light above, and the shadows of the mountain upon the glassy waters followed, and pre- sented a most sublime spectacle — still further adorned by the lofty Silla, which had now cast its veil of clouds away, and exposed its double summit to the admiring visitor. Along the mountain foot a white vanishing line appeared— it was the beating surf, not yet to be distinguished by the car. No level space for human foot was visible between the steep declivity and unceasing surge. Drawing still nearer, the eye is engaged by a brighter steady white line on the sea verge ; and behind, the appearance of a longer, higher range, of less distinctness — it is the long rampart that marks the port and the town of Laguayra, which seems stuck up against the face of the steep. Attracted to the right, a small promontory thrust into the sea, appears covered with Palmyra palms, which half conceal houses in the rear, on higher ground. It is Maquiteia, a handsome village about half a mile west of Laguayra. Before the eye is satisfied in con- templating this refreshing tropical picture, the objects appear more distinct and enlarged ; but the face of the mountain between Maquiteia and Laguayra displays a dreary and deso- late aspect, of dusky and grey shades ; projecting rocks and broken red and yellow soil, sterile and destitute of verdure, as if the ocean had been pelting at it for ages, and left it alike bare of fruits and of vegetation. There are however, scat- tered on distant spots, three or four species of Cactus, im» perceptible in the distance ; and some Agaves or American Aloes, have seized upon some " coigns of vantage," and with giant arms hold places in their native soil. The whole line of coast from Cape Codera is now dis- played, and west of Maquiteia, about three miles, stands Cape Blanco, but with less altitude than made it formerly remarkable : it was sometimes spoken of as the west horn 3 18 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. of a bay, of which Codera was the east ; but without any other than a remote similitude. The Silla is now also more distinct, and the form of its summit, which has been named from a distant resemblance to a saddle, here gives its shape distinctly ; the eastern sum- mit being the highest, is said to resemble the fore part or pommel of a saddle, and the western or lowest summit com- pared to the cantle or hind part of the seat. The shore is no longer still nor silent, the roar of the beating surf is un- ceasing ; and there appears a space between the surge and the mountain which presents a picture as minute, busy, and agitated as an anthill whose inmates are disturbed. Men and mules are the actors in this busy scene ; a spacious causeway, the product of very great and judiciously applied labour, leads from the postern or Caracas gate to Maquiteia, and is also the high road to Caracas, As seen from the dis- tance, it appears no broader than a ribbon, though it is, in many places, 60 and 100 feet broad, and is constructed about ten feet above the ordinary water line. As the sun gained the south-west, the shadows of the Sierra slanted along the coast to the eastward, and left the horizon bright and clear, and, about two o'clock of the ISth, we came to anchor with 14 fathoms of cable out, in a posi- tion about equidistant from Laguayra and Maquiteia, and a mile from the shore. The three fortifications behind the town, the works in front, and the village of Palms on our right, were now perfectly distinct, and proportionably inte- resting. The warmth of the glowing sun, the bright at- mosphere, and the grove of palms, gave to me an Ori- ental resemblance ; and all appeared to more advantage, except the battered aspect of the Sierra, on nearer approach. The recess, or scooped out space of the mountain, in the rear of the town, eastward, seemed more depressed, than when seen from the distance, and the principal fortress on the shoulder of the mountain had the appearance of a regu ■ VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 19 kr work. I did not attempt to visit either, the ascent ap- pearing to me rather difficult for goats. They appear less perpendicular on shore ; but, for military purposes, their shot would not reach the anchorage, and could therefore be of no use, unless to batter an enemy in possession of the town, in the rear. The fortification on the margin of the sea, in front of the town, appears to have been originally a palanka thrown up to mask the main street, with which it runs parallel: the ram- part now is a well constructed curtain of masonry, without bastions, but it has a curved outward segment of a circle, of which the diameter may be seventy yards, and the radius six or eight feet ; not sufficient to enfilade either flank with ef- fect. It is casemated, the masonry arched and bomb proof; the surf eternally beats its foundation and dashes the spray over the rampart, which is without embrasures. The case- mates beneath, as may be presumed, are for ever dripping. It was in these horrible casemates, the gallant patriots of the revolution were incarcerated, while the Spaniards held the place ; and it was also the prison, often the grave, of men of virtue, before the revolution. Melancholy, however just, has been the retaliation ; had the deputy tyrants, who gave the example, been themselves the objects of retribution, hu- manity would have no cause to lament them ; but experience appears not to have had any effect upon the Spanish chiefs ; who, persuaded and careful that retaliation should not reach themselves, from the precautions always made to insure their own escape, felt no concern nor sympathy for their country- men, involved in the consequences of their barbarity. There were but a few guns mounted ; a considerable num- ber had been transferred upon other service. The work it- self appears to more advantage on inspection, though the only skill manifest is the workmanship of the masonry and the casemates. I had assimilated the appearance of Funchal in Madeira from its road with that of Laguayra, by which many 20 VISIT TO COLOMBIA* years apfo I had been deceived in the external appearance ; but as Fuiichal proved to be very much worse on shore than it promised at the distance, I found myself, by the false aS" sociation, again deceived ; for Laguayra proved to be much better within than it appeared from without. But 1 am rambling into a description of what is on shore before I have yet landed. Upon coming to anchor the two ships saluted, and were answered from the citadel. The rmmtrous bhips in the road hoisted their colours, and in the van we recognized with particular satisfaction the U. S» Corvette Cyane, captain Robert Spence, who while we were at Caracas did so much honour to his flag, his counrry, and himself, by his prompt, manly, eloquent, and effective repulse of the outrageous menaces put forth in a proclama- tion, by the Spanish general Morales; menaces which he dared not to realize thereafter. The hour of our arrival, and the bustle incident to entering port from the sea, rendered it prudent tor the ladies to defer going on shore that evening ; but on the 19th in the morning betimes the custom- nouse barge was along-side, and Seno- ra Bolivar and her family were conveyed on shore, and the other cabin passengers, whom she invited, accompanied her. The landing at Laguayra has been held forth as unusually dangerous. Those who have had occasion to land at St» Helena or at Madras, would consider it as a matter of very little difficulty at the worst, and we landed without any in- convenience whatever. The mode of landing from boats in common, is upon a stairs, attached to the side of a long wharfj which is projected on piles 160 or 170 feet into the sea : the boatmen are skilful, they place the boat in such a position as to swing with the rising swell to the side of the stairs, and the passenger seizes the instant before the surf recedes to jump or step on shore. Some accidents have occurred, but more through inexperience in the boatmen, or want of self- posses - sion in the passenger, than any other cause. We landed in VISIT TO COLOMBIA. SI a manner such as I had seen practised in Sandy Cove, St. Helena, by the boats of some American whalers, one of a company who made a party of pleasure round that island in 1795, where I was detained three months. Upon approach- ing the beach, the boat was rowed in, stern foremost, so as that the coming surge should carry her in full swing upon the strand. It was executed with skill ; the moment the boat touched ground the rowers cast their oars into the re- tiring surf, and held the boat to prevent her floating off. Before the surge could return, each boatman took a lady upon his arm, as a nurse would take a child, and placed her safe above the water line ; the returning surge brought back the oars, and the boat floated off" with the retiring wave. The time surely cannot be remote when the citizens and proprietors of Caracas and its rich neighbourhood will per- ceive how much they are interested in forming a commodi- ous and secure harbour at Laguayra. Nature, which has prepared so nmch in the rough for man to finish, has provi- ded already one spacious mole in the little promontory of Maquiteia ; the materials for another are on the spot ; and a port capj'ble of protecting a thousand sail of the line from the worst storms of the Caribbean sea, may be formed at a less expense of money than such a work could be executed so near a great city in any part of the globe. Having landed, we had the gratification to find, very unex- pectedly, several acquaintances and friends waiting to greet us, some of them from Caracas, fifteen miles distant. The respectable consul of the United States, R. K. Lowry, among the rest ; he had already fixed it, that Elizabeth should, during her stay, reside with her townswoman, Mrs. Lowry, at Maquiteia, and such arrangements had been made for all our accommodation as left us nothing to wish for. Commodore Daniels, untired by the civilities rendered us on board, received us at the water-gate, and conducted lis to the quarters of the commandant, to whom he intro- SiS VISIT to COLOMBIA. duced us, and by whom we were received with soldierly courtesy. Colonel — — appeared to be about twenty. eight years of age, tall, slender, and perfectly military in his costume and demeanor ; he is One of the numerous youths who have been born at the right time to distinguish them- selves, under the eye of Bolivar, in the battles and triumphs of independence. This class of men, created by the revolu- tion, are by a sagacious policy placed in stations of confi- dence and honour, where the habits of military yigilance, or- der, and punctuality are acquired, and which will prepare habile men for the public service, to supply the places of the defenders of liberty, which the order of nature will ere long vacate among their seniors in the revolution. The quarters of the commandant are spacious ; they oc- cupy the north-west angle of the line of defence, and are covered below by a breast- work of good masonry with em- brasures, which covers the postern gate and causeway on the west, and the landing on the north or sea front. A pas- sage of fourteen or fifteen feet forms a sort of covert way, and separates the rampart from the house, which is of stone, and two stories high, the lower of which is masked by the breast- works ; these are the offices for domestic uses, storage, &c. The upper story is the residence, to which the ascent is by a double flight of spacious stairs at the west end, which terminate in an ample saloon, covering the west front and open upon the sea to the north ; the apartments, which are lofty, are entered from the saloon, and lie in the direction east and west — a verandah, or open gallery, fronting on the sea. The style of building, the pavements, the high fold- ing doors, the broad staircase, and the elevation of the apart- ments, with the naked timbers of the structure, brought to my mind the strong resemblances of what I had seen many years before in different parts of Asia. After paying our respects, and partaking of the good Cata- lonian wine of the commandant, and the excellent sweetn^eats VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 23 of his good lady, we retired to meet with fresh evidences of the hospitahty we were to receive without anticipating them. A friend had sent from Caracas, a well-trained grey mule, tastefully caparisoned with a handsome side saddle, which was to be for the use of my daughter during her stay at Ca- racas ; and upon this she made her first equestrian essay, by galloping off with a gay young party to Maquiteia, where she was received by her friend Mrs. Lowry. I had felt some disquiet for Elizabeth, looking to the long journey of thirteen hundred miles, which she was to perform on the backs of mules only; but this first essay satisfied me, and the event justified the conclusion, for she made the j-ourney with much less fatigue than I did. While we were paying our respects to the commandant, our baggage had, through the care of our worthy consul, been transferred to the custom-house, where, as a testimony of respect, it was exempted from the usual search, and de- posited in the stores of the consul. The manner of landing the baggage reminded me of the same kind of transaction at the ghauts of Pondicherry and Calcutta. Upon the ap- proach of the baggage boat to the landing place, a crowd of men and boys, of every shade of complexion and apparel, rushed forward in a tumult, and each seizing the article nearest hand, bore it away, until there was no more to carry, and deposited them at the custom-house ; where those that underwent examination were removed as the owner direct- ed. The mode of payment was in the same oriental style. The consul, who undertook to do for us as his experience and our want of it induced him, having provided himself with a sufficient sum in the macutina, or silver currency, of the country, commenced with calling to him the porters who had brought the largest loads, and, in succession, handed each according to service a real, a media, or quartilla ; the real is our disme or eighth of a dollar, the media is the half of a real, and the quartilla, a fourth of the real. I shall take some further notice of this currency in another place. M CHAPTER II. Delay at Laguayra agreeable. — Mules here perform the services of horses^ carts, coaches, and wagons in other countries. — Enter the town by a short steep street to the main street — described — stores and other buildings Asiatic style — ruins from Earthquake, 1812 — Military works — accommodation at Ho- tels — expenses — better than in any public houses in the interior — absence of musquitoes and flies — mixture of ancient and modern furniture — absence of ■wheel carriages — the want of roads — a carriage road and rail road proposed through the valley of Tipe. — Rail roads unsuitable to a large country. — Carts introduced at Petare. — Houses of stone unaffected by Earthquake. — Public fountains abundant — good water. — Humboldt exaggerates — not im- moderately warm in October — more dependence on thermometers than is justifiable, — Madras, Calcutta, and Batavia, extremely hot compared with Laguayra — prevalence of diseases also exaggerated — no marshes nor marine vegetables contiguous. — Incident at Barbaruta. — Rival towns calumniate each other. — The effect of Spanish policy. — A wliole country prospers by the prosperity of any of its parts. — Hints to visiters of the tropical regions. — Dif- ferent views of the great mortality in the Earthquake. — Appearance of the military — anecdote of two sentinels — soldiers compared with the sepahis of In- ■dia. — Laguayra may be ma,de a spacious and safe harbour — the interests of Caracas and proprietors to establish such a harbour. Though the voyage was but a party of pleasure, the novelty of the new country and manners, but, above all, the Ivuidness of old and new friends, rendered the delay of one or two days agreeable ; which we must wait for the return of mules from Caracas, as is customary, on stated days. This invaluable animal performs all the services, which, in other countries, employ wagons, carts, coaches, postchaises, and even wheelbarrows, as well as those of horses for business or pleasure. Our shipmates too did not wish to separate with- out the participation of a cheerful dinner and a parting glass. I had therefore an opportunity to see the interior, as I had already seen the exterior of Laguayra. There are three gates of entrance to the town : that at the east of the works is seldom opened but for public uses, and VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S5 is not a thoroughfare. The principal entrance for strangers coming from sea, and for baggage and merchandize, is the water-gate. This gate has in front, upon the margin of the sea, a broad and spacious platform of stone masonry ; and the wharf, erected upon piles, extending into the surf, more than 160 feet in length. A short street or lane leads up from the water-gate towards the main street ; the custom- house is at the right side of the entrance, and a sort of picket guard occupies the left ; above, on the right, opens the pas- sage to the commandant's quarters ; and at the head of this short street commences the main street, which leads ofF to the eastward about half a mile. The continuation of the short entering street is about 30 feet broad, but is prolong- ing up the ascent, only reduced to about 15 or 16 feet, all admirably well paved. The houses on the main street, on the right side, and in front of the entrance, are principally occupied by merchants's stores, and have the exact appear- ance of the Godowjis or stores in the Asiatic cities; long and spacious, admitting light only through the folding doors in front, and of one story ; though there are many houses in this range of two, and very good of their style of struc- ture. There is a slight descent to the eastward in this part of the street, and the line is not direct, nor the breadth equal, it being in some places only twenty feet broad, towards the east end broader. The left side of the street, at the point of entrance, is also occupied by stores and dwelling houses, but the Hne is very much broken by ruins, which remain since the earthquake of 1812; in several the rubbish is thrown into the space between the remaining walls ; but the streets are all cleared. On the outer side, bounding on the sea, is the line of de- fence, a broad platform of good workmanship, separated from the houses by a parapet. The breast work in front is with- out embrasures, and extends more than a quarter of a mile, 4 4b VISIT TO COLOMBIA. the space between the line of the street being gradually more open, and leaving a convenient space for a parade, between the casemates and the rear of the habitations. Nothing need be added of description to what has been already noted of this work. The garrison was but slender, and barely suffi- cient to supply sentinels for the chief entrances, for the works, and for purposes of police ; a few guns remain on the platform, in rather an unsightly state, at least to those who are accustomed to the discipline and order of well re- gulated garrisons. What I have said of the stores, applies to the general style of building, narrow streets, paved porches or entrances, paved patios, or open squares within the gates, corridores on all sides of those squares : broad stairs of coarse masonry, of double flights, with a landing : high and long halls, and narrow and retired sleeping apartments, rude and cumbrous furni- ture, and naked walls, with tiled floors : — -these points of oriental similitude are common, and applicable to all the places I have passed through ; and it is curious matter of fact, in elu- cidation of the influence of habits, and the spirit of imitation, that these forms should remain for so many centuries little altered from their Asiatic prototypes in Spain, which hold the same unaltered characteristics to this day. I may have occasion to notice the style of building more particularly in another chapter. The stranger who lands here is very fortunate, though he may not think so, when he enters one of the hotels at Laguayra, for in fact there is no other equal to them, in the whole line of the journey. There are two, one kept by a Frenchman, at whose table I partook of a well provided entertainment. He was not a novice in any part of his business, and his native talent had been much improved, by a residence in the British islands of the West Indies. The company was about thirty, and the table was covered with an abundance of excellent provisions, well cooked and displayed, and more than sufficient for double the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 27 company ; the free circulation of the bottle, in the British West India fashion, was already before the dessert ; but the dessert was excellent, and the coffee introduced in the French mode was perfect. The expences are not so high as in the West Indies ; but as there is no tariff of prices, the eye and opinion of the fi- nancier, regulates the charges according to the apparent newness of the traveller, his real, or presumed opulence ; but, above all, by that principle of the economists, that demand governs price ; so that if there are few ships and few stran- gers, the price is reduced to the demand ; but if there be many strangers prices rise. A stranger may, so far as the table is concerned, fare very well ; but he who has not made up his mind to dispense with a pallet and fresh sheets, after leaving Laguayra, must re- solve to do so or go no farther ; for he will find no ac- commodations in a public house of entertainment equal to it, in the long range of near 2000 miles, which I visited. Comforts of this kind are to be found only in private dwel- lings. The climate is however an excuse for indifference ; the air is light, the respiration free, and favourable to plea- sant repose. I have heard there were musquitoes at La- guayra, but I declare that there, or in the whole rout of 1200 miles to Bogota, I saw no musquitoes, nor was I plagued with the common fly which annoy us during the summer season in northern climates. I found musquitoes abundant on the Magdalena, and flies for the first time at Carthagena. Neither is the furniture of any kind so good in the interi- or as at Laguayra, where contiguity to the sea has admitted articles not to be found in the interior, because neither will the roads admit, nor the mules be able to carry articles of bulk, or unusual weight. A bureau or a sideboard, a hand- some sofa, or a piano forte, must therefore be transported on the heads and shoulders of men. Some articles of this de- scription have therefore remained, because the expence might 28 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. be greater than the sacrifice. Mercantile men, therefore, should not send articles which are not transportable by mules, but in such boxes or packages as that two shall not exceed 250 pounds weight, which may be carried to Caracas for two dollars, more or less, as the circumstances determine. But these articles of modern taste do not appear to advantage ; an elegant sofa alongside a coarse plank table, the finest im- plement which had passed over it was the saw or the jack ; a mahogany toilette table and swinging glass with a joint- stool, the seat of which is higher than the table, are ill-assorted; and the best chair to be found any where is that which is called the Windsor chair, put out of good company among us for twenty years, and very scarce in any part of South America till the revolution of 1810 opened the market. The absence of wheel-carriages produces at first a sense of deficiency without perceiving in what ; but roads must precede carriages, and I have repeatedly met on my route handsome pieces of artillery lying in a ditch, where they had been dragged by infinite labour, and could not be carried upon wheels farther. A road was many years ago proposed to be carried from Caracas to Laguayra through the Quebra- da or chasm of Tipe, a small distance west of Maquiteia, which would admit of a fine wagon and coach road with a very slight inclination ; some part of it was begun, but it re- mains incomplete. A recent proposition has been made to es- tablish a rail road there, a mode of transport adapted only to short distances, and in the midst of a dense population and the arts ; not at all adapted to the position ; but where wagons and carts of an improved and suitable form would be infi- nitely beneficial ; and these have become, and must every day become more necessary in proportion with the inevita- ble augmentation of production and commerce. Mr. Alder- son, who resides at Petare, seven miles east from Caracas, has introduced some excellent carts made for the purpose in Philadelphia, and has employed them on his own plantation VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 29 and business, but it will be some time before he will have imitators, such is the force of inveterate habits ; until neces- sity or some rival impulse overcomes them. Near the east end of Laguayra the main street opens into ah ampler breadth, and presents a portly church, remarkable for nothing in its architecture, but that, though much more ele- vated in its structure than any other building, it appears to have remained uninjured by the earthquake of 1812. The public fountains, such as are to be found in all the principal cities and towns, flow with abundance of limpid water, so conducive to cleanliness and health, and which many of the principal cities, such as Caracas, San Carlos, Truxillo, Merida, and Bogota appear to have been provi- dent in securing at the founding of those places, whose streets are constantly cleaned and refreshed by living streams flowing through the channels of their pavements. The celebrated Humboldt has contributed so much more than any other traveller to make the curious familiar with the southern parts of the new world, that it would appear ungen- erous and hazardous to dispute any observations he has made. But, under a persuasion that he would not be him- self displeased to see his ideas canvassed or his theories dis- puted with freedom and good will, I shall not hesitate to express my own opinions, though they may not concur with his. From what he has said of the temperature of Laguay- ra, compared with my own observations there and in other parts of the world to which he has referred, I apprehend he must have landed at Laguayra under circumstances unfa- vourable to an accurate judgment. His stay in Laguayra did not amount to more than three or four hours, for he landed on the 21st of November, in the evening, (Person. Nar. vol. IIL p. 381,) and was at Caracas the same day. He was indeed informed by some persons there that the yellow-fever had only ceased a few weeks ; and advised not to stay, by some one who stayed himself. His account, or ^0 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. his theory of the heat at that place, are therefore not the re- sult of his own observations or sensations, but formed upon the records of thermometrical observations of others. It may be a sort of philosophical heresy to entertain but little dependance on thermometrical data ; though they may serve for approximations to general inferences, the inequality and disagreement between instruments made and graduated in different countries, and between those made by the same artist, is such as to justify this incredulity. I have com- pared twenty different instruments of the same maker, in or» der to serve a friend who wished for the most perfect instru- , ments, and am justified in the conclusion I make from that experience as well as from residence in some of the warmest climates of the globe. We landed at Laguayra the 19th of October, and if there could be any material difference in the temperature in the period of one month, it must in the or- dinary course be warmer in October than in November. WcTemained there three days, and in that time I have pre- ferred walking, at all hours, to riding, and have felt not so much inconvenience in going on foot from Laguayra along the paved causeway in front of the arid sierra to Maquiteia, than I have experienced in a like distance in Philadelphia in June or July. A parasol might be acceptable, but I felt no inconvenience without one. At Madras, or Calcutta, or from the pier of Batavia, a walk of that distance might be fatal. I could not but recollect Batavia as I walked along the mar- gin of the sea, but Laguayra is a paradise compared either with Madras or Batavia. No white man ventures to walk in the mid-day in the Asiatic cities mentioned without a chattah, or umbrella, carried by a servant whose business it is. Besides this experience, the circumstances which are the usually ascribed causes of diseases on the coast, do not exist at Laguayra. There are neither marshes, stagnant waters, nor mangrovcsji to produce, by vegetation and decomposi- VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 31 tion, that foul or mephitic air, which is found productive of disease elsewhere : east and west of Laguayra there is a long naked strand perpetually cleansed and refreshed by the busy action of the surf. There is a strong corroboration of the generally attributed cause of disease in the case of some changes which took place at Barbaruta, a town of some note near Puerto Cabello. This place had been frequently swept of its population by disease. The contiguous shore is co- vered with marine vegetable productions, a considerable space, where this mephitic air was generated, was covered with a great portion of excavated soil, which was placed there merely to be thrown away. The neighbourhood of this spot became salubrious ; while the adjacent shore, co- vered with marine vegetation, retained its usual noxious atmosphere ; which resembles that at Porto Bello and other places on the coast. The jealousy of commerce and avarice, which is not con- fined to those countries, must have had strong incentives under such a monopoly as that exercised by Spain in the countries bowed down by her intolerable policy. If any excuse could be allowed for this selfish spirit any where, it is where commerce was circumscribed, and its business a succession of scrambling, intrigue, and corruption. The idea could not enter into the conceptions of a people so cir- cumstanced, that the spirit of a monopoly is a self destroying spirit, or that the extension and augmentation of commerce is beyond the power of calculation to fix or measure ; and that the prosperity of several parts of a country must, by the effect of example, consumption, reciprocal aid, and in- tercommunity of exchange, extend, progressively, prosperity over the whole. The colonists, under Spain, maintained an hostility of provinces and of towns — the government policy fomented this division ; and one town defamed the men of another, and carried the defamation to nature itself. Thus all were held forth as execrable, because each was believed. 82 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. Thus Laguayra, under the influence of Caracas, was held forth to be a much worse climate than Puerto Cabello ; and the latter, under the influence of Valencia, was misrepresented at Laguayra in turn. This spirit has not yet ceased ; the yel- low-fever has been reported to prevail by one and the other for the mere purpose of diverting consignments from their rival, when, in fact, the disease did not exist in either place. Travellers who have not visited the tropical regions will, however, be alarmed by such considerate friends as Hum- boldt took his report from, and caution will be requisite as to the regularity of the bodily habit, and abstinence from heating drinks, or more than sufficient food ; a secretion of bile more than common takes place in warm climates, accompanied by head ache, which gentle purgatives dissipate generally, but an emetic effectually removes ; and frequent bathing, particu- larly the tepid bath, is delightful and conducive to health. My observations in Laguayra, and subsequently at Cara- cas and elsewhere, have induced opinions differing from Humboldt and others, on the great mortality which took place at the earthquake of 1812. I do not question the data as to the numbers, nor is it so important to the views I take, and which 1 shall only glance at here, and dis- cuss more at Caracas. The impression on my mind is that more injury was produced by the materials of which the houses are generally built, than could have happened had the houses been constructed of stone. No house of stone has been disturbed at Laguayra. The late respectable consul of the United States, R. K. Lowry, lived there at the time. The house he resided in was constructed of stone ; an addi- tion had been made to the stone building, in what is called pita^ that is ordinary earth beaten to hardness with ram- mers. The additional and fragile part was crumbled to dust by the agitation of the earth ; the stone building remained, and himself in it, in entire safety. This subject shall be no- ticed again. VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 33 The appearance of the two or three officers, whom I saw at Laguayra, answered my expectations ; they appeared to feel and think like soldiers : my first impressions of the rank and file were not so satisfactory. I had arrived too sudden- ly, and was called upon by the moment's view to form an opinion, which I found upon closer observation and reflex- ion erroneous ; an incident of a moment had perhaps super- seded my common mode of forming an opinion, by ta- king the con after I had given the pro. Passing through the postern gate on my walk to Maquiteia, I was accosted by both the centinels in the same cadence : " Will the excellent Se- fior have the bounty to bestow una realV^ There was none of the insolence of mendicity in the supplication ; but an air of confident persuasion, which seemed to say they were not ashamed to ask, but that it would be a shame for the Sen or to deny so small a bounty as una real, I could not but smile at the novelty of the occurrence, and a train of ideas rushed upon me which brought before my mind's eye a brigade of Rohillas and Patans, men of the same mixed variety of com- plexions, six feet high, and on whom the tailor and the mili- tary equipment- maker had bestowed all that neatness and el- egance would require to set off arms and accoutrements, which the daily inspection established in the most perfect or- der ; I began — or rather rapidly went on to compare the sturdy, chubby, broad shouldered, muscular, oval faced, bare footed veterans of Colombia, who stood before me ; in their platilla pantaloons and jackets, of which the quality could be only inferred through the stains of bivouacs, or the soiling of their only bed beside the earth, the cow-hide upon which they are used to slumber when they have it, and then it is luxury; the collars, cuffs, skirt facings of yellow, blue, or red, the ab- sence of many buttons without leave ; their leather caps, and close cropped, lank, black hair ; their shirt collars open, which had been probably washed at some distant time ; but the whole apparel soiled ; firelocks and belts that may have had some de- U% VISIT TO COLOMBIA, termined colour, presented such a contrast with the Bengal Se- pahis, " in my mind's eye," that out of mere liberality I call- ed in a brigade of Madras Sepahis, men of their own stature, and took recruits to reconcile the disparity ; I was just dis- covering that these soldiers of five feet six inches had, in the Mysore campaigns, borne the marches in the ghauts with less fatigue, and greater alacrity, than those long legged Hindus- tanees, whose heads were so much in the clouds that they disdained to look down on those sturdy soldiers ; a gentle touch on the arm, and a soft aspiration of Senor ! — put the Sepahis to flight— and I began to remonstrate, that it was unworthy of soldiers to solicit — and talked of their dig- nity, and what was due to themselves — one of them, perhaps seeing my hand glide unconsciously to my pocket, asked, in a tone perfectly soft and conciliatory, though bearing a sort of rebuke — " Is it worth the while of the worthy Seiior to hesitate about una real^ with soldiers who have fought the battles of Colombia, and who have received no pay for six months, because the public treasure has been exhausted in the expulsion of the Godas ?" It was the logic of nature^ — and a professor of rhetoric would have made but a poor hand of it, if he attempted to do it better. Whether it was my obvious embarrassment, or my attempt to explain in rather imperfect Castilian, that produced a smile, I shall not pretend to decide, but, as I drew my hand from my pocket, they handled their arms and very gravely resumed their posts, and we parted with a bet- ter opinion of each other I am sure ; for, as I went along, I reviewed my first impressions, and perceiving that I had not taken proper ground in judging by the first appearances, I brought up my sepahis again for another contrast, and, travelling back to their first history, I found them to be not the defenders, but the hired enslavers of their country ; far- ther, that it was only the difference between seven and eight rupees that carried them from beneath the French standard. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 35 to fight under the British, that they are never vi^ithout the amplest accommodations, clothing, subsistence, quarters, and pay ; that when they march beyond certain bounds their pay is augmented ; and that vast bazars of subsistence, am- ple transportation, accompany them in all their marches, and that a suspension of pay for three months, would, perhaps, dissolve the British dominion. This was my renewed view of my six feet Rohillas and Patans, as well as my sturdy Tiling-hees and soldiers of the Carnatic. But looking once more at those oval, cheerful, contented, chubby faces, and the fine symmetry of those forms which their worn and tarnished uniforms did not at all conceal, I tra- velled back with them also, only twelve years, when called from the pluntations of cacao or maize, to the fortress and the plain, where to them a flash of gunpowder was as terrific as thunder ; see them scarcely trained, without experienced men to train them, formed into battalions, performing marches such as reduce those of Hannibal and Alexander to the common class of military achievements ; see them opposed to the ve- terans of Spain, who had but recently fought against the first soldiers of the age, the legions of France ; and behold them amidst privations and wants, without shoes, clothing, or pay, traversing the uninhabited plains, and the more dismal and dreary summits of the snow clad Ghisga, encountering and conquering those veterans of Spain,- in successive pitched battles ; not with the distant cannonade of artillery, nor the protracted details of a subtle strategy, but like those of Ma- rathon and those of Zama, hand to hand, in close energetic conflict : armies at no one point, at any period, exceeding four or five thousand men ; and, at the same time, defending and vanquishing, at greater distances from their base of ope- rations than Paris is from Moscow. It was these men, and such men as these, created by liberty and the revolution, who were menaced — and the menaces realized vvherever it «ould be accomphshed upon the unfortunate captives— who 36 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. were menaced with extermination— and who, after sustaining a conflict of twelve years, have vanquished, destroyed, or expelled 43,000 veterans of Spain, who had threatened to exterminate them. I gave up the sepahis, the enslavers of their country, and reconciled myself to the soldiers of liberty, whose valour and whose blood gave independence to that world Columbus had discovered. At Valencia I was gratified to find, in the grenadiers of Columbia, men, in every per- sonal respect, equal to the finest sepahis of India. In thus rendering justice to myself, by correcting an er- roneous and hasty judgment, I was led to ask if I had not sinned in the same way in speaking of Laguayra ; perhaps it was only the censure of a passing thought, on seeing the port of entry of the beautiful city and rich country of Cara- cas, without a safe harbour ; which, at an expense compara- tively inconsequent, and by labour, and with materials, per- fectly at their command, might be accomplished with more ease and eiFect than in any part of the earth, near so important a city. But it did not consist with the policy of Spain to expend riches on merely commercial improvements. Car- thagena, and Puerto Cabello, and Puerto Bello, and St. Juan d'Uloa, were but as the gates of a prison by which mo- nopoly was to be sustained through force and terror. It could not be expected then that the republic, not yet re- leased from Spanish inroads, for Morales was then maraud- ing on the borders, and menacing Truxillo and Merida, and plundering the country near Timothes — for we afterwards passed within two miles of the Spanish outposts near Gritja i it could not be expected, after twelve years of a desolating war, that such an object could yet be proposed or accom- plished. But, if the proprietors of estates in the contiguous neighbourhood were to inquire into the effect of such a harbour, as would defend ships against the worst storms of the Caribbean sea, it would be found to be their best inte- terest, as it would treble the value of their estates, the de- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 37 mand for their productions, and multiply their commerce tenfold. CHAPTER III. The causeway leading to Maquiteia— a redan or outpost arid barrack halfway— the east side of Maquiteia forms a cove, adapted to form the west jetee of an artificial harbour. — Plan of the village — the scite delightful. — Adventure of an evening at Maquiteia — musical performance on the lyre of the country — novelty of the dancing — civility of the people — a good ear and grace in dancing, uni- formly found among all classes — a refresco of fruit presented by these hospit- able paisanas — they refuse compensation — delighted with the music. — Cape Blanco — effects of the earthquake of 1812 — the notion of a bay formed by Capes Codera and Blanco fanciful. — Mules arrive from Caracas — Consul antici- pates and provides an arriero — hints to travellers concerning mules, muleteers, and alcaldes-^j&aften«'a por force — for a long journey preferable to purchase jprime riding mules — it saves money and time. — Prepare for departure — take leave of Commandant — innocent manners — fix rendezvous at Maquiteia. — De- parture — the zigzag road of Avila — compared with that to Honda by Hum- boldt — a different comparison. — Ascend the Torrequemada — to the Salto — the Venta Grande — meet Senora Bolivar and friends there — dilemma as to accom- modation — relieved by a joke. — Coffee plantation on the Sierra — coffee tree described, and husbandry of — fortlet of Cuchilla, reflection produced by it- descend by las Vueltas. — The Silla unveiled. — Caracas seen — the first impres- sions — fountain on the road. — Enter the barrier of Pastora — ruin and desolation all round — street of Carabobo — rendezvous at Senora Antonia's — interesting spectacle — Elizabeth remains. — We accept invitation of Dp. Forsyth — meet Colonel Todd. The causeway which leads from the west end of Laguayra to the village of Maquiteia, I compute to be rather more than half a mile : it is a spacious platform, formed upon a compact and well constructed wall, facing the sea to the north, and skirting the steep Sierra on the south side. It is about forty feet broad ; and I must apprize the reader that I have not measured any thing, because I could not accomplish it perfectly, through the breaking of some instruments which 38 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. I carried with me. All the measures I shall mention, unless reference be specially made, must be considered as impres- sions on my judgment, from the habit of estimating eleva- tion and space by the eye. The causeway yvinds but very little, but it expands over a more ample space as Maquiteia is approached : the road to Caracas lying in a west direc- tion above the south end of Maquiteia, the main street of the village is open to that road, and runs north and south, about sixty feet broad, to the point of a promontory on which it stands, in north and south length perhaps half a mile, of which not a third is occupied by the village, and on the up- per or southern end, which is more than seventy feet higher than the sea, and fifty-six feet higher than the main street of Laguayra. About half way from Laguayra, a ravine in the Sierra sup- plies ^ rivulet which crosses the causeway beneath a well built single arch ; and the ground being more elevated here than at any other point between the two places, a picket or outpost was established formerly. The breastwork of the redan, and the platform, all of good stone masonry, remain, though now mutilated ; and excellent quarters erected for the troops still remained. The line of the strand curves off as Maquiteia is ap- proached, and the cove forms a segment of a circle ; if a bold pier were run out in a line to the north-west from the east ex- tremit}'- of Laguayra, this promontory would form a beautiful flank to a harbour. The ground plan of Maquiteia is an in- clined plane from south to north, where its rocky extremity is beaten by the surf. The upper or southern end of Ma- quiteia is seventy-six feet above the ocean ; the main street of Laguayra about fifteen feet. The scite is delightful, and the laying out of a street so spacious and commodious is ascribed to Mr. Lowry, the American consul, who then resided there. Several houses in the style of the country, and well constructed, roomy, and commodious, are erected On that street ; and the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 39 place promises to be as prosperous as it is delightful. The stranger is surprized to find this village, so well adapted for a town, overlooked by those sturdy men who abandoned Ca- ravellada to defeat a tyrant. Several smaller streets are laid out crossing the main street ; but the village is most populous on the side of the road lead- ing to Caracas, at the upper end. The causeway is a de- lightful morning and evening promenade, and the space be- ing more open and more detached from the foot of the moun- tain than Laguayra, it has become a place of evening retire- ment after the business of the day, and, on account of its charming atmosphere, a place of delicious repose. On one of the delightful evenings spent at the American consul's, our seats were in the open air in front of the dwell- ing, and as the visitors drew off by degrees in order to enter the town before the gates were closed ; and as others retired to rest, lieutenant Bache and myself continued to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the night. Music of a very spright- ly kind attracted our attention, and it became more interesting in its successive changes ; we moved in the direction from whence it appeared to proceed, without any other purpose than to hear more distinctly ; it came from a small house beneath the Palmyra palm trees, on the main street, which, as we pass- ed, we were invited to enter with great civility, and seats were handed to us. The house was occupied by several females, and children of both sexes; one of the young women resumed her lyre as soon as we were seated, and renewed her interest- ing performance. The instrument was of the form, but one- third less than the Irish harp, formed of a light wood, resem- bling red cedar, but closer grained. After some time the younger people stood up to dance, and we were no less, amused by the ease and deportment of the dancers than by the novelty of its style ; it was a sort of pantomimic dance, not in active springs, or figures, or cuts with the feet, but a well cadenced pursuit and retreat. Other dances were per- 40 VISIT TO COLOMBIA^ formed by young girls and boys, all in adnriirable time« The young person who had first performed handed the lyre to another, who commenced with equal execution. These were short cantas, and, as usual, patriotic songs, in which Bolivar was not overlooked. The young womanj who had retired, now entered, with some others, carrying excellent and fresh fruit, as she said />or refresco : sweet bananas, delicious oranges, and several kinds of fruit with which we were not yet acquainted, but of which we partook, as they were with unaffected civility handed round. The dance was renewed, and the first female resumed her lyre, and new airs and new dances so won upon our time, that it was early before we could overcome our wishes to stay and see it out. We rose and tendered compensation for our entertainment ; but it was modestly refused, and we were informed that the pleasure we manifested to have received from their humble music was an ample compensa- tion. ■" \: ■■ ,'• ■• Whatever may be the superiority of science, over these harmonists of nature, I confess my gratification was as full and delightful, as any I ever experienced from the best com- bined orchestra. Possibly predisposition, time, place, and even the unexpectedness of the incidents, may have produced a more lively effect, and enhanced the pleasure. I had ample opportunities in the course of my journey, to perceive the ge- neral aptitude for music and dancing, among all classes and in all parts of the country. A uniformly good ear, and the total absence of awkwardness in dancing are striking. Upon en- quiring concerning the harp, I understood it was a manu- facture of the country, and cost no more than five dollars ; had I been on my return, I should certainly have procured one, were it only as a remembrance of the evening's entertain- ment we experienced. It was my intention to have visited Cape Blanco, three miles west of Maquiteia, but other engagements prevented VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 41 me. I however learned from the best authority, the parti- culars which I shall here narrate. Before the earthquake of 1812, presented an elevated bluff, on the summit of which had been erected a commodious pavilion, which served as a beacon to the mariner, an observatory and look-out- house. In the earthquake, this pavilion totally disappeared, leaving not a fragment to shew where it stood. The cliff appears to have opened, and swallowed the pavilion and summit of the headland, which now appears sixty feet depressed below its former elevation. A long, ledge of rocks, which perched above the waves to some height, and to a considerable ex- tent, believed to be sixteen hundred yards into the ocean, underwent a change also ; the ledge, which before rose above the sea, is now beneath the surface, but reveals itself by a heavy foaming reef. Whatever may have been the influence of its former eleva- tion on the fancy, that Cape Blanco and Cape Codera formed the horns of a spacious bay, it is a merely metaphorical bay, like that of the bay of Bengal, formed by Capes Comorin and Malacca, or like the Bay of Biscay. They afford neither shelter from storms nor anchorage, within the supposed line of their extremities. The 21st of October being the day of the arrival of mules from Caracas, our friend the consul had saved us the trou- ble of going in search of an arriero, or master muleteer, and we prepared for our departure the next day. The trans- portation of all moveable objects being on mules, the stran- ger who has not some friend, such as we had, will do well to address himself to some of the resident merchants, whose civility and attentions are proverbial ; and whose experience is necessary to guard against the knavery of muleteers here, as in all parts of the world where they are numerous ; and against which a perusal of Gil Bias will furnish some instructive ex- amples and precautions in relation to them throughout the country. In all the cities, towns, and villages, the established 6 42 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, usages, which are law, require of the civil, or military autho- rity to direct the supply of mules, and it is the practice every where, unless the traveller upon a prudent calculation finds it more advantageous, as. we did, to purchase mules at a high price, rather than risque the delays incident to the customary practices of muleteers, wherever they are sure of impunity. In Laguayra, the merchant having it in his power to employ the muleteers, whom he requires for the carriage of his merchan- dize, holds an influence which the muleteer will not abuse; as he might, if the stranger made his own bargain, without knowledge of the language or customs. Where the alcalde is applied to in a city or a town, he issues his orders, but the traveller bargains for the price of the mule, for a distance named. If the muleteer be exorbitant, an appeal to the al- calde brings him to the accustomed rate of charge. But it sometimes happens on a long journey ^ — that the alcalde will be himself the covered owner : and where he is not, being only a mere man, subject to the same surly temper, ill na- ture, or false idea of his own consequence, and he may sport with the patience, or laugh at the resentment of the person whom he wantonly injures, merely because he can do so. In every country there is some custom, some abuse to complain of, insolent, or negligent, or disobliging coach- men or boatmen, for which the remedy is often as bad as the disease ; in Colombia there is this perversity among muleteers and alcaldes, but I must acknowledge, I heard more of it from others, than I experienced myself — and on the few occasions, which happened to me, I had learned, among other wise saws, the Spanish proverb patiencia por force, and as a good appetite requires a good look-out before dinner, I learned not to fret when I found some of these ill- natured folks, likely to derive amusement from my re- sentment, and I recommend this course to other travellers. I also recommend the purchase of good mules rather than a dependance upon hire, where the journey exceeds five hun- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 43 dred miles, because, as you may have to feed the mules you hire, and they are changed at short stages, the hire soon amounts to the price of a mule, while if you feed your own mule well, you have all the benefit in the journey, and you will obtain a better price for your mule when you part with him. We paid our respects to the commandant and Sefiora Bo- livar on the 21st, and to other friends in town. In our visit to the commandant, we had the pleasure of an introduc- tion to his lady and a venerable matron, her mother, whom we found engaged at their needle work. The customs of every nation are the criterion of their own morals, which ought not to be judged by customs which differ from them, and are seldom more nor less moral one than the other. The lady of the commandant had playing at her feet a fine boy of about two years old. We were objects of curiosity to him, and his mother placed his hand in mine, and he was soon mounted on my knee ; he was stark naked. Some prudish people would reprobate this, and certainly I should prefer our own customs ; but Swift says " delicate people have nasty ideas," and I offer no other commentary ; it was no proof of false delicacy in the mother, for she had been so educated, and those who cannot stand the shock of such customs, should not visit any part of Asia or South America, where the nudity of a child carries no idea of indecorum. We made the rendezvous of our friends for four o'clock in the morning, at Maquiteia, where we slept : and at the appointed hour, after taking some chocolate, which our good Philadelphia friend, Mrs. Lowry, had taken care to have prepared, we took our leave, and moved off in a gay ca- valcade for the Sierra Avila. It is a custom of the country for friends to come out to meet and to escort, on departure, those whom they esteem or respect. Humboldt's description of the road from Laguayra over the Sierra Avila to Caracas, leaves very little to be said by those who follow him over the same space, and if his works 44! VISIT TO COLOMBIA. were likely to be in every hand through which this produc? tion is likely to pass, it need be no more than noticed ; but as different persons may view the same objects differentlyj or find objects that may have been overlooked, I shall use the manner of his diagrams to show the elevation of the mountains, and describe places only as I saw them. Humboldt, in illustrating the steepness of this passage, states it to be infinitely finer than that between Bogota and Honda, which might lead the reader to suppose there was some resemblance, or some road leading to Honda. The onl} resemblance is that of steepness ; but that of Caracas^ besides being only fifteen miles, and over an elevation of 6000 feet; whereas the distance to Honda from Bogota is about 84 miles from an elevation of 8000 feet. The Caracas road is paved in an excellent manner ; only about seven miles on the Bogota plain is paved, the residue of the route, not road, for in fact art or labour has done no- thing to make a road ; it is a path wrought by the hoofs of the patient mule, where it is not a ravine or a declivity dug out of the rocky sides of the Sierra Trigo and Sargente, where, excepting a gap or pass through the narrow crest of a ridge, man has done nothing. On the Caracas road there is no sort of danger, nor is the inconvenience of ascending or descending serious, as the road, besides being well paved, is cut into traverses, zigzag, which, though giving length to the course, make the ascent gradual and easy. This is not the character of the route to Honda, of which the descent is 7130 feet ; and, whether ascending or descending, it is more prudent to climb or to crawl than to attempt riding or jumping from rock to rock. There is some pleasure too in ascending the Sierra Avila, as the scenes around are sublime, and open, without the necessity of watching the steps of the mule, to the constant observation of the traveller. The pavement, in some parts of the ascent where we passed, had been broken up and VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 45 in need of repair ; I learn that the width of the road has been since increased, some of the traversing lines better graduated, and the whole put into a perfect state of repair. To the mere traveller it is a delightful march ; to the inte- rests of commerce, a road through Tipe would contribute more to the interests of the city and the plantations too. The road to Caracas, before the ascent is commenced, leads rather to the south of west, and after passing about a mile, the obscurity of a strait and a broad travelled track appears to be a continuance in the same western direc- tion, it is indeed the royte, lately completed, by the valley of Tipe, which intrepid horsemen sometimes prefer to the mountain road. At this point we turned to the left, and commenced the ascent, which continued over spaces of fifteen to twenty yards length ; leading first to the south-east, then winding south-west, and so alternately, one side or the other to the ascent. The first range of ascent is over rocks, the Torrequimada, or the burnt tower, why so named, is uncer- tain ; above this rocky range the road appears like a flat ditch, cut out of a whitish clayey soil, which shews the marks of the spade or instrument with which the sides were cut ; it was in this range, which is much more steep than that previously ascended, that the pavement was broken; the clay bore the indenting of the mule's track, and where it was moist was slippery ; the traverses here were, besides being more steep, much shorter; and, this is the space, which, from a plantation on the west side of this ascent, is called Curucuti : this ascent overcome, which is the onlv part at all unpleasant, the ascent is less steep, the road more commodious, and the pavement in perfect repair. The next stage gained is denominated the Salto^ or leap, a singu- lar appearance or opening in the mountain, about thirty feet broad at the summit, and diminishing, in the shape of a wedge, to 60 feet below. Over this chasm a drawbridge had been placed during the war, and a strong picket guard 46 ¥ISIT TO COLOMBIA. established ; the machinery for raising the platform has dis- appeared with the military guard, leaving the platform per- manent. A redan of good masonry, with a firm platform, remains upon the brow of the declivity, on the south side of the bridge, which is an usual halting place on account of the grandeur and beauty of the prospect. The steep which is overlooked by the battery, is a tremendous ravine, broken and wild, but covered with verdure, as far as the eye can discern, to its lowest depth ; the opposite side is less steep, and woody, so that the peasants have cleared numerous patches, upon which the coftee an(^ the cacao are seen in minute distinctness, and the garden and the plantain patch around the thatched cottages. Looking to the north, the ocean is spread out, and, apparently, beneath the feet, the ships, not larger than their buoys, appear playing upon the resdess but glittering wave. Maquiteia is distinctly seen, in its whole extent, and its palm trees diminished to the size of a honeysuckle. On the west side the mountain is not so steep, it is wooded to its base, only where husbandry has- substituted plantations of coffee trees, and their beautiful companions, bananas, which are always planted on the sunny side of the coffee tree, to mitigate the fervour of a too ardent sun, by its beautiful leaves of six and eight feet in length, by three to four in breadth, of a refreshing pea-green. The coffee plantations on the side of this steep are objects of cu- riosity to the traveller, especially who has not been before within the tropics ; the presence of springs of limpid water are indicated by the presence of a coffee plantation, as they do not thrive without it. Here a spring, trickling from a more lofty position, is conducted in rills along the sides of the mountain, above the upper line of trees, and having gained the extremity, retraces its course above another range, placed lower down, and so to the lowest range. The coffee tree was now in its full bloom and ripeness, exhibiting conical forms of about six feet diameter ; at two feet from the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 47 ground, the branches extending horizontally like radii from the centre stem, which rises to eight or nine feet high, where the tops are split and a small wedge placed in them : expe- rience having taught that the fruit is better and more abun- dant, when the tree is thus stunted. The branches were loaded, like the arms of an Oriental beauty, with beads of eve- ry tint, from the palest green to emerald, yellow topaz, from these to the rose and all its shades and hues, to crimson, and the deepest ruby red, " last stage of all," a confirmed chocolate brown, the sign of ripeness, and warning to the delicate finger where to pick. The fruit grow from the bark like beads, on the prolongation of the branch, of the size and shape of a cranberry ; where the husbandry is good, the work of collecting the ripe fruit is performed by young persons, who, with delicate finger, learn to pick only those that are ripe, place them in small baskets, and, at stated pe- riods, carry them to the station where the process of prepa- ration is completed. Having satisfied curiosity, and had some little, though not indispensible rest, we continued our route, through natural hedges, and some scattered, but lofty forest trees, and it was eight o'clock when we reached the Venta Grande, or principal inn, more than 3800 feet above the sea. Here we unexpectedly found our friend Seiiora Antonia and her suite, and several friends who had come from Caracas to com- pliment her on her arrival. The Fenta Grande was not suffi- cient to contain us all ; but the air was exquisitely exhilarat- ing, and it was more agreeable abroad than in the crowded house. The good lady had determined to surprise us, and give us a fresh example of the hospitality and courtesy of the country. I had addressed the posadera with a view to obtain breakfast for my party, but she had her lesson, and told me she had nothing to sell that day ; at first I thought it was my defective scholarship in Castilian ; but Scnora Antonia^ who had anticipated my object, continued the joke, 48 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. assuring me, significantly, that money could procure nothing there — and then added, but there is plenty of chocolate, coffee, fruit, sweetmeats, cake, and wine, and pointed to the other ladies already busy. I was here introduced to several of her friends, and she renewed the intimation, before made, that Elizabeth must be the guest of Josephine while she staid at Caracas. We were soon on our way to the Cumbre, or summit of the mountain, yet nearly 1000 feet above us ; our progress was not hurried, as the company was now very numerous, and formed into little squads for conversation ; several ladies had joined, of course there was much lively prattle and gaiety, which rarely prevails where they are not ; passing several cottages, and the Venta of Goyavo on the Cumbre, where the muleteers were feeding their animals or themselves, we had reached the Summit before the Silla had yet cast off its gauzy veil of clouds, in which it is concealed in the morning, and casts it off as the sun attracts it from the south in the forenoon. We passed a little fortlet called Cuchilla, placed on a point more elevated than our road. It had been established to guard the passes and paths which the adven- turous paisanos had found out during the existence of a military post at the Salto. The vicissitudes of human life were brought to mind by this fortlet of Cuchilla : while the war prevailed, and it was necessary to protection, it was visited by the passing traveller ; it Was now passed with a casual and indifferent glance ; like the soldier of the revolu- tion, whose battles and whose blood had purchased inde- pendence, and destroyed his own vocation ; he is passed by with indifference or disregard, by men who bowed obse- quiously to him, while there was danger. Our road, which had been so long zigzag, was now wind- ing, and shaded by lofty forest trees ; and at length the de- scent became perceptible, as we emerged from the shade ; the mountains in the south were revealing their summits, VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 49 range beyond range ; and the Silla stood exposed in naked majesty, having just cast off her veil, which was flaunting to the south-west on a breeze, in the glare of the sunbeams. We were now on las Vueltas, or the back of the mountain, and descending eastward on a slope on the prolongation of its side, with a steep precipice on our right ; and the city of Caracas broke upon the view, and the whole west of the valley. It was prudent not to proceed, on the vergeof such a steep, for to see and proceed too appeared dangerous ; and I accordingly halted to contemplate one of the most beauti- ful and interesting spectacles that probably is to be found on earth, lest passing it I should lose it and my first impres- sions for ever. We unconsciously resort to comparisons in order to strengthen and embody our ideas ; my first impres- sion carried me to that bird-eye picture of Babylon which many years ago I had seen as an embellishment of the Uni- versal History. Caracas, with its greatest streets descending from the north or mountain foot, to the south and lowest part of the valley, presented beyond a trembling light, such as would be shown by a stream of quicksilver flowing through a transparent tube, sparkling and playing with the sunbeams as it passed sensibly from west to east : it was the Guayra river, which has its sources in the valley between the moun- tain of Higuerota and Los Teques. The descending streets are crossed at right angles, and run east and west, forming manzanas, or blocks of buildings, of about 260 to 300 feet on each face ; the streets not more than twenty-five feet broad, some only twenty. The brightness of the hour displayed the streets very distinctly by their shadows ; and buildings more elevated than the dwellings were defined by their light and shade. In the west, in the south, and in the east, the verdure and the harvests were brilliant ; the field of yellow sugar cane ; the lighter and changeable tints of the waving barley ; the grave green of the maize patch ; orchards of orange, not yet distinguishable but by their clumps arid 50 YISIT TO COLOMBIA, grouping. On the right bank of the Guayra, below the ciiyj, the hills rose gradually, clothed in verdure to the tops; at a point a little to the eastward of the point of view, a curious sport of nature arrests the stranger's eye. It is a range of mounds, of such a form as that they seem to be rather the work of human labour than natural. They appear like a range of spacious caserns or warehouses, with angular roofs, the line of length ascending ; and their gavel ends also coped like their sides towards the city, and all covered with a rich velvet verdure. The city was still 2000 feet beneath me, and when I had finished my contemplation, my company had de- scended far below me. I hastened along the now more gra- dual -descent, and as I had read of Elfuetite de Sanchorquiz 4600 feet above the sea, I stopt to test the freshness of its waters, and found it limpid, and, as the day was not cold, placed in a very excellent position to slake the thirst of the traveller. I joined my friends when they were entering the barrier or gate of Pastora, where there was a custom-house. The desolation around from the earthquake is here more conspi- cuous than in any other place. It is at the north-west angle and most elevated part of the sloping plain on which the city stands ; the greatest inclination is to the South-east, but it inclines also, though not so much, to the east and south. The breadth of the plain north and south appeared to me about three and a half miles, it may be more ; looking to the westward, the ground appears to rise in that direction, and to be more depressed as the eye follows the course of the Guayra to the valley of Chacao, through the rich plantations which the eye distinguishes, to the village of Petare, seven miles east. We turned off to the east, after passing the gate of Pasto- ra, and entered the street of Carabobo, which descends south, and about noon, at the desire of Seiiora Antonia, rendez- voused at her casa ; we found abundant refreshments, and VISIT TO COLOMBIA. SI had an opportunity to witness the cordial greetings of friends, and the prevailing manners. It was really a charming spec- tacle, to behold this good lady surrounded by crowds of friends of both sexes, old and young, congratulating her on her return to her native city. The liveliness of the younger senoritas and the solemnity of the senoras, the peculiar em- brace of the matrons, the inquisitiveness of the young, and the assiduous suavity of the sedate ecclesiastic, in his black silk cassock and his broad brimmed hat ; the curiosity of the females about the North American young lady ; and the vi- vacity which pervaded the whole concourse in the spacious hall, was altogether a spectacle of which no form of expres- sion can convey a distinct idea. It was finally settled that Elizabeth should remain with her young friend ; and, at the invitation of Dr. Forsyth, an American merchant, long a resident there, Lieut. Bache and myself took quarters at his house, where he had previously ordered our baggage ; and where we were gratified to find Colonel Todd, the American ambassador ad interim^ and his secretary, Mr. R. Adams, of Richmond, Virginia, who had been here some time, and were already preparing to pro- ceed for Bogota. 62 CHAPTER lY. Military music — excellent throughout the country — the Intendant Soublette— the office of Intendant unknown till introduced by Galvez — in 1777— imitation of France — functions — more extensive than under monarchy — no Intendan- cies in New Granada nor in Chili, and why — convenient during the war- anecdotes of General Soublette — rises by merit — of Bolivar's staff — distin- guished at Cojede — defeats the Spanish General La Torre — difficulties of the station of Intendant in the revolution — his happy success and promptitude, is appointed Secretary of War in 1824. — Distinguished patriot families — Cle- mente — Tovar — Toro, &c. — First impressions of the city — streets — an inclined plane from north-west to south-east — Plaza Mayor — Valley of Chacao and plain of Petare. — Rivers — ravines — aqueducts destroyed by earthquake of 1812. — Pubhc fountains excellent — custom of drawing water — bridges-— church of Candelaria a heap of rubbish — 'bridge — city cleanly— pavements in the streets, gateways, and patios— excellent workmanship. — No side paths in Caracas — all round stone pavement — extended to the roads — an ingenious mode of improving a ravine without a bridge — Oriental style in all public works and private dwellings. — Interior of houses — style of building — materials —mortality of 1812, principally owing to materials called pita — process of building. Wherever there are military bodies and discipline, they are sure to make themselves heard. "While at break- fast the first, morning after my arrival, my attention was at- tracted by the distant but approaching sound of *' the spirit stirring drum and the ear piercing fife," whose clamorous concord became every instant more distinct and animating, I had supposed this kind of sympathy had long passed away ; I could hear the assemhlee or even the generale beat, without, perhaps, any more emotion than if it was a solo on a jew's- harp ; but here were anxiety and strong throbs, which led me at once to the street whence the sound appeared to pro- ceed, and I once again felt an interest in the -" Drum's sonorous sound Parading round, and round, and round.'" VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 53 Imagine a corps of twenty-four, half fifes, half drums, with their drum- major, in German or Frenqh style, and his staff of office, leading them in files of six in front, occupy- ing the whole breadth of the street, and pacing down the hill at more than quick-time : drums of better tone 1 had never heard, and the fifes were equally good ; but the style of the subject^ the novelty, the vivacity, cannot be described ; a better musician would put the beats on a stave, and beat it off again ; but I put it unpremeditatedly into English syl- lables — which, however, they may impress the reader, con- tinue to speak the language of the drum to me— in this way, with a prelude of a half ruffie and a drag — R-r-r- ump'm, and bump'm, and blump'm, and stump'm, and thump'm, and blumb — R-r-r-and thump'm, and stump'm, and plump'm, and plump'm and blum — Da Capo. The excitement of the moment bi-ought to mind the song of Frederick I. of Prussia, " O mine got, vot blud ^d tonder." The motion was so rapid and the sounds so much in con- cord, that I thought nothing would be better adapted to arouse the feelings ; the beating, to speak technically, was so bold and intelligible. Our military music, within the United States, is, generally speaking, so dull and execrable, and our marching so much in the time of the 104th psalm, such as was in fashion when soldiers wore a coat of long square skirts and slash sleeves, and a KevenhuUer-hat, with such a tail as the monkeys on the Magdalena wear at this day ; with a bandolier ; a long matchlock, and a crutch to rest his piece upon, before locks were invented. Our usual morning and evening beats are better adapted to put men to sleep than to put them in motion. During the late war there were a few officers and fewer regiments who had ideas of military music ; but with the peace it began to tra- vel backward, and is now half a century behind the world : perhaps so it may be in Colombia when military talents shall be no longer necessary, and the establishment becomes a S4 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, provision for men who could not gain a livelihood in any other way. I was induced to visit the parade where the different guards were turned off, and found the band of wind instru- ments were equal to the drums. Indeed, the excellence of the military music pervades the country. I had the satisfac- tion of forming an acquaintance with many of the officers, native and foreign, who were well disposed to be communi- cative. I was introduced by them to the Intendant General Soubiette, to whom it is the etiquette to be made known, and took the opportunity to request his naming a day when I might wait on him on business, which he accordingly did. I had frequent opportunities of seeing him in public and pri- vate afterwards ; and to form a high opinion of his capacity and talents. The office of Intendant, under the Republic^ differs from that which belonged to it under the Spanish regime. It was not known in any part of America till about 1777, when, at the instance of Galvez, a minister much celebrated in Spa- nish American history, the office was created, in imitation of and with corresponding functions as the Intendancies of France. Their duties were intended to be purely fiscal or financial; they were also intended as a check upon the ra- pacity which had prevailed, in consequence of the unity of power in the Viceroys and Captains-general ; who, upon the institution of Intendancies, were reduced to the charge of the political and military administration ; and as the Intendant's, authority was co-extensive in fiscal affairs with the political and military authority of the Captains-general, he exercised his functions by deputies in the subordinate provinces ; and without the Intendant's concurrence no expenditure could be made; the nomination also to all offices under his au- thority was in him. In noticing the new institutions, this analogy might be imperfectly understood, if the old were not referred to ; and it is very evident already, that in the new VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 55 organization of the intendancies, which are now extended to each of the 12 greater territorial departments, the union of the civil and military authority with the fiscal, as was the case be- fore the reign of Charles III, the same room for abuse exists, and if the institution of the intendancies was really remedial, the disease must necessarily be supposed to be restored by the reunion of the functions. It is no more than proper however, to remark, that in that part of the Colombian repub- lic, formerly the Viceroyalty of New Granada, no Intendan- cy was ever established : the venerable viceroy Caballero y Gongora, who was also archbishop, who was in personal con- fidence and correspondence with Charles III, signified that he must decline the Viceroyalty, if an Intendancy was to be imposed on his government ; and he explicitly stated that their only effect would be to multiply the oppression of the people, already too much harassed under the multitude of the officers already existing ; and New Grenada, and Chile, through like representations, were not burthened with Intendancies, A station uniting all the powers of government which a desire to preserve unity and simplicity under the fluctuating progress of events in the Revolution, like the temporary adop- tion of the Spanish codes, where not replignant to freedom, was a very delicate and difficult task, and the appointment of general Soublette must be considered as no light testimony of the opinion entertained of his qualifications by those who appointed him. General Soublette is a native of Caracas, of French descent, and born in the proper time and place to develop his quali- fications and arrive at eminence. The revolution, at its open- ing, was full of hazard and uncertainty, difficulty and peril ; but he, with the generosity and sanguine temper of youth, left those considerations out of view ; obeyed the impulse of the age, and entered the ranks of the army, when about six- teen or seventeen years old, a soldier of liberty and his coun- try. His original destination appears to have been for a 56 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. mercantile life, and the habits of order and calculation, ac- quired in the few years he was in that pursuit, have not been disadvantageous to him. In military service he was soon distinguished, and placed in charge of a company, and his activity and talents, in some arduous campaigns, obtained for him the notice and the confidence of Bolivar ; for a time he was at the head of the staff, and in the sanguinary conflict at Coxede, earned the rank of General of brigade. In this character he commanded a corps of observation, and though the meeting was so sudden, as to aflford no leisure to make dispositions, he gained a complete victory over the Spanish General la Torre, who had succeeded in command in Vene- zuela after Morillo had negociated his escape. General 'Soublette stands about five feet eleven inches, erect, slender, and easy in his port. His countenance is good, and eye quick and inquisitive ; his manner unconstrain- ed, and courteous ; his public functions are performed with scrupulous punctuality, and his attendance on religious duties regular, which has silenced many pious enemies of the revolution, and sustained its ecclesiastical friends. He is married to a lady as elegant in her manners as himself, and they iiave some children. In the station of Intendant, he had a difficult and serious trust to fulfil ; as the whole of the functions of government devolved on him, when the constitution was not yet formed, and his own judgment was to supply the place of a definite system. . Besides the skill requisite. to conduct aifairs at any time, he required moderation and firmness ; he had to guard against insidiousness of pretended patriots, and the jealousy of local self-love, in friends to the revolution, who had not yet conquered all those prejudices of education, which asso- ciate the ideas of office with cast. But he was always prepa- red, ready, and effective, in each department alike, of finance, war,, and commerce, to an extent rarely found united in one man, in any country. VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 67 I had opportunities of learning much private history, and Some secret, in whic*h his capacity was not less conspicu- ous than in public, and as in every revolution, and indeed in every popular government, parties and passions produce conflicts and discolour actions, embarrassing to the public functionary, his constancy, and the confidence of Bolivar, suc- ceeded much better in the government of Venezuela, than any of his predecessors, and whoever he may be that may follow, will be fortunate if he succeed as well. In 1824 he was appointed to a command in the west, and more recently called to Bogota, to hold the charge of the War Department, on which he has made already a very able report. The family of General Lino Clemente, whom I had the pleasure of knowing in Philadelphia, I found the same amia- ble circle in prosperity, that characterised their exile and ad- versity, and was received by them with the same modest and unaffected kindness. The general was absent on public du- ty, but his good and lovely lady in his absence performed the duties of the head of the family ; I have seen her, with her lovely daughter, without any superiors in beauty or grace in the ball room ; and the next day, superintending and direct- ing the operations of the coffee plantation, with the same interesting care and alacrity ; every thing in motion, with- out any appearance of bustle or the care of business. I had the pleasure of waiting on the venerable patriot Mar- tin Tovar, whose brothers, whose venerable wife, and inter- esting daughters, suffered so much from their devotion to the revolution. The history of their sufferings and forti- tude, which has happily triumphed, would form an interest- ing volume ; I prefer not to touch here what has been made known to me by several friends, lest I should not do it jus- tice, and above all lest I should inadvertently commit some mistake which might for even a moment give any of those estimable people a moment's pain. I may, however, give a short sketch of his public character in a subsequent chapter. 8 58 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. It would be occupying too much space to detail visits of this kind, which go no farther in illustrating manners and the face of the country, to which, whatever I narrate, will be found to have some reference. A few days' residence enabled me to become acquainted very generally, and with the city and environs. On our entrance from the Sierra Avila, the attention was engrossed by too many objects to notice any distinctly. Besides that the streets were none of them more than twenty -five feet broad, many were marked on the fronts by horizontal lines of the three colours, blue, red, and yellow, which compose the Colombian flag and the military cockade ; and, as the first street we entered was named Carabobo, from the signal victory obtained at that place, I found that the streets generally had undergone a similar revolutionary change, among which were Coxede, from another battle, le Calle de la Republica, de Libertad, Colombiano, and Bolivar, &c. The fronts of many houses bore inscriptions in the same spirit and colours, as Viva Bolivar, Viva Colombia, and many others. Some ac- counts I had read, I know not where, had led me to expect hills, or abrupt ascents and descents, in the city ; but, un- less it be the general inclination of the place, the greatest in- clination from the north-west angle to the south-east, and a lateral inclination east and south, I could discover none. Conceive a chequer-board elevated at one corner, the posi- tion of the plain of Caracas may be conceived ; and as the height of the gate of Pastora is computed at four hundred feet above the Guayra on the south side, and the Plaza Mayor or Great Square, which is about midway, inclining to the south-east of the gate of Pastora, is two hundred feet above the Guayra, and the space better than three miles, the slope may be conceived. The ground to the west is not more elevated than the plain of the city to some extent, beyond which there is a gradual rise, though not to the ele- vation of a mountain or a hill ; and from the lowest angle. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 59 the level line, or nearly level line of the valley of Chacao is perceptible, but not very distinctly beyond the village of Petare, which is distinguished by an elevated white object, which, seen from the distance, appears like a monument or obelisk, distant about seven miles. The length of the val- ley is variously estimated at from fourteen to twenty miles ; this variation may arise from a difference in the points of commencing and ending. The city is crossed from north to south by three streams, and every stream is called a rio or river. They have their sources in the Sierra, and though their streams are unequal in volume at different seasons, they are never wholly dry. The Caragoata is the most westward, and its bed bearing all the marks of its occasional fulness and violence in its deep and wild furrowed channel, and steep clayey banks ; it separates the quarter of St. Juan from the rest of the city, and winding near the lower part of its course, to the east- ward of south, soon falls into the Guayra. Over the ra- vine there is a spacious and well constructed bridge, of very venerable fashion, but of good workmanship in the fa- brication, with buttresses, and a battlement massy enough to sustain a torrent of tenfold magnitude. The streets ap- proach this ravine, but it is not to be seen without descend- ing into it, and then, unless the lofty Silla, nothing is to be seen but its torrent-torn banks, or its bed composed of rounded stones. This bridge is made memorable, as is ihe ravine, and elevation west of it called Mount Calvary, by conflicts in the revolution, in which the gallant daring of General Bermudez is spoken of with merited admiration. The bridge is as broad as any of the streets, arid the dwel- ling houses advance to the battlements on each side. The rio Catuche issues from the Sierra more to the east- ward, and is the source from which the public fountains are all supplied, as were the private dwellings before the earth- quake. Many of the houses yet receive a feeble rill, whose m VISIT TO COLOMBIA. pipes have not been wholly destroyed. The pipes of con«' veyance were of pottery, well made, and very sufficient for all ordinary purposes, and might have stood for ages, had they not been disturbed by the agitation of the earth. The fountams which serve the public are built of well- wrought chisseled srone, and 1 did not hear that any of them was disturbed : the stream is constant, and the water limpid. Those fountains are among the few good things for which Colombia is indebted to the Spaniards, and the principal cities and towns from Laguayra to Bogota are adorned and benefited by them. They are generally constructed in the same style and of like materials, though not of uniform mag- nitude, nor of the same laboured workmanship j but a de- scription of one will give a good idea of them all. A base of hewn stone, often a single block, of six to eight feet diameter, generally of an octagon form, risies about three and a half feet above a platform which is ascended by two or three steps ; on the upper face of this base or pedestal is scooped a trough or bason, from the centre of which rises a shaft or column, capped with some object, an urn or the like ; beneath this cap, or capital, there is a collar or mould- ing corresponding in place with the astragal on an architec- tural column, but projecting more ; this collar is perforated, and tubes issue from its circumference, through which the water, conveyed along the central shaft, issues in abundant gushing rills perhaps five or six feet above the platform, which descend into the bason beneath ; the overflowings of these issue to the centre of the streets, and serve to keep the gutters constantly clean. It is amusing to see the crowd which, at particular hours, come to these fountains, generally women ; though there are men who make a livelihood of water-carrying. The women bring an earthen pot which may contain three or four gallons ; if the crowd be great round the bason from which the pots are Blled, with a tiirtnma, or cup_^made of a calabash, those whoj VISIT T€J COLOMBIA. 61 rather than wait, or be jostled out of their turn, bring a tube of bamboo, the calibre of which is equal to that of the tube in the collar of the fountain ; one end of this tube is held to the fountain above, which it closes, and the water issues into the pot or jar ; the carrier bears her tube away for another occasion, and it is a customary domestic utensil preserved for this purpose. Some of these fountains have an outer wall or battlement to the platform, handsomely wrought, with imitation pannel-work and styles, a vase, and skirting and capped surbase ; which answer the purposes of orna- ment, and prevent excessive crowds. There are five bridges of diiferent degrees of workman- like merit, but all of the utmost utility, across the Catuche ; there may be more, but I did not see them ; these and other bridges have suffered by the war, but the time cannot be now remote, when the restoration of useful and ornamental public works will engage the attention of the public authori- ties The Anuco supplies all the eastern part of the city with water. Where this stream approaches the once lofty church of Candelaria, the pious, who, like the Greeks and Romans, personified every stream and tree, have consecrated the Anuco by transferring to it the name of Candelaria ; but the once lofty church is now a heap of dust, a living grave prostrated by the earthquake of 1812, and burying in the earth of its proud and cumbrous walls, the unhappy beings who expected to find in it a refuge. The revolution too has had influence on the flexibility of the beautiful Castilian language, by introducing a disposition to laconism, and call things by their right names ; the river is once more gene- rally called by its pagan name of Anuco. The pious, how- ever, have been successful in sanctifying the contiguous bridge, which, not being a pagan edifice, is called the bridge of Candelaria. If good taste, public benefit, and skill, were objects of canonization, the builder ought to have a niche 6^ VISIT TO COLOMBIA. among the saints, for, besides its light and handsome struc- ture, it unites the plain of Chacao, on the east, to the city on its west side : before the erection of this bridge, the bed of the Anuco was, at this place, a deep, wild ravine, like the upper part of the Caraguata,-^ — tradition says, impassable at some seasons, and in a Catholic country we must believe tradition : it is now not merely a safe, but a pleasant bridge to travel over, at all seasons, in this delicious climate. There is a fountain at an adjacent village, a mile distant, which supplies water, said to have peculiar medicinal quali- ties, but I did not see it. Besides the domestic benefits of those rios and the foun- tains they supply, their streams furnish supplies to sur- rounding plantations, to which their contributions are con- ducted by little mounds and banks of earth, which bespeak sagacity and great industry. These streams also conduce to that exemplary cleanliness which strikes the eye even of a Philadelphian. A citizen of Bath, in England, might find in Caracas a rival, though not in the beauty of its freestone palaces, nor in the breadth of its streets, but in the purity and cleanliness of its pavement. Bath, too, surpasses every town in England for its pavement, but the pavers of Colom- bia surpass them in skill and judgment; and I may as well discharge my ideas on the subject here as any where else, as I have been labouring under the impression, from the hour I first set foot in Laguayra ; so I shall turn back to that beginning of my subject, and say all I have to say on it at once, for 1 find topics multiply, and fear, at the present rate, instead of issuing a single volume, to send forth twins. I noticed the pavements in the entrances of houses, the patios y the streets, and ascending steep narrow lanes of La- guayra ; the pavement of the causeway, up the Sierra Avila, and down the back of the mountain into the streets, is excel- lent. In spaces nearly level, or but gently inclined, they do not use the minute precautions that they constantly foj- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 63 low in more steep ascents or descents ; but the general sys- tem is not to pave in large spaces the whole length of a street as we do, but in compartments, and the figure of these com- partments are not regular squares or circles, but irregular triangles. Thus, in ascending the steep sides of Avila, were the soil naked, it must be inevitably washed into ravines, like those in the route to Honda. On first ascending, the ground being prepared as usualj the line in which water would descend is perceived from the form of the surface, and . a short line of stones on the edge are set up at right angles with that line of descent ; out of some part of this upper line, another line of strait stones on the edges is set up, which spaces are filled carefully with stones of round upper surfaces, as nearly alike as conveniently offer ; and thus in succession upward, triangles of pavement are formed, having regard to the dispersion of the descending water, which, checked in small quantities by these traversing lines, pre- vents the accumulation of water too much on one line of des= cent, and scatters it among many lines, constantly interrupt- ing and breaking it again. In the progress of the ascent, care is taken that the water thus broken, do not descend far down ; other lines of more weighty and larger stones, arrest them and carry them over the side of the precipice ; so that, however heavy the rain may be above, it is not suf- fered to pass in a volume down the road, but is at every twenty or thirty yards carried off, as is done on our northern roads, by small banks which turn the water into the ditches. There is this further advantage : I saw a patch of pavement under repair in Laguayra, but the patch broken up was confined within one of those triangles. The stones on the edge did not permit the damage to extend ; in one of our streets, the passage would be interrupted a week to make such a repair as was made at Laguayra, a street not more than twenty feet broad, the great and only thoroughfare, without interrupting the passage for one moment. 64 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. I could not but regret to find that a city like Caracas has no sideway of stone or brick for foot passengers. There are, to be sure, no wheel carriages for burden or pleasure to endanger the foot passenger, and the centre of the street is the only gutter or channel for the flow of water ; the pave- ment, too, is as good as a pavement of round stones can be ; but then, where the women are so numerous, and so delicate, and their feet so small, to a proverb small, it is by no means indicative of Spanish gallantry, that the streets should be so rough, as if intended to deter them from the exhibi- tion of a satin or a sarsnet slipper on a beautiful foot, or the display of an elegant ankle in a proverbially neat silk stock- ing, in the public street j I thought, that like the style of the buildings, there was something oriental in it ; for the Mahomedan cities of Asia are thus narrow and forbidding, though not so neat as Caracas pavements, unless in the area of the Zenana or the porch. This style of paving in triangles is carried out of town, and in a manner to merit the imitation of people more vain of their progress in the arts, however recently acquired. I had made several visits to the valley of Chacao, of some of which I will give an account, because they go to shew the manners and state of society. In those visits, we sometimes passed a ravine that had been tremendous, rocky, and its sides composed of a soapy clay. It was not improved by a bridge, but in a manner less architectural and expensive, yet equally effective for communication. The steep sides of the ravine had been perforated so as to graduate a road of descent, to a given point of the side of the ravine ; twenty or thirty feet below the line of crossing, a firm massy wall of stone, put together with good masonry, was built across the ravine, which was more than one hundred feet broad ; above this wall, the space was filled up with the excavated earth, and other earth removed from above, so as to spread the water over a greater expanse, which was before continually working a VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 65 wedge-shaped trench below. This space, thus filled up and gently sloped towards the transverse wall, was carefully pa- ved with round stones, in the manner before described, and thus when the floods came on, the water having bee n de- prived of its power in volume, by dispersing it over a pave- ment which constantly arrested and turned aside its current, rendered the place passable. with safety at all times ; and the graduated access on each side, paved in like manner be- yond the summit, was not to admit of dilapidation on either side. It was a highway, and a great thoroughfare from the adjacent villages. The water which flings itself over the wall in the wet season forms a frothy cascade. I thought it would some day be spoiled, by being drawn off to mills which may require water power only a part of the year. The characteristic orientalism of the buildings, as well as the pavements, as I mentioned, struck me at Laguayra ; it was more striking at Caracas, The ground plan ample, walls massy, lofty folding gates, with a paved entrance, and sometimes another gate and wicket within the porch — the patio or open square within, the corridore on each face of the patio, the naked tiled floor, the broad, rude, unornamented, steep-stepped stairs of two flights, ascending to the upper floor, the lofty ceilings, or the timbers exposed without a ceiling ; the ample apartments, windows without glass, but closed by Venetians ; no fireplaces nor chimneys, walls na- ked, without ornaments of portraits or other paintings, as if the law of Mahomed had accompanied the style of building, and exacted obedience to the law of Moses, to the letter, against the fine arts ; but I forgot, there is an exception, and it is an exception every where ; there is no house without a whole or half length of the virgin ; I have been so profane at times, as to suspect female influence in this particular, and as the wo- men are really beautiful, and hold a sway over the other sex that is proverbial, they had induced this general devotion to the virgin from the pride of sex. A Bramin once said to me 9 66 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. in Bengal, that there were churches erected to St. Mary and St. Antony, but no church dedicated to the God of creation i here there appeared to be no divinity, but the favourite of the fair ; I have been told that St. Joseph appears in some of the houses, but I never was so fortunate as to see him ; per- haps he is kept in some back apartment, or in a corner. The Spaniards had left in some of the houses testimonials of their taste ; the house of Seiiora Antonia Bolivar, the very first I entered, presented one. The house, it seems, had been the head quarters of the last of the royal generals, and he had caused the principal apartment to be decorated, by an intended representation of a railed gallery, in front of a hedge of flow- ers, painted in fresco. The execution was laboured, but the flowers were all monsters, very much in the style of an In- dia palampore^ where laurels and poppies, roses and lilies, tulips and altheas, laburnums and marvels of Peru, appeared to issue, like the seven golden candlesticks, all from one stem. The good lady, at the first blush, expressed her disgust at the profanation of her walls, and determined that she should not be reproached by permitting such incongruities to stain her (iwelling. The departure from the Asiatic style of building of dwel- lings, in the omission of flat terraced roofs, surprised mc ; because, where there is such an abundance of lime, timber,, and tiles, and no frosts to disturb the plaister, no country could be more suitable for flat roofs, nor is any form of build- ing more eligible or delightful in such a climate. The cli- mate of upper and lower Hindustan, is much more sultry than any part of Colombia, with the exception of some parts of the coast ; there the roads are never broken, nor the houses injured by frost. The rains are much heavier than in any part of Colombia that I was in, yet the Asiatic houses are impervious to water ; and for evening recreation, or for so- cial enjoyment in company even late at night, the terrace roof affords an exquisite luxury. I saw only one terraced roof VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 67 in Colombia, that was at Valencia, and, though not construct- ed in as neat a style as those of Bengal, the advantage of it was indisputable. The roofs in Caracas and in other places are of tile, of the C or the S shape ; they are unnecessarily heavy and ill wrought, and the roofs, which are angular, re- quire heavy timber to support them. But the absence of the useful arts in Colombia cannot surprise any one conver- sant with the policy of Spain. Those who were the first conquerors carried with them the Moorish style of architec- ture ; and they continue to imitate them at this day, while other nations have been improving all the arts and comforts of social life ; the Spanish policy forbid intercourse — and the arts were interdicted, lest a knowledge of the enjoyments of foreign nations should endanger the Spanish dominion. But the materials of which dwellings are constructed is matter of more surprise ; nay a prejudice continues to pre- vail, with the examples of the earthquake of 1812 before their eyes, that an earth, which they say is adhesive, is pre- ferable to wood or stone. This idea has been vindicated upon the ground of earthquakes having occurred, and that if the houses were built of stone, and an earthquake happen, they must be buried under the ruins. Surprising to say, the effect said to be apprehended from stone buildings, has happened from buildings constructed oi pita^ for this is the name they give the material. The houses of pita have not only failed, but they have become the graves of their in- mates; the crumbHng earth actually forniing mounds over those who expected to find security from them ; while the buildings of stone, without any exception that I could learn, have uniformly remained, and continue uninjured. The steeple of the Cathedral had a base of stone of one third its elevation ; the other two thirds were pita^ and these two thirds fell, while the stone part stands unimpaired. I went to see a house of three stories, in a street east of my residence ; it belonged to some enemy of the revolution who had fled. 68 VISIT TO COLOMBIA^ It was built of stone before the earthquake, and is the arily three story house in the city, where it still stands in per- fect order. Yet these facts have not produced any change. I in- dulged my curiosity in looking at the process of building with pita. The ground plan being measured off with lines, the art of building commences with a casson or box, usu- ally five ieet long, two or three feet broad, and the same depth, but without top or bottom. This casson is placed first at an angle of the proposed structure, the earth, said to be adhesive, is brought in sacks of cowhide upon mules' backs, and it is gradually thrown into the cassoui One or two men, with instruments like pavers' rammers, place themselves in the casson, and sprinkling occasionally a little water, in some instances some slacked lime, they continue till the casson is full, when they proceed with another, and another, till the first range is completed all round, leaving spaces where doors and windows are to be placed ; they commence to lay another range of pita beaten down in tte same way above the first, and so till the wall has reached its proposed elevation ; the wall plates, and principals, and rafters are not placed till a time when it is supposed the whole com- position of the wall is dry and firm. The interior partitions are of the same material; the floors are composed of tiles about fifteen inches square, and about one and a half or two inches thick ; they are coarse, though well burnt, but con- stantly warped both on the surface and the edges ; no pains are taken to dress them, and make a square form and edge ; the intervals between them are too open to admit of clean- liness but by excessive labour, and I have heard it urged that it was .pernicious to health to wash or sprinkle the tiles, so that, in houses of great respectability, these channels be- tween the tiles become the receptacles of dust, and the nur- sery of fleas ; of which, in companies, where the floors are of this kind, there is constant evidence of their activity, as they are reputed to be prone to attack silk stockings. 69 CHAPTER V. The Plaza Mayor— described^— market abundant — edible roots — fruit— the plan ' tain and banana — forage for cattle — precautions as to forage, food, and cookery on the road — the Plaza, the place of militia parade and all'public festivities— bull-fights, some account of — this Plaza the place where the patriots were executed — and convicted murderers now — Cisneros, a bandit — other Plazas — the University-^Library — antiquated learning — the Mathematical Hall — dia-^ grams fresh on the board — Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton over professors' chair — Students wear a fantastic costume — the productions of the press in circu= lation — state of medical profession — the clergy aim to monopolize education throughout the world — opulence and power of the Clergy — Convents — Ca- thedral of Caracas— Archbishop and Hierarchy — patronage of the church-= Bishops appointed by the King since 1508 — now by the Republic. The Plaza Mayor, or Great Square, is that of all others which is most remarkable. I have before observed it stands two hundred feet lower than the horizontal line at the bar- rier of Pastora, and two hundred feet above the bed of the Guayra. The street of Carabobo forms its east face, from which it is separated on that side by an iron railing. On the opposite side, with its west end on the street, stands the cathedral. The north side of the square is formed by ano- ther street, also separated from the Plaza by a railing, and its prolonged line is above that of the Plaza, which has been cut to a horizontal plane, and from which there is a flight of steps ascending to the street on the north face, a con- spicuous spot, where pavilions are erected on festive times, and odes and choral music performed. The west face is oc- cupied by a range of buildings of two stories, which is the common prison, but towards the square it has no unsightly appearance ; a street parallel with that of Garabobo is on the outer side of the prison. The south side is also faced with buildings occupied as shops, in which draperies and milline- 70 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. ries are sold ; and on its east side a street, which in the prolon» gation east and west crosses the street of Carabobo. On this street stands the university, of which I shall presently take some notice. The Plaza, occupying about the same space as one of the manzanaSi or blocks of buildings, must be about three hun- dred feet or more on every side ; it is paved throughout ; it is the public market-place, where every kind of food is sold, and where the display of abundance and variety, with the ex- ception of flesh meats, can be no where exceeded. Vegeta- bles and fruit, edible roots, such as are common to our mar- kets, and several unknown to us, such as the aracatcha, yuc- caSi and the apio ^ of one description of the yucca, the well known cassava bread of the West Indies, and of Colombia too, is made ; the other yucca is prepared as we prepare tur- nips, but it is a thick carrot-shaped root, white as a turnip, but more substantial when dressed. The apio is the root of the cellery^ it is as large as the common beet, but when dressed shows the pale yellow colour of the inner part of a carrot, and is equal to the parsnip, of which, as well as car- rots, beets, and many kinds of sweet potatoes, there are abun- dance ; the common potato I no where in Colombia found equal in quality, or so large in size, as in Europe or India, or our own markets ; the mode of cultivation is bad, and I saw a very learned and wise man, in all other respects, di- recting \\\s paisano to select the smallest potatoes for seed ! Nor could he be persuaded that these stunted and imperfect •vegetable roots, would produce a worse fruit than the seed of a full grown and large potato. The pulse are also abun- dant, and of kinds not common in the United States ; beans ©f several kinds, vetches, caravanches, &c., the scsamum, and twenty kinds of maize. Oranges large, rich, and of fine flavour ; the pine apple in the utmost richness and flavour, the sweet banana of dif- ferent kinds ; and the giant banana or plantain, which is to VISIT TO COLOMBIA. !7t the great mass of the population of South America, what the potato is to the Irish peasantry ; it is most abundant, and a nutritious food ; it is insipid in the raw state, however ripe, and is therefore eaten boiled or roasted ; it is of pleasant flavour, not unlike a sweet potato roasted ; when boiled in soup it is mealy, like a good potato, and in this way is cut into short pieces. The plant upon which it grows, though bearing the elevation and appearance of a tree, has no wood in its stem ; it is a fibrous annual plant, and with leaves from six to eight feet long. The plantain does not grow single, but in rows of unequal numbers, on a strong fibre upon which fifty or more grow ; and to the length of nine or ten inches each, some single plantains weighing two pounds. The peach and the quince, in perfection, find their way from places at a distance, and apples also, but not equal to those of the United States ; grapes, the nispero or med- lar, and many other fruits, the names of which I have not noted, and have forgotten. The heaps of onions, and mule loads of garlic, are here contrasted with the fragrance of beautiful flowers, the wild cinnamon, pimento, and other aromatic plants ; red and green peppers of numerous kinds ; the roots in large piles, the lighter articles and fruit in baskets of Indian fabric; rice of excellent quality, Indian meal, wheaten and barley flour. Bundles of ripe sugar cane, and stacks of molacha, or unripe maize, both brought to market for forage. The unripe maize stalks are the produce of the imperfect grains of maize separated in cleaning ; it is cast without ploughing or har- rowing upon some otherwise unappropriated spot, and is taken away for forage while the plant is young and fit for mastication by mules and horses. Throughout the country the feed for mules and horses is one or other of these articles. The animals prefer the young sugar cane to every other food, but it is not every where to be had ; the molacha^ or unripe maize stalks, is next preferred ; and this also is not to be had 72 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. in some places on an interior journey ; barley, not in the grain, but green in the ear, is the next forage, and it is sown with the view to cutting in the green state. These articles are brought to market in the principal cities ; but the traveller who is a stranger, unless he has an experienced servant, will not find it an easy task to procure forage distant from towns ; and it is requisite, in such circumstances, to be prepared in advance, and to carry a supply of Indian corn, as he cannot proceed without it ; and the hke precautions will be requi- site in many places, as to the travellers' own food, and such cookery as he may need. Of the table vegetables, the Caracas markets present as much as there is demand for, and equal to the Philadelphia market in, quality, and at lower rates, such as cellery, lettuce, spinach, &c. The markets, are held on stated days, early in the morning, but articles of necessity may be had there every morning. The whole marketing is over before noon, and the square is usually swept, unless some public occurrence interrupts the operation. The Plaza is a place of military parade for the regulars, and of muster for militia. There public festivities and musi- cal celebrations of the festive kind take place, with elegant bands of music and poetical compositions prepared for such occasions ; followed by bull-fights and fire-works. With- out intending or expecting it, I found myself, after a ram- ble in different parts of the city, present at what is called a bull-fight, but which I should call a worrying of bulls : I did not regret the incident, however, because no accident occurred, and I should not otherwise have been so well able to judge of the intrepidity and dextrous skill of those who ventured, with so much confidence, to present themselves on horse- back before an enraged animal. Here it is that the paisana, or countryman, enters into competition with the city caba- iieroy and exhibit their dexterity in horsemanship, and in literally overthrowing the infuriate animal. The labouring VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 73 people of the suburbs and villages adjacent, come hither mounted on horses of about thirteen hands high, spirited, muscular, and well knit, hardy, and well formed animals, and in the most perfect command ; the riders either in the smock frock or shirt over the pantaloons, and the tail or skirts of the shirt in rustic embroidery ; the feet with shoes or paragattas, often naked, ahd carrying on the heel a tremen- dous pair of spurs, or only a single spur. Others with the romero, sometimes of cotton, with broad stripes of blue j or the blanket of the same size, that is, about two yards long, and about the centre a slit, though which the head is thrust, and the ends hang before and behind, and being broad enough to cover both arms to the elbows, leaves the limbs free ; others of a degree of opulence more advanced, come in ciierpo^ and handsomely dressed ; all with hats of straw or of the fibres of the Cuqmsias^ (American aloe) or the Palmyra palm : men on foot sport with the animal by presenting themselves in his front, with their romeros or cloaks in hand, which, when the bull charges at them, they dexterously cast over his head and jump aside. Many assail the animal at once in this way, while others seize the tail, which instantly induces a plunge forward ; the horseman takes occasion when the bull escapes from those on foot, to pursue him, and, on horseback, irritates him in the same tvay ; and it is surprising in what command he has his horse, usually evad- ing the charge, by throwing his cloak, as usual, and, in the language of the manege, by a demi-volt, or a peroiiette^ with- out moving his horse's hind feet from his position, comes round on his haunches ; the poor animal carrying off the cloak, until feeling the efforts of the pursuers to seize his tail, he plunges with more desperation, and, what is very ex- traordinary, among a crowd, to whom, from his apprehensions of his pursuers, he appears indifferent. Six bulls were at one time in the Plaza on one occasion, and some hundred persons on foot, and more than fifty on horseback. But 10 7^! VISIT TO COLOMBIA, the great feat of competition among the cavaliers, is to bring the bull to the ground, not with darts or spears, for thesCj nor indeed any other weapon but the single hand of the in- trepid horseman is used. It is in the pursuit, when the bull is enraged, and bounds forward in its fury, that this feat was two or three tinies performed on this occasion. While the bull is in full career, the horsemen contend at the full gallop to seize the tail, and when this is effected, to so twist the tail, as to form what sailors call a half-bight or knot, and holding it so firm that much agony is produced, the rider gives a jerk, and the bull is thrown to the ground. It may be conceived what intrepidity, and what muscular power, the rider must have, who can thus prostrate an animal so powerful and weighty ; for the black cattle of Colombia are, wherever I have seen them,- — and I have seen millions, more uniformly fine animals than I have seen in England or the United States. This plaza, appropriated to so many uses, serves also for purposes more serious. It was on this square that so many virtuous men were condemned and suffered death, victims to the jealous tyranny of Spain, and often to the cruel pas- sions of the local rulers ; men whose virtues were objects of terror, who being beloved by their neighbours, kindred, and countrymen, were therefore guilty in the apprehensions of despotism. I could designate and give the history of some of those victims with which I became acquainted ; and many more of no less celebrity and worth also fell sacrifices, whose memory is embalmed in the hearts of their kindred and fel- low-citizens ; but they belong to history, and I do not deem myself authorised to relate what was made known to me in the confidence of private intercourse — the pen of history is already engaged in preparing the record of Colombian sa- crifices, and the devotion of its martyrs to freedom. It is in the same plaza that malefactors also are executed ; while I was in Caracas, the neighbourhood, and the valley VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 75 of the Tuy and other surrounding valleys, were infested by a banditti, under a desperado, of the name of Cisneros ; he was in the correspondence and pay of the Spanish general Mo- rales, and committed the most daring outrages, murders, and rol)beries ; the police of the city had employed every means of stratagem and force to seize him ; for a long time without success ; he had the hardihood to enter the city disguised, and send notice to the police that he was there, but not until he had previously prepared to decamp. In one of those ad- ventures, he had two of his band with him, and they were traced to their rendezvous, only a few minutes after Cisneros and one of his band had departed ; the third was, however, taken, convicted, and executed in the Plaza. Whether it was the effect of the war, or some other cause, I cannot pre- tend to say, but although the general rumour was abroad that the convict was Cisneros himself, there were not fifty persons besides the public guard present at the execution. There are several other open areas denominated plazas in different parts of the city, but none of them uniform squares, nor paved like the Plaza Mayor. That of Candelaria, before referred to, exhibited nothing so remarkable as the ruins of its Church, separated from the street by a fantastic Gothic rail- ing, some of the grotesque pillars of which yet remain, the Church itself a vast mass of earth ; the area was never paved. Neither was that of the plaza of St. Paul, the churchof which stan'Js without any symmetrical relation to the plaza on the S. E. atigle, which is passed in the route to Valencia. The exterior of the church excites no curiosity ; but a fine foun- tain, nearly in the centre of this irregular space, is handsome, and when we passed it on our journey, was surrounded by a very considerable croud of females, who I remarked were uniformly round and full, clean in their persons, and their garments brilliant as snow. The Plaza of St. Hyacinth, within the precincts of the Dominican monastery, is not spacious, but it is neat, and h a thoroughfare. 76 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. The Plaza La Trinidad is devoid of symmetry, and mere- ly an open space. The Plaza of St. Lazarus is a neat enclosure before the church or chapel of that name : but appears to be rather in a suburb than part of the city. The Piaza of Pastora exists only in melancholy tradition, and is designated by heaps of ruins, which appear indistin- guishable from the ample barracks, that formerly stood ad- jacent, and fell in the common ruin of the earthquake of 1812. These ruins strike the eye on entering the city from the Sierra Avila, and, unless prepared by some previous in- formation, would not excite emotion ; as where cultivation does not appear, or forests, the appearance of these ruins is that of the arid mountain range, which looks as if it just issued from the hand of nature in a rude unfinished state, calling upon man to ^o to work upon the raw material. The Plaza of St. John is rather an irregular long-sided triangle than a square. The barracks here are spacious, and it is the depot for the discipline of new levies and mounted militia. The college, which was founded only in 1778, a year memorable for its influence on the revolution that is now accomplished, bears the appearance of a structure of the eleventh or twelfth century. It was erected into an univer- sity in 1792. On entering from the street, there is a de- scent of one step; perhaps the graduation of the street has been much later than the structure. It stands on the south side of the street which forms the south face of the Plaza Mayor. The lower apartments are gloomy — and much more croud- ed than the buildings of Caracas generally. The usual broad staircase of tvi^o flights leads to the upper apartments, which are more spacious and airy. The students at this time were about one hundred, and distinguished by a whimsical and certainly useless costume. It was a kind of pale purple or hyacinth- coloured cassock, with a scalloped cap of the same colour, VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 77 of the shape of the cap of the priests of the Greek church, and a sort of stole of crimson gave it a fantastic appearance. The youths disappeared, as we- were conducted by an amia^ ble and intelligent Isecular clergyman, one of the professors, into the hbrary. I examined the backs of many ponderous folios and quartos, where the fathers of the Church, and the canonists — Johannes Scotus Erigena, and Thomas Aquinas, yet hold their long-neglected places ; tor the books appear- ed to be very quiet, clean, and undisturbed ; yet many men of very great eminence and virtue have passed through the forms of this university ; J. G. Roscio, the Toros, the To- vars, the Montillas, Bolivars, Guals, Palacios, Salazar, and many others who have been founders, martyrs, or victors in the cause of freedom, had their education therCj notwith- standing the inauspicious obscurity of the lore which encum- bers the shelves. I could discover nothing modern in the library, but a map of the world, suspended so high, as to defy even the aid of spectacles ; one of the ladies discovered that it was turned upside down, and noticed it with the ob- servation, that like every thing it had undergone a rev- olution — which produced a sensation of pleasure in our amiable conductor — It was probably a prank of some stu- dent. I experienced much more pleasure when we were con- ducted to the mathematical hall, where we found the geome- trical diagmms fresh upon the board. Over the professor'si chair I perceived a portrait in the costume not of Spain, but of England, more than a century ago, and learned that it was a portrait of Sir Isaac Newton, an incident very significant of the decline of prejudice under the influence of liberty, and a singu- kr contrast with the philosophy of Scotus, the Irish logician.. I could not but recollect that Newton was in his own country- treated by the orthodox as an atheist, because he would not consent to recognize the thirty-nine articles; here, where IB VISIT TO COLOMBIA. the inquisition had not yet ceased seven years, the spirit of the age had placed his portrait where probably Athanasius or Scotus had formerly held a place. It marks the progress of generous sentiments and liberal ideas; and it was further interesting from the fact, that the amiable ecclesiastic who informed me of the circumstance, appeared to partake in the pleasure I had expressed. I did not find the Logic of Condillac nor Locke on the Understandingj which I had been told by General Lavaysse were introduced there. Some changes however have been made in. the course of studies, though they are still unsuitable to the knowledge of the age ; but there is a necessity for patience, and improvement must follow where the mind and the press are free, and the eccle- siastical as well as the military are subordinate to the social laws. I found Condillac, and numerous other books, in dif- ferent private libraries. The period when the constituted cor- tes existed in Spain, was not all lost : the press of Vaiiado- lid and other parts of Spain, poured forth many hundreds of important works in Spanish ; originals written for the revo- lution, and others translated from French and English, I found the works of Baron Holbach on the toilette of a charm- ing woman, and ventured to rally her on the subject of the work ; her reply was as wise as it was artless and ingenu- ous : " Trutli, Senor, is like a young lady, who, if she expresses apprehension on her character being inquired into by her lover, must at least excite his curiosity, if not his .doubts." Books of an . elementary kind are found in all parts of the country. The exile of so many natives of Spa- nish America and of Spain, had cast numbers upon Eng- land and France, and the United States, who, being gene- 4*ally well educated and liberal men, and poor, have found sources of support in the preparation of works adapted to the circumstances of the New World. It is a commerce that must augment in a tenfold ratio within ten years. The press VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 79 is not yet in more than its infancy, or about what it was in the United States in 1764. I understood there was only one student of medicine in the university, and I was not surprized at it, as a variety of circumstances concur in disparaging the medical profession. The prejudices which have been generated by the satire justly cast upon the state of quackery in Spain, were naturally trans- ferred where the language and practice were the same : the cli- mate throughout is adverse to diseases ; many are unknown ; and the calentura in the plains, the goitre in a long range of the interior, and some occurrences of leprosy in particular parts of Colombia, form, with the exception of some diseases produced by irregularitiea, the only objects of medical ne- cessity. The medical class do not therefore obtain, be- cause there is not so much need of them, the same rewards as in countries where they are more necessary. The ©pi-" nions of a great mass of the population correspond with that which the amusing novelist has given of Dr. Sangrado. In some inland places the medical fee was formerly una real, literally the eighth of a dollar ; I have not any where heard of more than four reals, or half a dollar a visit. I have met some Europeans of the best medical education, but none out of the army, and I . found only two natives of Colombia,^ one of whom found, as he good-humouredly said, that there was not sickness enough in Caracas to live upon, and it became necessary that he should turn coffee-planter, in which he prospered and dispensed the benefits of his edu- cation, though not so profitably, with much credit and satis- faction. The other I shall notice when we reach Tucuyo. The university of Caracas, nevertheless, as I have said be- fore, has had the honour of many great names among its stu- dents. I have mentioned only a few, whose reputation is in- separable from the revolution ; who, having handled the tools of science at the university, employed them to the benefit of their country and species. The great evil and obstruction of 80 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. science, in this university, is, that instruction is confined "wholly to ecclesiastics ; who, affecting more concern for the affairs of another world, in order to hold men in mystical thraldom, endeavour to unfit them or to disengage them from this world, in which it has been the wise purpose of the Al- mighty to place men. The clergy of Colombia are very te- nacious of their authority, and have in fact made education a SMonopoly. Yet the revolution proves that there is a conviction adverse to these exclusive pretensions, and that the discus- sion of dogmas and mysteries occupies more time and labour than is necessary or reasonable. The Jesuits every where aimed at this monopoly, or a predominance which would en- able them to govern society, by gaining the direction of the public seminaries, the formation of the female mind, and the preference as private teachers ; and thtrir success has been only inferior to that of the Bramins. But surely this is not peculiar to Caracas or Colombia. And, after all, is not the same course pursued, with and without avowal, by those who have withdrawn from the Romish church, and pro- fessed to discard its practices ? Do not the ecclesiastics of every sect and theory seek the same influence over the hu- man mind, through education ? The Jesuits, as well as the Bramins, knew that men must be led away from the exercise of their reason, or they could not be enslaved ; and every day's experience shows that the same disposition to hold do- minion over the mind by means of a partial education, pre- vails among all sects and all religions. Those who have succeeded or superseded the Jesuits, have pursued, though with less beneficial effect, the same system. The Dominicans and Franciscans were hostile to the Jesuits, as they have been hostile to each other ; as much so as the reformed churches have been hostile to them all. An archbishop of New Granada (Caballero) once exiled the Dominicans to Panama ; they were afterwards restored, and now abound in rich possessions. The Franciscans were at VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 81 a certain time charged with teaching the doctrines called Calvinistic, and were held in abhorrence by the Dominicans, These two orders are now great admirers of the revolution, but look to be exclusively instr-uctors, that they may render the revolution itself subservient to them ; while the Capu- chins, who calculated upon the royal triumph, have been ex- pelled for their treachery, by a decree of 14th September, 1819, and their convents appropriated to public education — where ecclesiastics still continue to be the teachers of the children of those who have fallen in defence of freedom ! Under the Spanish regime, the opulence and power of the ecclesiastics were as inordinate as in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The principles of the faith they professed to teach, are wholly incompatible with the riches they have accumulated, and the luxury in which they live. It was a striking feature of the despotism, that it upheld those establishments, and those multitudes of consuming, or destroying, and non-productive drones ; but the mo- tives are obvious : they were not to be feared as enemies, and as agents they accomplished the purposes of the de- basement and subjection of the people, so long as the people could be kept m ignorance, more effectually than by an army of bayonets ; and, being divided into orders, they were, when refractory, more easily managed. Besides the orders of monks, who were always wrangling among themselves, the secular clergy were obnoxious to both. The Dominicans disputed with the Franciscans, and both with the seculars ; other regular orders took their sides ; and while they preached " peace on earth and good will to men," they made a trade of spiritual (as it was called) warfare, and traded in those earthly riches which they professed to abjure. The hatred of the Moslem Soonies and Sheas was not more vehement than that of these religious orders ; who professed to be the interpreters of heaven, the advocates and exemplars of men, while they deliberately and systematically sought to 11 82 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. deprive men of the use of those faculties bestowed by the Creator, and, by binding them in the fetters of ignorance, to convert them into a condition inferior to brute beasts. The revolution has had a wonderful effect in restoring to sobriety those perverted men, and perverted institutions, but it is by what they were, we learn to appreciate the benefit which hu- man nature derives from the revolution. They were success- ful for three centuries in subjecting those whom they had restrained from the cultivation of their intellects ; they ex- tracted alike from the acquirements of the very poorest, and the most opulent, contributions so rich and inordinate, that in every part of South America their establishments, whether churches for worship, or monasteries for seclusion and indo- lence, surpass all others in magnitude, expence of erection, interior embellishment, even to extravagance, alike without taste to gratify the understanding, and without the humility, or simplicity^ or disinterestedness, taught by their master. I believe it was De Pons who observed that, with the ex- ception of the Contaduria (office of accounts), the Government had not a house of its own in Caracas ; and houses were rented for all other public services. This fact is very striking when compared with the eccle- siastical establishments, of which Caracas has within its ju- risdiction five parishes, with structures of different degrees of magnitude and revenues. The archbishop of Caracas, un- der the royal government, had a revenue of 60,000 dollars a year. The parishes of the city are those of the Cathedral, St. Paul, St. Rosalia, Alta Gracia, and La Candelaria, besides the churches of other fraternities of various denominations ; the order of Predicadores of St. Philip Neri ; the chapels of St, Maurice, the Trinity, and La Divina Pastora, which, not being parishes, belong neither to convents nor hospitals. There were several monasteries for men of the Domini- cans, Franciscans, and order of Merced ; the priests of the oratory of St. Philip Neri also have a church. There were VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 83 two nunneries, that of the Blessed Conception, and that of Mount Carmel, and a few females are still entombed within those living graves ; they are, however, old ; and, among the blessings of the revolution, is the abrogation of those inhuman institutions which enabled unnatural parents to sacrifice their younger females to the vanity which would aggrandize one child at the expence of nature, and the justice due to the rest. Females cannot now be compelled to disregard the laws of na- ture, nor the obligations of social duty, before a given age, and I had on a particular occasion an opportunity to hear from the innocent lips of a young lady, an acknowledgment, in the fulness and candour of her heart, that, although she had once thought she must finish her days in one of those gloomy cloisters, in exclusion from the world, she was now well enough satisfied to live among the numerous good people whom she had found in it; and thanked the revolution for enabling her so to do. An association more beneficent is a voluntary association of young ladies, of the most opulent families of Caracas, who are not tired of the world, and make it a duty to pro- mote the good of others. They make no religious vows, but devote themselves to the education of young females, and other charities. It must be obvious, that from the very- contracted education which females have been hitherto per- mitted to receive, the education they promote must be also limited, and besides that the monks, like the priests of all religions, take care to address themselves to those edu- candasy because they knew how much the sex holds power over human concerns, and all the interests of society. The Cathedral of Caracas is a stone building, and, with one third of its steeple, also of stone, remams uninjured by the earthquake ; its appearance is by no means striking Out- side ; but within, looking towards the altar in the east, it is a very respectable, and not so unmeaningly glittering as other churches. It is said to be 250 feet in length, east and west, 84 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. and appears to be about eighty broad in the outer extremity* It is divided into two aisles on each side of the nave, by four rows of columns of stone ; six in each row : the nave be- ing as broad as two of the aisles on either side, the elevation of the side walls may be about thirty-six feet. I measured nothing, and if there be any error, it must be attributed to the inexactness of my eye or judgment. The roof is well constructed ; and the light, though not glaring, is sufficient for a service where candles are constantly burning. The ex- ternal light, however, is sufficient to afford a distinct viev/ of some good and some ordinary paintings, vi^hich are nei- ther too many for good taste, nor for the purposes of their disposition. They are distributed and placed with judg- ment ; and there are among them some superior to any I have seen in any other part of Colombia. The great altar Stands at the east end of the nave, as the altars in all Euro- pean churches do ; though I noticed several churches in Co- lombia and elsewhere, which deviate from this primitive principle, which would have been a fatal heresy in the fif. teenth century. The decoration of the altar is not so taudry as m. olhtT churches, though some travellers appear to consi- der this as a iault, which to me appears judicious. There are in the aisles fourteen altars, at which service is perform- ed at particular times. The high mass, at which I attended, was celebrated, with the usual pomp and magnificence of the Catholic ritual on such occasions ; the music, which in every department of Colombia is interesting from its excellence, was here very imposing, and would be perfectly impressive, were not the greater part of the west end of the nave occupied by a cumbrous, gloomy, and uncouth choir, which concealed the choristers, and broke the vibration which gives to church music a great part of its finest effect; besides, those who shared in the service on the floor, had, from the elevation of VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 8g the choir, no opportunity to join in that part of the service, which it is the practice in other Catholic countries to do. The hierarchy of the church in Colombia, is at present unsettled to a certain extent. There are many sees vacant. That of Caracas is vacant through the adherence of the archbishop to the royal cause, his retirement to Spain, and his subsequent appointment to a Spanish see. The princi- ples are, however, determined by the republic, and the con- cordat, to which alone the republic will subscribe, is that which existed between the Papal see and Spain. No bishop, or archbishop, or even a curate, could be appointed by the pontiff, but upon the nomination or presentation of the monarch ; which the papal authority merely ratified ; nay, the council of the Indies must have approved before the nomination. The republic determines, by a pursuit of the rule, barely transferring to the present sovereign what was exercised by the former. The Spanish court is opposed to a concordat, and obstructs by intrigue at Rome the conclu- sion of an accommodation; and it renders an effective ser- vice to the republic, that it should be so protracted, as every day's experience proves it to be superfluous and unnecessa- ry ; as it conduces, in the early operations of the new insti- tutions, to still the agitations which the clerical order can make, from the number of aspirants who look up for those church livings. The papal bulls, which bestowed the new world on Fer- dinand and Isabella, had lost some of their ostensible sancti- ty ; the revolution totally destroyed it. If the pope should affect to force or disregard the republic, the effect may be the dereliction of all European ecclesiastic connexion, and the constitution of a Patriarchate, independent only in doc- trine of the European pontiff. The ecclesiastics no longer exercise that pragmatic power which gave them a jurisdic- tion, coercive or penal, over individuals. They are them- selves amenable to the ordinary tribunals, unless in cases 86 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. appertaining to their ecclesiastical establishments. Thus, as a decent respect for religious opinions is not irreconcilable with social rights, the clerical order having voluntarily as- sumed the care and concerns of another world, possessing all the security they require, and all the authority that is not in- consistent with the social state, are more at leisure to devote themselves to the future, and to detach themselves from the present. The whole patronage of the church, in Spanish America, was in the monarch— it is now in the sovereign people. The church dignitaries were bound to render an* nual accounts to the monarch; and it was through the church returns the council of the Indies obtained the best statements of the population ; although there were not wanting instances in which those returns were much below the real number : the bishop might apprehend that the souls (contributors) would be deemed too many ; the same im- pression might influence the curates ; so that, by suppres- sion in both cases for the purpose of concealing emolument, the census always appeared less than the real number. The right of ecclesiastical patronage, in the Spanish mon- arch, was recognised in 1508, by Pope Julius IL The de- tail of the ecclesiastical affairs will be touched on more at large in a subsequent chapter. 87 CHAPTER VI. Religious ceremonial processions — some anecdotes concerning — " do in Rome as they do in Rome." — Ambulatory beggings-and chanting in th.e streets. — Thea- tre — the Intendant a spectator — the character of the spectacle — long drama- tic exhibition. — Country round Caracas — visit a Hacienda of Gen. Clemente re- stored after desolation by the Spaniards — lanes of orange trees — sugar-fields — populous villages — town illuminate4 as we returned — name day of the Liber- tador — immense throngs in the streets — gaiety — military parades — diversity of military costumes — churches open — high mass — musical celebration and festive odes on the Libertador — tears and remembrances at this festivity — the scene of Spanish butcheries — splendid ball at night. Strangers, who are unacquainted with the . institu- tions, forms, and customs of the Catholic church, as they are maintained in countries entirely or predominantly catholic, are apt to treat the ceremonials which are occasion- ally exhibited in the public streets, with levity, or an indis- creet disrespect. Education no doubt has its share in the emotion which is thus produced, especially in those of the reformed sects, whose discipline and doctrine are most re- pugnant to the mother church. The ceremonial usages of the catholics in the United States and in England, are con- fined to the service within the bounds of their churches, and in fact there is less pageantry, for such it is, and less of the display which appertains to the greater festivals, such as Christmas, Passion week, Easter, and those of Corpus Christi, and the various holidays of the Virgin, in the Uni- ted States, though all religions have an equal freedom and exemption from constraint. Persons educated in the Uni- ted States therefore, even members of the Catholic church who visit Portugal, Spain, or Italy, are not prepared for the difference which is so striking, between the ceremonials and usages of the same church; and it is perhaps much 88 VISIT TO COLCWilBIA. more so in the countries formerly Spanish, than any where excepting Portugal or its dependencies in Asia and Ame- rica, by which I particularly refer to Goa and to Brazil ge- nerally. Nor is this at all surprizing, when it is considered that ail other institutions and usages, public and domestic, have stood until the revolution upon exactly the same un- changeable and restricted ground as at the conquest. I had not an opportunity, while at Caracas, to witness the religious processions which take place there on certain festivals, but I had ample opportunity to be a spectator at Bogota, where the pomp and pageantry certainly rivalled in extravagance what I had witnessed at Goa many years before. There are some customs which I witnessed at Caracas, that belong to the narrative of manners which I have under- taken to give. One of these is common to catholic. coun- tries generally, the other may be, but it never before fell un- der my observation. Passing along one of the public streets, I had just turned a corner, when I heard the tinkling of a small chamber bell ; my ear had been familiar to such sounds in the ceremonial of the mass, and for a moment I forgot that it is only in the morning that mass is celebrated ; but my cogitations were soon terminated by the appearance of a small corps of clerical men and assistants in their cos- tume of celebration ; a boy preceded with the bell I had heard, which he tinkled at intervals ; he was followed by an ecclesiastic who carried the sacrament with the chalice, and the usual covering ; he was attended by others ; and a small crowd of boys and females followed. Upon the approach of this procession, all persons, before passing in either- direc- tion, halted, standing uncovered, generally against the sides of the street — the procession moving along the centre. As the procession advanced, the passengers uncovered their heads, some bent a knee, and the women, without excep- tion, knelt wherever they had stood on seeing the procession approach j and as it is a safe maxim, founded on prudence VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 89 as well as civility, to conform to usages which do no dis- service, but the neglect of wliich may be injurious, it is best to *' do as they do in Rome ;*' it was the ceremonial of carrying the eucharist to a person, who was supposed to be approaching death, on which occasion two sacraments, the eucharist and extreme unction, are administered. This cus- tom was familiar to me, but not its publicity, which was wholly unexpected, though educated in that church myself. Returning from a visit, some time after night-fall, I heard the sound of choral music ; for a moment I looked round to see what church it proceeded from, not having seen any in that qu'arter before ; but the sounds becoming more dis- tinct, I stopt, and was indeed pleased with the strength and concord of the chant, in which, though the delicate tones of many puerile voices were evident, they were happily in- corporated in harmony with a fine tenor. The males and females passing, as soon as this source of symphony became visible, arranged themselves as usual on the sides of the streets, in the centre of which a crowd, only distinguishable, as yet, by the lighted tapers which they each carried in their hands ; other lights, suspended to a lofty frame, of about seven feet by four, displayed a picture transparency, I could not distinctly perceive thenSiibject, but of course some saint or holy personage ; I believe, however, it was the Virgin. All heads were uncovered, but I saw none kneel ; the paint- ing was carried by persons who sustained it in an elevated, but inclining position, a range of youths with tapers ad- vanced in front, the picture followed, and then a priest, in dark canonicals, with his stole; they continued the chants till they came in front of the residence of an opulent citizen, where they halted and chaunted for a few moments, when the door opened ; a female advanced and presented some- thing to the clergyman, and the procession was resumed ; and thus it frequently stopped, and was visited from each house in the same way. Passengers, male and female, also 12 90 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. Stepped forward and communicated with the priest. More than one hundred persons followed, many of whom, accord- ing to the ancient practice, united in the strain ; as was also customary among the minstrels of the thirteenth century, who sung romances along the public streets in the same way ; and from whom the practice is probably derived. This perambulation is, however, a species of mendicity, and, as the churches which are not parochial derive all their resources from the voluntary bounty of the pious, I presume these processions have in view the solicitation of contribu- tions. The donations I have been told are very small, una real being the most that is expected ; though the sex are said to be given to " do good by stealth," and bestow much more than is solicited. The difference of education, and the customs of countries, give to these processions an air of novelty ; and, unless it be the interruption of the streets, and its frequent recurrence, it is a harmless custom. The impressions derived from education among the numerous reformed branches of the Christian church, are, no doubt, adverse to these pompous ceremonials, and the use of pictures and images, much more at the worship expected, or by implication exacted, in uncovering the head and bending the knee during the pass- ing of the sacrament. Yet, after all, is there not as much prejudice on the part of the offended as the offenders ? Upon a dispassionate examination, it will appear that the pomp of the mother church is by no means greater than that of the Jewish ceremonial, nor more mysterious, and yet the He- brew Scriptures are disseminated as doctrinal. There is an allegory in the ceremonial of the mass, in which every action is emblematic of some event in the passion and death of Christ ; however this allegory may have been adapted to ages of extreme ignorance, when the art of printing was not at hand to inform the great body of the people, an allegory of this description was calculated to engage the senses, and carry. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 91 with the memory of the ceremonial explained, a solemn im- pression of the event to which it referred. The conversion of ceremonial forms into doctrinal obligations, and the dan= ger of another great schism, which would separate the intel- ligent from the uninformed, has prevented any alteration of moment, in the ceremonial forms ; and if the mind is chained down by despotic governments, and among the rest by the policy of the church itself, this pomp becomes a sort of ne- cessary resort, as the antidote to that disorder which would arise from the absence of a system, as well as of know- ledge. It is to be desired, that all Christian sects would consent, in all countries, as they do in the United States, to worship, without compulsion or reproach, each in their own way. Religion being a matter purely individual, no man being responsible for the errors of another, and opinion being itself derived from the accidental position of the individual in his first years ; the charity of the Christian precept would seem to demand, not merely a right to the exercise of choice, but mutual forbearance among those who profess the worship of the same object, and, in reality, differ only in those forms, or the pragmatic inventions of mystical or bar- barous ages. I have been often asked as to the state of re- ligion, and the influence of the priesthood in Colombia, and sometimes accompanied by a zealous wish that missionaries could be sent among them as among the Indians ! There is some contradiction between such inquiries and wishes, and a complaint that is sometimes made as to the doctrinal tenet of the Ca|;holic or universal unity of the church, and the incidental inference that no one can be saved out of it. Unquestionably, such was the theory of the Catholic church as soon as it had become politically potent ; and, in some countries, it continues to be put forth still. But is not this the tenet of every sect? Do not the sects of the reformed churches hold salvation as belonging to themselves exclu- sively ? Whether avowed or only inferred, the fact is the 92 VISIT TO COLOMBIA* same, every sect must entertain some such opinion, or why form a separate sect ? If the Catholic be not entitled to sal= vation according^ to any one or more opinions of sects, is not that the very subject of accusation ? It is lamentable that mankind should be thus held as perpetual adversaries, and the doctrine of peace and good will be made the foundation for discord ! There could be no difficulty in tracing the evil to the cause of its duration-— but it might be deemed in- vidious — For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right. I was led to this digression without premeditation, and it is not worth while to erase it, by the manner in which some of our young Americans, whom I met in my travels, be- haved on such occasions, and which has caused me some un- pleasant moments. I heard one relate an anecdote of him- self with great self-applause : the sacrament passing, as is customary, the gentleman would neither stop nor uncover his head ; one of the procession party intimated that this act of respect was due, and added, according to his educated belief, " will you not take off your hat in the presence of God ?" (meaning, according to the doctrine of transubstan- tiation, the sacrament) — this liberal, who, had it been in Turkey, and neglected what was expected of respect to the Moslem ceremonial, might have found his head in hands— replied, pointing to the heavens, — " Dios ariba /" God is above, — and he exulted not a little at the act, be- cause he knew he was perfectly secure. On another occasion, at one of those ambulatory beg- gings, a young American followed the procession, where there was no head covered but his own ; the militia had been mustered that day, and one of those who had fallen in with the procession had his firelock ; the American stranger VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 93 was requested either to take ofF his hat or retire ; like Gold- smith's centinel, he conceived his religion in danger, and his dignity called upon to refuse ; the militia-man raised his firelock and fired it in the young man's face j to be sure the loading was only powder ; but thanks to the revo- lution, which has caused respect to be paid to strangers, and who surely owe respect to decorum at least in return, the matter there ended ; had it been before the revolution, the ball might have been used with impunity. And, after all, was it worth while, for the mere performance of an act of civility, which would be paid to any decent-looking man or woman in the public street, to induce such a reproof? — ■ in fact such an insult — for the militia^man was not insensi- ble that such an act as his must be seriously felt — and un^ doubtedly, if the issue.be compared with the cause that pro- duced it, a person of good sense would prefer to avoid an insult so palpable, by recollecting that he was disregarding the institutions of a whole people, whose hospitality he every day experienced, and flrom whose laws he expected protec- tion. A man of good sense would say *' I am but a stran- ger, the laws have declared that a given religion shall be that of the state ; that no man shall be molested for his opinions ; that no man must disparage the established reli- gion ; it would be absurd for me to set my private educated opinion, acquired in a foreign land, against the acquired contrary opinion in this land, where I am a stranger; I will not incur the risk of martyrdom for the mere gratifica- tion of setting their customs at defiance ; an act of civil re- spect is not an abandonment of the judgment, or the right of freely thinking, but an act of decorum which even the prejudices of men will not forbid, where evil cannot arise out of it." I have seen a worthy man at Goa, committed to the prison of the inquisition, and very grossly abused, for an unintentional act under similar circumstances. In Co- lombia, the government itself is bound to respect the edu- 94 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. cated habits derived from ages, by forbidding all external religious transactions that might produce contention or vio- lence; and it is not in such a case for a stranger to say this whole nation is wrong, and I will set myself up to dis- parage it ; he may consider these processions idolatrous ; they believe them holy— the laws say they shall not be treated with contempt — a man, who is desirous of martyrdom, may find opportunities enough to gratify his penchant ; but the preferable course for a man of sense, if he cannot conform to the decorum of society, is not to enter a country where his delicacy may be shocked by the zeal of a fanatic, or the significant hint of a militia-man. Having some curiosity to see the theatre which Hum- boldt so correctly describes, I chose to go alone, and found admission for una real ; and, hearing that the pit was an open area, I made my way up stairs, and found myself in a box, the door of which had been politely opened for me. My position was in the transverse line of boxes in front and parallel with the stage. Ranges of boxes, all filled with com- pany, principally ladies, occupied both sides of the parallelo- gram ; the ground-floor, literally the ground, was the pit, and the ceiling, the blue serene spangled vault of heaven. The stage was about twenty-four or twenty-five feet broad in front, flanked by what the players call wings, forming two sides of a square. The front scene, by the falling of which the acts were discriminated, was a sort of pastoral picture, such as a century ago were prefixed by sentimental writers to works of the imagination ; and when it drew up, displayed such oblique wings as are found in the theatres of itinerants, ex- hibiting columns or trees in bold daubing upon stout pa- per. The flat or back scenes, diminished according to the stage laws of perspective, were changed as the subject called for a camp, the chamber of a palace, a forest, or a shipwreck, air of which appeared in dramatic progression. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 95 My progress in the language enabled me to catch only a part of the dialogue and the theme, but 1 found it had a plot, in which Achilles was discovered in petticoats, and Patro- clus and Hector, besides some other Greeks and Trojans, composed the dramatis personse ; among whom also were Andromache and Briseis, and, though last not least, the frequent associate of Spanish dramas, a buffoon, a sort of Scapin^ who made mirth serious and melancholy laughable : as for example, during the dire conflict of arms, for what I know between Hector and somebody from Greece ; this Spanish clown displayed, by outspread lingers, staring eyes, and trembling action, all the contortions of clownish fear- — and when the heroes; like the Kilkenny cats, disappeared, the affrighted clown exclaimed " Jesu Christo /" It would be trifling to dwell upon the anachronism; but there was another, the " airy sea" in the back ground, at first calm as •the lake of Valencia, was on a sudden disturbed, and a square rigged vessel appeared — it is wrecked with some striking heroine, whom the Scapin, with great gravity, helped to re- lieve, while the gallant Menelaus, or somebody else, stood on the sea-shore, admiring the roses in his own sandals. The clown was, nevertheless, amusing — his powers of face much preferable to the quality of his jokes, though sa much out of place and time; and, though he imitated nature most abominably, in an appropriate drama he would have merited at least as much applause as he got ; which was more than Hector or Andromache could say for themselves. After all, the credit of the piece, whatever it may be, belongs to Spain, from whicli this species of drama, of I know not how many acts, is derived ; for it commen- ced about six o'clock; and it was tvyelve when I came away, leaving the play not yet finished. Soon after I was seated, the intendant. General Soublette, entered, and placed himself on the same bench, and asked several questions as to my opinion of the drama, which I answered without any reserve, and in which he agreed. S6 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. This gentleman appeared in his costume as a private citi- zen, and without guards or attendants, hke a republican ma- gistrate ; it gave me pleasure to see it ; and the occasion enabled me to perceive, in the amenity and cordial manner with which he recognized persons of different conditions, how suitably he filled his station. The theatre was perfect- ly orderly, though all parts were full ; cheerfulness and gaie- ty were conspicuous in the boxes, and between the acts, as elsewhere, they chatted in tones not very much depressed, something louder than a whisper — yet perfectly agreeable, with their friends in adjacent boxes. The boxes here, as in Spain, are like pews in our churches, private property, and the owner with the key transfers the right of admission. The country around Caracas, from the distance, presents an unbroken appearance of prosperous cultivation ; and, un- less where the casualties of the revolution have by the flight of the former owners suffered them to go to decay, the reali- ty is as prosperous as the appearance. We had numerous parties in different directions of the valley, which it would be tedious to particularize, two or three will be selected as sufficiently characteristic. As there are no wheel carriages, the ladies ride, and with ease and self-command. General Clemente being absent, his interesting wife and daughter made up a party of both sexes, about twenty in number. Their Hacienda, or coffee plantation, lies in the valley of Chacao, about three miles and a half east of the city ; it had suffered from the violence of the Spaniards, while they were in possession of Caracas, as all property of the patriots did ; but the activity and intelligence of Seiiora Clemente had already gone so far in its restoration, that when we arrived the do- mestics were already occupied in the preparation of a hand- some crop of coffee, for the process of shelling by the mill. She had replaced the houses demolished by the Spaniards ; but not so lofty, or so large ; she erected what in Bengal would be called a spacious bungalow, but in familiar Ian- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 97 giiage a spacious thatched house, with all the accommoda- tions required for convenience and for comfort ; and here we had a table already laid out with abundant wines, cakes, never omitting the pride of the Caracas housewives, a vari- ety of the finest sweetmeats ; and, as it was a day to take air, and to see as well as converse, we perambulated the ave- nues of the coffee trees, saw those which had escaped ruffian outrage, and the new and vigorous plants in full fruitage, which had replaced those that were destroyed ; we saw the ditches, which deliberate vengeance had dug to draw off the virgin stream, without which the plant perishes, and where it vvr)s restored and improved, so as to diffuse its healthful rivuk'ts over a more extended surface, with the enlargement of the plantation. The valley in the rear, or south-east of the Hacienda, is more than 100 feet lower than the planta- tion, and the sugar cane was rearing its golden stems in pa- rallel lines, and the manufacture was already in progress of drying, cleaning, and shelling. The store houses and of- fices, which cannot be too airy or commodious for the skil- ful preparation of the coffee, yet exhibited their wrecks, but were in the slow train of reparation. Until these are repair- ed, the process is carried on only by expedients very slow, but with care effective ; earthen pots supplying the place of steeping cisterns, cowhides instead of sloping platforms for drying, and wooden troughs and hand pestles, the place of the shelling- mill. I felt much satisfaction at the cheerfulness and contentedness of the labouring people employed; there were some women who had been slaves, but who would not separate themselves from the hacienda of their former master, and who appeared to feel the happiness of being restored to the kindness of the excellent family, by whom they were treat- ed as kindly as their kindred. Lanes of orange trees ornamented the verge of the lower valley, and the extremity of the coffee ground. In the moun- tain, more than a mile distant, but which scarcely seemed *a 13 98 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. Stone's throw, one of those chasms or openings, characteristic of the mountain regions, was displayed by the abrupt termi- nation of the hills which skirt the south side of the Guayra, from the westward to this place ; this leads to other valleys, rich as that of Chacao, far to the south, and west, and east. After spending a delightful day, we returned by a different route, having passed the handsome bridge of Candtlaria, over the Anuco, on going out, and the paved causeway here- after noticed on our return. I was not aware that there was so populous a suburb, until this occasion ; but there were several villages on the road, and in full active population, oc- cupied by agriculture ; and many arrieros, with their mules, who transport the fruits of the valley to market. We were overtaken by the light shade of night as we entered the city, which we found to be already very generally illuminated, it being the 27th, and the name-day of Bolivar being the next day ; so that, not content with the birthday itself, they illu- minated the night before, and they continued it on the 29th, which was also devoted to general festivity : we spent an evening as agreeable as the day, the spirits light, and exhila- rated by this delicious climate. The 28th being the President's birth- day, the voice of the artillery was heard very early in every direction ; and^ the drum gave "a louder note" than common. The streets of Ca- racas are usiially very still, and seldom crowded in ordinary ; on this day they appeared like ant-hills with their inhabitants in motion. The military shone in all their best uniforms — if it be not a misnomer to call that uniform, which conforms to no common cut, or pattern, or colour ; but they formed to a stranger's eye an attractive spectacle, some in blue, red, or yellow short coats, with blue, red, yellow, or white pan- taloons ; waistcoats scarlet, yellow, or white ; and many with each of the three garments of a different colour, blue or red coat, with red waistcoat, and yellow trowsers ; others with trowsers a la Turc, of yellow, white, or crimson, tied above VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 99 the ancle ; some with fan hats, and others with the like di- versity of leather, straw, or Italian caps, and towering fea- thers of diverse hues. There were some officers of the staff, who paid more regard to military uniformity, who wore their blue coats, fan hats, boots, white waistcoats and breeches, sabres, belts, and spurs. These varieties of colours were not altogether the effect of caprice or vanity ; there was a re- gulation for uniform, but a regulation could neither import cloth sufficient of a colour, nor pay the tailor ; so that the necessities of the case authorised an innovation, which ca- price and vanity improved upon. This festival drew out all the troops, regulars and volun- teers ; the latter composed, like our own during the late war, of the promising youth of the most opulent families, and best educated, who, indeed, appeared to as much advantage as those whom they resembled : the diversity in the uniform was not so great among these as among the regular officers. The arms were, in general, in excellent condition as to ap- pearance, but some were lit on^y for a parade of ceremony. The regulars of the line w<:re in jackets of Russia sheet- ing, Osnaburg pantaloons, sliirts, and shoes, and apparel ge- nerally in very good condition, whole, and neat. The caps were the leather caps of the French fashion, a frustum of a cone inverted, with a shield for the eyes in front, in good polish ; belts and other accoutrements neat. Each regiment had a facing, such as red, blue, or yellow, and the cut of the clothing proved that the tailor's establishment was complete. Such of the officers as rode during the day were well mounted ; and some fine horses, sixteen hands high, ap- peared on parade, the first I had seen of that stature ; bays and blacks, but particularly roans and moose-coloured. I was sorry to see that some of them had been subjected to that cruel, wanton, and pernicious practice of nicking, which undertakes to disfigure that beautiful animal, and to deprive him of the means of protecting himself from insects, and 100 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. often injuring his health and temper. The saddles worn by the mounted officers were the high-peaked and cantled, the only saddles fit or safely to be worn in this steep moun- tainous country. The housings were not agreeable to the eye of those who are accustomed to uniformity ; they were extravagantly gaudy, and no two alike. I had full opportunity to see the troops move, and they must not have had ears or souls if they did not move well, and in time to their inimitable drums and bugles and wind instruments, of which there were several distinct bands ; their marching was in lively animating triple time, and their attention and silence most exemplary. I could not but recollect my two poor sentuiels at Laguayra, and wished they were here to share the new regimentals, or at least a pair of paragattas each, and a part of iht good things that were handed along the line. Sal- vos t)f artillery took place, and the troops went through the usual ibraib common in other countries. The churches were all open, and it was on this occasion that with my daughter I attended high mass in the cathe- dral, where the Intendant with his suite were present ; his coat was of scarlet with embroidery of gold, that would not have appeared to disadvantage in the cortege of Napoleon. After high mass was finished the troops formed in the great square. A pavilion had been erected over the flight of stairs at the north entrance, and a full band of vocal and instrumental musicians performed some musical pieces, and ther-e were recited and sung some odes written for the occa- sion, in which whenever the name of Bolivar occurred, and it was the whole theme, the air resounded with accla- mations, not only from the soldiery, but from the vast con- course assembled. Where I had placed myself, I could hear many exulting expressions and allusions to former times, and to the cruel butcheries that had been committed on that very plaza, which was at that moment the scene of triumph and grateful celebration of the hero, whose con- stancy had surmounted all difficulties, and liberated his VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 101 country. Numerous ladies attended, and the windows of the adjacent houses were crowded with them. Tears of joy and of remembrance flowed in abundance from the eyes of aged matrons, and widows, whose fathers, husbands, bro- thers, or sons, had perished by Spanish vindictiveness, and whose wrongs were expiated by the triumph with which they could not but be assimilated on this occasion. The evening had been assigned for a splendid ball. A com- mittee was selected from the principal citizens and ofiicers, to whom the direction was given, and who acted as stew- ards, to which we had the honour of an invitation, and of which I shall give some account, as indicative of customs and manners, in the next chapter. CHAPTER VII. Anniversary of Boljvar, 28th October — rejoicing and ball — sketches of manners — dancing — music — waltzing. — Customs derived from Spain remaining. — Eti- quette. — Equality realized. — Many beauties absent, royalists. — The magna- nimity of the republicans towards the royalist families, a noble contrast with that of the Spaniards to patriot females.-^An exposition of the principles of this conduct by a revolutionary sage. — Dr.Xitchfield. — Party to Chacao. — Evening at Blandin's — plantation described — and house — the excellent means for steeping and preparing coffee — the augmentation of the plantation — kind of soil — females of the family — domestic concert. — Generous feeling towards Bolivar. — Midnight party. — Exquisite climate. — Novel aspect of ruins by night. The whole of the 28th was a day of uninterrupted festivity. The climate, always temperate, was, on this occasion, particu- larly favourable to the interchange of visits and to- walking. The streets were crowded by the genteel class of young ladies, visiting some hours in their gayest apparel, and di- 102 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. vested of every care but innocent enjoyment. The side tables in every house were covered vv^ith refreshments and bouquettes ; and it was not until near night that the neces- sity of preparing for the ball left the streets, for a short time, in silence. No hall, in any private house, could be procured sufficient for the accommodation of so large a company as was in- vited. One of the largest houses, however, had, besides a spacious hall, a contiguous saloon and corridore ; and these were enclosed and floored for the dance, and the adjacent chambers for an entertainment, substantial and convivial. The company had assembled before eight — a double band, for relief, was established in a passage between the saloon and the floored corridore, so that two sets might dance at the same time ; arid the dancing soon commenced. In the Spanish contra-dance the couples stand as in our contra- dances, and the order is for the leading couple to dance down the whole set. But the musical time and the figures are substantially diflferent. The elastic bounding figured steps, and, in a word, the exercise of our style of dancing, are not known in the Spanish dance ; the time is rather slower than the waltz in general, and, like waltzing, consists more of measured pacing than vivacious dancing ; the figures too are more involved ; for, although they change right and left, and perform all the common movements of our contra-dance, it is performed in graduated pacing, in which the hands partake as much as the feet, and the inclination of the head and in- flections of the person, exhibit the most graceful positions of the figure. At first the force of custom interferes with the idea of pleasure to a stranger ; it had not life enough for me ; but, after a little use, it becomes highly agreeable, and where the dancing and music are so fine, very interesting. Waltzing followed the first set of contra-dancing, and continued alternately till about twelve, when parties of ladies only were drawn oif for refreshment ; after which the gentle- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 103 men were detached in turn, so as not to interrupt the dancing. I had full opportunities to review this new and very inte- resting assembly, on this interesting occasion. The Inten- dant was present, at the birth day of his friend, as the station he occupied would necessarily call for. He was in the regular blue uniform, and took his station at the head of the room, the custom of the Spaniards yet prevailing ; and I found it the same at Bogota. Adopting the Spanish laws, from the very impossibility of forming a new code in the midst of war, the other usages go along with them. It is, no doubt, harmless, that a governor should preside at a festive celebration ; but, as of prescriptive right, which custom, long pursued, comes to be, it is not consistent with the equality of a free state, that the authority, vested as a trust for public be- nefit, should give countenance to a prerogative of precedency, where the principles of equality admit a magistrate to a pri- vate house with no prerogative above that of any other citizen. There was certainly no intention to set up an authority in the circle of domestic festivity, but a free people should not suffer a mere usage, at present not suspected to be evil, that may become one very serious. The Spanish minister Yrujo, during his residence in the United States, attempted to en- force an etiquette of precedence at the entertainments which the President of the United States gave to public ministers and their families ; but it was not tolerated ; the President, with his usual discernment and firmness, saw that it would lead to an endless squabble between the jealous vanity of one sex and the diplomatic artifices of the other. He de- cided that the first lady who came to his entertainment should have the first place, and so in succession. That there were no orders or degrees of priority or precedence in republics, and, if it were not proper that he should discharge his domestic duties, he would give his chair to any of his guests ; for he was only a citizen at the festive board. It is 104 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. but just to say that general Soublette neither presumed nor assumed any thmg unbecoming, he complied with a custom established ; and no one was offended, or even suspected, it would seem, that there was any thing incongenial with free- dom in the usage. There were sixty couple in each of the two sets on the floor, and in motion at the same moment. As the dancing- rooms were spacious, the intervals behind the dancers af- forded ample space to see all the dancing parties ; and I had an ample opportunity to view the beauties of Caracas. As the x)flicers of the army every where are acquainted with the ladies, I had selected a friend from that class to be my con- ductor, and, as we passed along the gay ranks, I had the names and anecdotes of all who moved before us, male and female. I treasure nothing up on such occasions unless it be honourable and agreeable ; my memory has no place for any thing else ; and it was with sincere delight, of which time has not diminished the remembrance, that I saw on that occa- sion a scene of concord and liberality, good sense and propriety, which the enemies of the revolution had pretended to be im- possible, and the enemies of that revolution are the enemies to liberty everywhere, whatever they may pretend to ; I saw in the unaffected and cheerful intercourse and association of that ev- ening, the confutation of those croaking predictions and mali- cious aspersions cast upon the revolutionists, before triumph put a seal upon their cause ; it was predicted that the people of colour could never agree with those of fair complexion. Here I saw beauties as fair as Cynthia, and as ruddy as Hebe, brilliant white and roseate, gracefully traversing the mazes of the dance, with citizens composed of every shade, from fair to the complexion of the native Indian ; women, however, well educated in the best knovvledge taught in the country, and not the less esteemed for not being wholly fair compicxioned. The apprehensions insinuated by Depons, and attempted to be realized by Spanish emissaries, were here proved to be an VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 105 iilusion I there was no discrimination now made, but by in- tellectual and moral fitness for personal respect or public sta- tion. The native Indian is no more a slave under the pre- tence of being protected, or placed for security in an encomi- enda ; he is not compelled to abide with a number of others, unfortunate as himself, and to cultivate a piece of ground in common, and pay to his tyrants an annual tribute, only be- cause his ancestors were enslaved by foreign invaders, and the enslavement entailed on their successors. The Indian is now a man like other men, and they have earned it with the blood which they devoted to the emancipation of their coun- try. The obligation is felt, and, to the honour of human nature, it is honestly acknowledged. I was gratified to see this rational regeneration, and I was surprized to learn, when expressing my satisfaction at seeing so many and such beautiful and elegant women, that all the beauty of Caracas was not there ; my guide informed me, that the ladies of several respectable families were absent, and among them many very beautiful women. In short, he told me that they were females of families devoted to the royal cause, to whom the occasion of this festival was a source of mourning instead of joy, and that they attended no festivity which had approval of the revolution for its object. What a subject for reflection ! How glorious is it for the cause of liberty to inspire and practise so much moderation ! What a contrast does this generous toleration present to that brutali- ty which the royalists displayed to the wives and daughters of the republicans ! I could not but take renewed delight when I saw passing before me the lovely wife and daughter of Lino Clemente, who but barely escaped with life into exile, and now move among the most distinguished of their coun- try, in celebrating that liberty which disdained to retaliate upon innocent women, actuated by love of their parents to adhere to an unfortunate cause, the injuries which those very 14 106 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. parents perhaps had inflicted on those who now triumphed in glorious joy and more glorious humanity. In turning this subject in my mind, I became apprehen- sive, that this indulgence, like that to the ex-nobles in France and elsewhere, might prove pernicious ; in conver- sation with a venerable patriot the next day, I touched this subject, and inquired if there was any foundation for appre- hension. His sentiments were as noble and generous as they were wise ; I cannot express them with the sparkling eye and glow of satisfaction which he displayed ; but what he said was to this effect : It is very true, said he, that those very interesting ladies make it a rule not to partake in any national festivity ; and it is the more to be regretted, because they were foremost in such festivals as were customary when the royalists tri- umphed over our disasters. But they are females, what else could they do? their parents had educated them in those principles, and shall we, who inculcate the duty of children to their parents, punish them for only doing what we cherish, and are proud of our own children for doing in accord with that duty ? They are innocent creatures, nay, I know many of them to be worthy of esteem and admiration. What could they do to injure us? we. are not destitute of women worthy to be wives to our sons ; and if those do not marry republicans, they can have no other husbands here ; they cannot live in celibacy fifty years longer ; and if they marry at all, they must have republicans, and then even their children — those children they love, will be Colombians and not Spaniards. It was worthy of a sage like Franklin, and the sentiments do honour to the country and the cause. It was very late when I retired from this ball ; at which the profusion of luxuries — the abundance of Champaign, Burgundy, Muscadel, and other wines, and the unalloyed happiness and hilarity that prevailed, I never saw surpassed any where. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 107 As our circle of intercourse extended, so did the hospi- talities and kindness of our friends. Dr. Franklin Litch- field, an American, long a resident, married to a lady of un- common worth and fine understanding, had rendered us un- unceasing kindness and service. American visitors to Ca- racas found in him an invaluable and assiduous friend ; his appointment to the consulate at Puerto Cabello, while it does credit to those who appointed him, deprives the American vi- sitors of Caracas of a sure resort whenever aid was necessary. He made us acquainted with Mr. Blandin, a name familiar to travellers, and proverbial for his hospitality. A party, of both sexes, was formed to visit Mr. Blandin and family, at his residence about four miles east of the city, and about a mile and a half from the south base of the Silla^ in the valley of Chacao. The residence is more than a mile from the road to Petare, and leads along the trench through which the stream that irrigates the coffee plantation, finds its way to the Guayra ; it was bounded by a hedge of lime trees, not very much attended to, but bearing fine fruit. The coffee plantation stands between the road and the dwell- ing, and the beautiful erithryna^ with its wall-flower-like blossom, more abundant than its foliage, intercepted the view of the house, until close upon it. Our path to the house was amidst the avenues of the coffee-tree, beautiful, luxuri- ant, and loaded with fruit. The young people were busy with their delicate fingers, picking, with skilful dexterity, the brown berries from the long beads among which they had grown, and depositing them in neat baskets carried on the left arm ; the fruit being in every stage of growth, at the same time, and the tree never ceasing to bear. We entered the court-yard from the east side, through which a handsome stream made its way, gurghng and fall- ing over little steps, dividing and occupying two channels, one of which rambled along a bed of pebbles in front of a platform raised about three feet above the spacious area in 108 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. front of the dwelling, the other rill discharging its water into a capacious circular bason of masonry, which stood two or three feet below the surface of the area. We had crossed this chattering rivulet, and passed the left wing of the dwelling, when Mr^ Blandin came forward, called servants to take our horses, and, when he had seated us in a spacious hall open to the south, he welcomed us seve- rally, and ordered some fruit, sherbet, and other refreshments. The lady of the house, and her sister, and a daughter of about twelve, soon after came, and we were all at our ease in a few minutes. I left the ladies to their own discourse, and visited the various parts of this truly splendid and perfect establishment. The dwelling itself, was exactly like a real bungalow of Bengal, in form, spacious, lofty, and made of the like ma» terials. The conviction of the danger of pita walls, after the earthquake of 1812, determmed this judicious planter to erect a dwelling, of which the walls should be bamboo ; and, though the climate is not sufficiently warm to produce the bamboo there, the valleys south and east afforded him am- ple supplies. I did not measure, but I guess that the front of the dwelling must be more than sixty feet. A neat apartment of about twenty feet in front, and about the same depth, occupied each extremity ; the space between these two apartments is open like a corridore with bamboo pillars, which sustain the front of the roof, not less than twenty feet high, at the eaves ; and forming part of the single roof, that covers the whole extent of the dwelling ; which ap- peared to have several excellent rooms within the verandah^ as it would be called in Hindustan. In front of the house, and of the offices on the west end, a spacious paved area, forty or more feet broad, extended east and west about two hundred yards ; the mills, pounding house, cleaning and store houses, occupied a very^ ample space ; the stream, which had its source in the Silla, was con- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 109 ducted, by ingenious cpntrivances, to turn an overshot mill whtei, which performed the services that employ human la- bour on other plantations, various means of cleansing and separating the clean grain from the husk. There was a smithery, carpentery, and other workshops, which required only occasional employment, but, where artisans and imple- ments are not abundant, were essential to an establishment so ample. The raised platform noticed before, ranged east and west on the south side of the paved area, along the whole front ; it was of brick work, about three feet from the pavement on the inner side, six or eight inches lower on the outer side, so as to have a gentle slope, and receive the full force of the sun's rays, when the grain was spread, before or after steep- ing, or drying for packing up ; several steeping cisterns^ with trap doors, were placed at equal distances in the plat- form, so that in the various processes of steeping and drying no extra labour was required, nor time lost in shifting it from one place of the operation to the other. The stream which was noticed at the entrance, after being dipersed to various points ; after turning the mill wheel, supplying domestic uses, furnishing the kitchen, the laundry, and the bathing apart- ments ; reunited its dispersed rivulets, in the circular bason constructed of stone south of the platform, in which silver and gold fish sported ; and the redundant water overflowing through several prepared spouts, again dispersed over more depressed courses, through which it spread and meandered, through channels prepared and graduated to conduct it over the whole coffee orchard. The number of bearing trees at this time was about ten thousand, and their average product gave a dollar a tree per annum. A more ample field was in preparation ; east and south-east of that already in production. As the ground was naked, I had an opportunity of distinctly examining it ; the soil was of a dry light composition, rather resembling 110 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. wood ashes, mixed with pulverized schist or slate, and dim sparkles resembling mica, but not so large or bright. Even this soil was thin and scanty. Fire had been employed to clear several acres of brambles and exuberant wild briars ; the space uncleared was covered with the common bramble, Rubus Coryfolius^ and cloud blackberry, Rubus Chamamo- rus ; and other wild brambles peculiar to the climate, and Hot named in our botanical works. The rocks appeared nearly as abundant as the surface covered with the scanty soil, and, in truth, the whole plantation on which the coffee plant was thus luxuriant and prolific was of the same description, so that climate and irrigation appear to be the essential requi- sites. The theories of writers who have not seen this culti- vation, are therefore not to be wholly relied on. Depons, with all his experience, says that it is requisite to be at some distance from the sea, the air of which withers the coffee. Mr. Blandin's trees have the screen of the Avila mountain and the peak of the Silla between them and the sea, but at Curucuti, on the north face of the Avila, in sight of Maqui- teia and the Caribbean sea, and open to the north and north- west, the most pernicious winds of that region, the coffee- tree flourishes in the same beauty and abundance as at Mr. Blandin's. The father of this gentleman was the first who in- troduced the coffee culture here in 1784 ; he had been a planter in the French colonies, and his respectable descend- ant, when he received us, was in the usual attire of the West Indies, a loose robe, or morning gown, and a cambric hand- kerchief in a negligent state covered his head. Well-dres- sed female domestics performed the services of the house, without any appearance of direction or command, but the exactness ; and their cheerfulness was manifest in their hap- py visages. Chocolate and ice-cream, and the never- failing nor ever- cloying sweetmeats, and indeed all that might be expected at an opulent West India planter's, and given with such kindness, as seemed to infer a compliment in the ac- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. Ill ceptance. As the sun advanced westward we were conduct- ed to the sitting room, where we found a most elegant or- ganized harp of French manufacture. How it came there, or how brought, was the sentiment which succeeded the sa- tisfaction of seeing and hearing its excellent tones. Some of the officers of the army, who were of our party, and the la- dies, soon formed a concert, and executed some symphonies of Mozart in a perfect style. One of the officers proved to conceal beneath a modest deportment a most accomplished performer, and in a fine style accompanied with his violin the pieces which the ladies executed on the harp ; the infant daughter displayed evidence of the care and success with which her ear had been formed, and her voice and finger practised. The order and happiness of this family was en- viable, not because they could be less than they merited, but because it would be desirable that all human beings should partake the like felicity. The respectable master of the house, though he spoke not a word while they were singing and playing, was visibly the soul of the concert ; he watched and enjoyed the performance with a delight that would seem to belong to those only who were for the first time made partakers of his hospitality and its pleasure ; in- deed, his delight appeared increased with the satisfaction and the enthusiasm of some of us. He did not sit down during the performance ; his stock of music was ample, and appeared to be kept in so much order, that he never looked at the piece which he drew from the ample bureau, but pre- sented it to his lady or her sister, or to the gentlemen who led in particular pieces. I could not avoid complimenting this worthy man, by telling him he need not envy the condi- tion of any man on earth. *' Yes," said he, " there is one man whom I envy, though I love," and pointing to the only picture in the apartment ; on approaching it, I found it to be Bolivar. His expression of countenance and eye, which seemed to twinkle with delight, conveyed sentiments 112 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. more expressive than any form of language. I was silent for a few moments, for I did not desire to disturb either his exquisite feelings nor my own ; but I endeavoured to trans- late his thoughts, which seemed to say, " It is true, I am happy in the midst of my family and in the affection of my friends ; I want nothing for comfort, enjoyment, or gratifi- cation ; but what are the enjoyments of a single household compared with the felicity of soul which that man must en- joy, who, by years of disinterested labours, dangers, and indescribable sufferings and sacrifices, has led his country- men to triumph over a pernicious government, and not only given freedom to his contemporaries, but secured it for thou- sands of generations that are to come?" Our delight stole away our time, and we certainly must have trespassed on the domestic regularity which was every where so manifest ; and when we stated our apprehensions, we were assured that they were not the slaves of time or ceremony ; that, as it was in their power to compensate by sleep at any other time, the hours devoted to agreeable inter- course, it was only painful when it was not continuous. We, however, decided — our horses were soon at the door, and taking leave of these happy people, about one o'clock in the inorning, we retraced our way through the now dark shadows of the beautiful Erithryna, and the avenues of the coffee tree. The night was, as it is usually at the season, serene, the bright blue canopy, studded with its splendid host of bril- liant worlds, and the air so pure and transparent, that the apparent monument at Petare, three miles east of our path, was distinctly visible ; and one of the lofty churches of Caracas, in the west, as distinctly marked. We passed by a plantation on our way home, which be- longed to a gentleman, a native of Caracas, who, after study- ing medicine, could not find, in a population of 30,000 souls, enough of sickness to live by, and therefore determining not VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 113 to ^'- die of the doctor,^'' had established himself here, and was already rich. A ruin, which we were too busy to regard on our way to Blandin's, now, in the silence of the night, attracted my atten- tion ; it stands close under the south-west foot of the Silla, and close to the ascent ; it bore the ruined appearance of former splendor, and like a solitary palace of Persepolis, the roofless walls and columns still standing. It had been erected by some former chief ruler, and occupied later by a man of wealth, who proved faithless to his country. Many structures of a similar character are in a like state. Oppor- tunities were frequent, when, by returning to their first love, those mistaken men might have been reconciled to their country ; but the infatuated could not be persuaded that the untutored soldier of Colombia could ever resist the veterans of Spain. These mistaken loyalists now find, too late, how little of gratitude is due to the monarch, who, by his relent- less disregard of every consideration but his own despotic will, continues to augment their sufferings. The republics, however, have no reason to regret the royal infatuation. The venerable Charles Thomson, secre- tary to the Revolutionary congress, once said to me, that " the Revolution of 1776 was obtained too cheap, and be- fore the acquisition was duly appreciated ; the greatest of its evils were produced by natives, who had deserted their coun- try, and misled the British ministry ; when the object was accomplished, the same class of men, those who had been false friends, and those whom the generosity of the republi- cans had permitted to return, expected by treachery to ac- complish what had failed by arms — they failed, but the mis- chief they have done proves the mistake of those whose ge- nerosity they abused." The South American republics are exempted from this experience by Ferdinand VII. 15 114 CHAPTER VIIL Preparations for departure— friendly solicitudes for our safety on the journey-^- pictures not exaggerated, — advice and precautions founded on our subsequent experience. — No wheel carriages, — no hotels or taverns, — no beds, — how^ to provide in various particulars — comfort after fatigue no bad thing,— what it is necessary to provide for comfort and safety — hammock, blanket, suitable saddle, — a bint to guard against unpleasant company, — oil-cloth cloak a good thing. — Romeros what they are, — hints on saddles, bridles, and cruppers™ and on the knavery of the muleteers, — maps and itineraries,— the uncertainty of computed distances in leagues, — no dependance on muleteers on this sub= ject — some functions of alcaldes — direct the supply of mules — the advan- tages of this usage — purchase of riding mules — provide for the exigencies of the road — experience as to provisions — loading of tnules — hire an hombre de provechero and cocinero, — vary their names, — impose on us as to their fitness for guides, — travel armed, — mules unladen on halting, — mode of bivouacking in .the forests, and on the paramos,— fingers, and thumbs, and calabashes, exis- ted before knives, forks, and spoons ; — a good sharp tomahawk, — tinder and matches, — good economical articles — prepare to march. Our residence at Caracas was now short of a month ; intimacies had been formed ; and attentions, kindness, and hospitality, had been so constant and so generous, that the approach of the period of departure on our journey became irksome, Elizabeth had been repeatedly solicited by Se- nora Antonia and her daughter, and by Senora Clemente and family, and others, to remain till my return to Caracas, (as was my first intention) — it was represented that no lady had ever attempted such a journey before — that her delicate frame was not such as could encounter the fatigues, hazards, and privations which were inevitable, from the total want of roads, and the desolation of a great part of the route by the Spaniards. Indeed, friendly admonitions and persuasions were so unceasing — that the perils attending las tierras montanoso y seco — los paramos frio — las lluvias pondero&os — VISIT TO COLOMBIA. US las noches peligrosos- — and las llanos acalarados — were so constantly rung in our ears, that, although there was really no exaggeration in the description, we found ourselves less disconcerted when the toils, privations, and fatigues, were realized, than we might have been, had they not been de- picted and reiterated with so much kindness and truth. Elizabeth had not, however, undertaken the journey to be deterred by those difficulties of which she had, from reading, anticipated before she set out, and her usual reply was, that she had her father and brother with her, that she could go any where they could go, and live upon whatever would subsist them. Indeed, her health, which had been feeble, and the restoration of which was a principal object of her undertaking the journey, had been already much improved ; and at all events, she said, separation from her father was out of the question. Accordingly we set about our prepa« ratioiiS. Travellers in distant countries, owe it to those who are to follow in the same route, to afford such information as may- enable them to provide against incoveniencies, of the mode best to be pursued to facilitate travelling, and to avoid what may be inconvenient. It is peculiarly necessary to be pre- pared in advance, in a country like South America, which may be said to exist now in the same state in which it came from the hand of creation. Travelling in Europe or Asia, is quite another son of affair. Europe may be traversed from one extreme to the other, in one or another kind of wheel carriage ; Hindustan may be traversed asleep or awake, in a palankeen,; without exerting a muscle ; and if the traveller thinks fit, he may read sitting or reclined, rest or move on, and is sure to meet with population and subsist- ence in abimdance every where, and at a small expence. In those countries where Spanish policy has arrested the activity of man, and palsied his genius, there are neither wheel carriages nor palankeens, the mule is the general 116 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. bearer of all burdens : it is therefore specially necessary t& understand the prices of mules, the mode of obtaining them for purchase or hire ; the kind of forage to be procured in different parts of the journey ; the kind of subsistence or provisions which may or may not be procured at different points of the route ; and to be prepared in advance where none is to be purchased; the money current in different parts of the country, and the probable amount requisite. And to render all these things acquirable, where the language is not well understood by the traveller, or even where it is, a person, as a guide, who understands the two languages, and is really acquainted with the route, and the mode of ob- taining what is necessary, is absolutely indispensable. For the same reason, (that is, because there are neither hotels nor beds,) a good hammock, and the best is always the cheapest ; the best in Colombia are made at Victo- ria, in the valley of Aragua ; yet, it may be more prudent to purchase at an advanced price in Caracas, than risk dis- appointment at Victoria. So it is with mules, the best kind are high priced at Caracas, and lower priced further inland, but they are not constantly for sale in small towns, being sent to the best market when they are for sale. The traveller in these countries, if he passes but a day's journey from the capital towns or cities, should not move without his hammock. Many persons affect to think that the traveller is effeminatb. who is anxious to provide for his comforts on the road. I can subsist on as plain and as little, food, and as rough cookery, as any man ; but if I can sustain my strength, secure a delicious sleep after fatigue, and snatch natural pleasure from the midst of difficulties and perils, I am not the less able or willing to undergo the hardships which are unavoidable. Too much care cannot be bestowed on the hammock, blanket, saddle, and saddle- crupper ; they are objects called for by economy and comfort, as well as by health and security. The hammock should be provided with VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 117 suitable cords properly fitted, and, I repeat, the best kind are the cheapest. The most commodious mode of carrying the hammock is rolled like a dragoon's cloak, and thrust into an endless bag adapted to its size when rolled, and the cords in the midst of the roll ; this bag keeps the hammock clean, and, if there should be rain, secures it from wet. A good blanket, folded, should cover th^ saddle, and serve, in case of rain, as a romero, or cloak ; and if the nights should be sharp and keenly cold, as we found them at St. Pedro, only one day's march from Caracas, and subsequently at Mucha- chees and Pamplona, the blanket is an invaluable part of the traveller's baggage. The traveller should make it a positive rule not to suffer his blanket or hammock to be transferred to the baggage mules for accommodation ; unavoidable ac- cidents or the waywardness of the muleteers may separate the traveller from his baggage mules ; in which case the muleteer will not fail to use them ; and the owner may the next night find himself sleeping with disagreeable company, A prudent traveller will not repent of providing himself with an ample oil-cloth cloak and hood, and at least two full capes over the shoulders. In our whole route, of 1274 miles, we encountered, out of shelter, only three showers ; I had anticipated and provided against this exigency, having procured a sufficient quantity of a good linen oil-cloth from M'Cauley, of Philadelphia. Lieutenant Bache preferred to convert his oil-cloth into a romero or poncho ^ as it is called in Chile ; it is no more than a square cloth with an aperture through its centre to admit the head ; one end hangs in front, and the other behind ; the breadth being ample, the shoul- ders, arms, and sides, are better covered than by a sleeve, while the arms are perfectly free for any required motion. It is common to use a blanket for a romero by the natives, but there are stuffs of wool, cotton, and fibrous substances, pe- culiar to the country, employed this way ; some are of very tasty colours, striped and checkered ; and, in some of the 118 YISIT TO COLOMBIA. districts, I have seen a kind of manufacture for romeros which I can compare with no article which it so much re- sembles as the hair-cloth with which we cover couches. But it was absolutely water-proof. The traveller should have a fair weather or light chip hat, and another for foul weather ; both sufficiently broad to shelter the head and face from, rain or sunshine. Senora Bolivar was so kind as to present me a hat made of the fibre of the Cuquisias, or Aloe, which was so well made as to serve me for all circumstances, not only to Bogota, but thence to Carthagena and home, in the worst weather ; and, in the hands of a skilful Indian, it might be now made a handsome article. The saddles and bridles fit for riding mules, should not be such as are used in riding horses : and the saddlery sent from some of our cities, besides being ill- adapted to the uses of the country, as far as I had an opportunity of seeing them, were by no means calculated to do credit to the workmanship or the morals of American manufacturers. They were un- suitable in pattern, and made so feeble, where they should be strong, as to render them unmerchantable, and to spoil the market. The British, more judicious, obtain information and patterns, and adapt the fabrication to the convenience and the use of the articles ; and unless the manufacturers of the United States provide suitable articles, they will have cause to complain of disappointment ; which, as on many other occasions, they make a matter of reproach to the country which they fail to abuse. The prices exacted are alike enormous, and the South Americans will, probably, be designated as bad customers, when they do not pay fifty or sixty dollars for a saddle that might be bought in any of our cities for seven or eight dollars. The saddle, for South America, should be high pommel, or peak and cantle, like the manege saddles of the Prussian school, and sometimes mistakenly called hussar saddles. The nature of the country, steep ascents and abrupt de- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 119 scents, render them not merely comfortable, but more safe than the plain English fashioned hunting saddle. The crupper staples, and the cruppers, should be of triple the strength required on a level country ; and the girths, sur- cingle, and martingal, or breast-band, should be stout, and strongly affixed by firm swivel staples to the front of the saddie-tree ; and spare girths in the baggage will not be re- pented. The buckles of the horse-equipments, if made merely to sell, may sell too dear, as they put human life to hazard. The pack, or cushion of the saddle for the horse of sixteen or seventeen hands high, with a broad round back, cannot be suitable for the back of any, even the largest rid- ing mules. Two days' journey would ruin the best mule,, with the horse saddle. The pads, or cushions, should be very full and well stuffed, so that the spine of the animal shall not be touched by any part of it. For the same rea- son portmanteaus, or even a pad with a cloak, cannot be carried on the mule, behind the rider, unless he rides in the Spanish cavalry saddle, of which the tree sends out two limbs behind the cande, three or four inches higher than the mule's back ; we had one of those saddles in our party, which would be a good pattern, even for the travellers of the United States, as these limbs afford an easy space for a light portmanteau, without touching the animal's back. The strength of the bit and bridle is alike necessary, for, although in riding the mule in ordinary, on the plain, or the steep, or the descending declivity, the safest course of the rider is to hold a loose rein ; there are cases -in which the mule will require the pressure of the bit, and the rider's hand, which experience only can teach ; inefficient means, in such circumstances, often involve destruction. The large Spanish bit is in universal use, and, though of a contrary opi- nion before this occasion, I acknowledge my conviction of its importance, indeed, of its indispensable necessity. The rowels of the spur, in general use, are universal, and prove 120 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. to be the masters of the manege ; the mule is not obedient without them : when satisfied of their necessity, I mounted them, and I found that it was not necessary always to use them, as is required with our small rowelled spurs, constantly, with some horses of a bad temper. The attire of panniers, and ropes for baggage- mules, are always provided by those who hire out the mules — the pilfering of curb chains, ropes, horse- halters, spurs, and other loose articles, are as much the objects of thievery among muleteers, as among the hostlers and jockies of other countries. The domestic or attendant should be responsible for such things. A good map of the country, and the best itineraries of the proposed route, are highly useful. The best maps current, it is true, are very deficient, and some extremely erroneous ; but none of them can mislead as to the general face of the country, or the relative positions of the principal cities, towns^ and rivers. I had been in possession of much matter of this kind be- fore, but in Caracas I procured a copy of an itinerary, which I found to be most exact and useful ; it was that of the Ca- non of Chile, Jose Cortes Madrigada, in the year 1811-12. He marked his morning hour of departure; his breakfasting stage, his dining stage, and where he slept, and the computed distance of each day's journey ; which last, though the only uncertain part of the itinerary, I shall preserve, and give the exact copy in the .appendix No. I. Another itinerary of a military officer. No. II, which will serve to compare with the first, is also given ; as I am speaking of itineraries, I shall give the route from Bogota by the Magdalena, No. Ill, with such other information of the same kind, as I transcribe my jour- nal, and such illustrations as may render them useful. The traveller may find in Colombia, what is not unfre- quent in what are called old countries, a constant contra- diction as to the distance between places, as he will seldom find two whom he may inquire of on the route, who vvill agree VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 121 within two or three, or half a dozen miles ; and the last to be trusted in this particular are the muleteers generally, and some of the alcaldes, both of whom have sometimes an in- terest in adding to or taking away from the account. Some notes of the various modes of stating or estimating, or gues- sing the distances in leagues, will be given in another place. The mention of alcaldes renders it proper to notice the re- lation in which they stand to travellers. The title answers to the general term magistrate, but that particular office referred to is the alcaldes of cities and towns, whose functions em- brace local police, the administration of justice summarily in the lesser districts of civil administration, and, as part of the duties of police, the protection of strangers. It is to the alcaldes (where the place is not exclusively a military post) that application is to be made for the supply of mules, and for lodgings, which the alcalde is not bound to provide in any other way than to issue his orders ; and I have been told that the alcalde is bound to keep a registry of mules within the boundsof his jurisdiction, and from these he orders in rota- tion the number required, leaving it to him for whose use they are, to agree upon the compensation. There is usually a market rate or price per number of leagues ; and here, if the muleteer and the alcalde have an understanding, the route becomes more or less long or short, as the traveller appears to be uninformed. Gil Bias, in relation to muleteers, is no fiction ; those of Spain have their pendants in South America, though it is no more than truth to say, that there is less of knavery of that class among the alcaldes in Colombia than in Spain, though I have met a few who would rival the worst of them. I have found more than twenty to one, fair, honour- able, and obliging men. The exigencies of the revolution, which rendered it im- practicable to give the institutions of Colombia a new orga- nization in all the necessary details, went no farther in chang- ing the municipal and social forms, than became indispensa- 16 122 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. ble to the good order of society. The administrative power retained the same gradations. Cities, towns, and villages, which are the concerns with which we have here to do, were, as in former times, governed, some by a military comman- der, others by cabildos or corporations, who were elective, and in which the alcaldes were chosen by the cabildos ; some villages and towns had their alcaldes, first, second, third, and even a fourth, where the population required them. The functions of the alcalde more remarkably resemble those of the Cauze in Asia than our mayor; for, besides his authority in matters of police and small affairs of a pecuniary nature, which he decides summarily, he is the guardian of the police, and the director of all matters that are not exercised by authorities of a higher degree, such as judges and military commanders ; with their jurisdiction he does not interfere ; but all that they have not authority to do, he has authority to perform under the recognized laws and customs. When we were about to proceed on our route, as pass- ports continued to be necessary from the then state of war, we applied to the superior power, and obtained our passport; the next recourse was to the alcalde ; for there is at Ca- racas a military governor, chief alcalde and subordinate al- caldes de barrio, or alcaldes of wards. The application to the alcalde specifies the number of per- sons, principals and domestics, and riding mules required, and for each load of baggage, a mule; the destination to be mentioned, and the time proposed to set out. The alcalde's duty is to order mules, and to see that they be provided. Each alcalde keeps a registry of the mules in his jurisdic- tion, which is of advantage to the public, to the traveller, and to the owner of the mules ; for, as the purpose of keep- ing mules is for hire, though the call for mules may be oc- casionally an inconvenience to the owner ; yet, when they are required for travellers, the charge is usually more than when called forth on the public service or private mercantile VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 123 transport. No fee is paid for passports under the republic ; it was otherwise under the monarchy, and frequently a source of great vexation and exaction. When the alcalde's order issues, the ariero (or mule owner) presents himstif and makes his bargain — and the price, though there is a custo- mary price per number of leagues, is also influenced by the apparent quality, or the ignorance of the language, or any exigence or eagerness manifested by the traveller to get for- ward. The muleteers, owners and drivers, are usually as shrewd, and sometimes as knavish, as the itinerant assistants in other countries. We purchased four prime mules at S160, 150, 120, 110, one for each of us to ride, and the fourth as a relief mule, which we did with mature advisement, and found, upon ex- perience, the pecuniary advantage, as well as the comfort, in following the advice, in passing the " antres vast and de- serts wild" of the Andes. We required a man to provide food and forage, and cook, and, as the stealing of mules from travellers was not unfrequent during the war, it was prefer- able to hire a servant to take care of them, than risk the loss of a mule in the deserts, remote from places where mules might be, or not be, procurable. We procured two per- sons for these purposes. As chocolate is not only a nutri- tious but refreshing beverage, and easily prepared after the manner of the country, the traveller should ascertain the dis- tance he may have to travel, and the quantity of chocolate and other things required daily for the required distance ; bread, where it is to be had ; poultry and eggs may be pur- chased on the road; but where the war has depopulated ex- tensive districts, and the forests and mountains present vast intervals uninhabited ; the value of a guide and the accuracy of his knowledge are beyond price. For the first hundred miles, or from Caracas through the valley of Aragua, pro- visions are to be had at very moderate prices, as the towns and villages are numerous, and ever, after the war were opulent, 124 VISIT TO COLOMIJIA. when we passed through, though the marks of the deso- lation of war were very evident. Fine fruit, particularly oranges, and sweet bananas, are abundant, wholesome, and cheap ; and it will be very prudent, where they are plenty, to provide in advance. No wine is to be had but in pri- vate houses ; but we found no inconvenience from the scarcity ; those who require it must carry it ; but the cost and damage will too probably overbalance the gratification or use expected. New milk may be had on the road, but as the cows are never milked but once a day, and the calf always attends the cow, and the richness of the pastures ren- ders the milk not so mild and palatable as in our temperate climate, it will be always prudent to boil or dilute it with water ; but to use little in the warm plains, though we have often taken it fresh from the cow, equal in sweetness, and palatable as our own : butter is not to be had but in the capital cities. The edible roots of the country are fine, va- rious, and abundant in every inhabited place. The lading of the mules is a very important consideration ; if a mule be overladen, the traveller is retarded in his pro- gress, or the mule may break down where no other is to be had — so that not only delay and expense, but loss of baggage may be the consequence. The usual and fairest load required by the muleteer is about 250 pounds weight. The best mode of carrying baggage is in two leather trunks, (all leather, with good locks and keys) — so that the weight may be equally distributed. The mules furnished on hire are not always the best, and it requires to guard against this contingency. An acquaintance with the language is of the greatest advantage, as well for obtaining provisions, as for a knowledge of the right road. As far as San Carlos, it is open, spacious, and well marked by the beaten track of mules, who concentrate in that neighbourhood, or between that city and Valencia, on the route to Puerto Cabello, the Valley of Aragua, or Caracas. After leaving that city, on the routes VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 125 south-west or north-west, the country becomes wild, and the courses perplexed. A knowledge of the language may ena- ble the traveller to obtain directions, but without this know- ledge, an homhre de provechoy or purveyor, to procure subsistence and forage, to wait upon the alcaldes, to guard against imposition, and to perform domestic services, is in- dispensable ; a stranger may very easily, or almost to a cer- tainty, go astray, if he moves at all. We had found a native of Caracas, who called himself Manuel, recommended him- self by an assurance that he had been a domestic of the liber- tador's, and said he was perfectly acquainted with the whole route, that no man understood better than himself the care of mules or horses, and that he would ask no more than eight dollars a month, to which we agreed. A St. Domingo negro applied under the name of John, who said he knew every thing, and had been every where, cooked a fricasee as well as any Frenchman, and spoke Spanish, French, and English, like a native. We found, very soon, that Manuel's name was Vincente, and that John's name was Pedro; that neither of them had ever been beyond Truxillo ; but both turned out to be excellent cooks, and altogether not bad servants. Pedro's English was not good, but his Spanish was negocia- ble. Their ignorance of the road was, by an accidental oc- currence, rendered to us unnecessary, as will be seen on our leaving Valencia. Although we had no cause to complain of danger or mo- lestation on the whole route, we were advised, and indeed I had anticipated the advice, to go armed ; and to assume a military appearance, which, however, had its inconveniences. The state of war had sent abroad many vagabonds, but as lieutenant Bache and myself, and our domestics, wore sabres, and we had good pistols in display, and gained an auxiliary on the way, probably our state of preparation may not have been useless. 126 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. The mules are unladen whenever the traveller halts to dine or sleep ; if in the forest, on the paramo, the plains, or the side of a rivulet, and the country is every where exuberantly watered, the servant in charge, of the mules forms them into a circle, and each mule must have a strong halter for the purpose. The forage is placed before them, and the fire is made and the food prepared the while. A trunk formed our table, and others formed our chairs, and in this way we have partaken of a most deUghtful breakfast, dinner, or sup- per ; sometimes, in the warmer regions, hanging our ham- mocks on the trees of the forest, and taking a sweet sleep in the pure air arid the shade of the trees. Our feast, on such occasions, consisted of poultry and eggs, cooked according to the judicious caprices of our coc'mcro. Eggs and poul- try are standing articles — sometimes we purchased a kid ; one of our people skinned, and displayed it ; what was not wanted for the instant was tied, exposed to the open air, and carried in that manner untainted, there being none of those flies which injure meat in other climates. Vessels of more than a pint measure are common in the country for prepar- ing chocolate, but it would be prudent to be provided with good tin vessels, knives, forks, and spoons ; all that I had proposed to provide was not completed — I had committed to a friend the charge of this provision of these conveniencies, but my friend, as he afterwards with great simplicity ac- knowledged, had not provided knives, forks, or spoons, be- cause he concluded that wherever meat or soup were to be had, those instruments would naturally be found also ; the earthen platter of the country, and the cooking utensils of red pottery, supplied the place of utensils more refined ; and the calabash shell furnished us with turtiimas^ of various sizes for water-cups, soup-basons, milk-cups, and even substitutes for spoons ; they served to sip our chocolate or coffee in the midst of the forests, our lemonade in the mid- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 127 day, and our punch when no better beverage was to be had but the raw milk of the paramos ; and good wine, when it could be had, lost none of its flavour by being drank out of a calabash cup. The traveller will often have use for a good sharp toma- hawk, which may be hung in an eye-strap at the bow of the saddle ; if he is under the necessity of sleeping in the woods, or making a fire for the cookery ; or if he wishes to hang his hammock conveniently for a fellow-traveller, or near his mules, the tomahawk saves time as well as promotes com- fort. A flint and tinder-box, and steel, with matches, serve the same purposes of facility and efficiency in travelling ac- commodation, and without them he may go to his hammock supperless, or sufl'er privation in addition to fatigue. The 13th of November was devoted to visiting and taking leave of our kind friends, completing our equipments, and preparing for our departure on the follov*'ing morning. 128 CHAPTER IX. Leave Caracas on the fourteenth of November — friendly cavalcade— bank of the Guayra — venerable family of Toro — Antimano — pass La Vieja^ — reach Las Juntas-.-the junction of the San Pedro and Macaro with the Guayra— halt at SLpulpureia — first taste of domestic cookery — country articles — a posada or tavern for muleteers — the social economy — a r^resco — ordered without garlic in vain — moderate charges — refresco a fine subject of fun at parting — the heights of Higuerota — Bonavista — ^^view of Caracas — excavated road — a fine specimen of asbestos — General Paez and suite — meet young troops — above the clouds — appearance — Bolivar the theme of songs every where — laborious and dangerous descent — forsake the clouds, and see the verdant eai'th — the deep blue canopy appears — warmer atmosphere — reach San Pedro — adventures there — piercing cold night— Sacristy of the Church — hang up our hammocks— effigy of the virgin — no disturbance all night — moved through Loxas— more soldiers — characteristics of — Cuquisias — CoDsejo — halt to refresh —the river Tuy, its course. — Valley of Aragua — appearances — lodged — order of our establishment — hospitality— hammocks how hung—moved early the sixteenth — appearance of the country — flowering shrubs — mountain range — peculiar features of — limpid rills, — San Mateo. — Estate of the President Bol- ivar — fine sugar-mill, and plantation— halt there — entertained. Our departure on the moming of the fourteenth had col- lected, according to the usage of the country, a numerous cavalcade of our friends, with the intention of escorting us out of town, as had been done at our coming. The route lies over the Garaguata, by the ample bridge before noticed, and leads through a spacious street in the quarter of St. Juan, to a considerable distance beyond the regular line of the streets ; the road had been paved three or four miles be- yond the inhabited range, and had a gradual ascent ; but the advantage of good paving was here manifest, in the ex- cavation of the road by rains, where the pavement had been broken up ; the firm pavement standing on its first surface a foot or eighteen inches above the surface now washed away, which had been forrqerly a part of the same causeway. We soon reached the plunging current of the Garaguata, the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 129 neighbourhood of Antimano, seven miles from Caracas, em- bosomed in verdant hills, and rich in its tillage ; after a tem- porary halt, to pay our respects to the venerable general To- re and his family, who resided there, we soon crossed the Guayra, leaving the small hamlet of La Vega on our right, as we entered the little valley of Antimano ; and reached Las Juntas, or the junction ; the little river Macaro, and the less rivulet of San Pedro, here uniting with the gur- gling Guayra, plunging in its descent over a bed of small rocks, and bounded by many rocks of more magnitude. Las Juntas is about twelve miles from Caracas, somewhat elevated above the valley ; there are but a few houses, the principal of which is a pulpureia^ literally a huckster-shop^ in which the ordinary articles of vinegar, oil, candles, lard, seeds, and garlic, are sold, and where we had our first spe- cimen of the entertainment, cookery, and guarapa, with which we were to be thenceforward regaled ; for there was a posada or country tavern contiguous, or rather part of the pulpureia. Here our friends alighted about nine o'clock, Groupes of muleteers and mules were busy in taking their refresco, and I had much amusement in witnessing the cu- riosity and wonder of my young fellow-travellers, and I shall describe, once for all, the interior, the entertainment, and the accommodations of a pulpureia and a posada ; for the manners and entertainment at this place, so near the city, was such as prevails among the most distant population. The establishment consistedof a long thatched or tiled shed, parallel with the road ; one half of the front was open to man and beast, the other half presented a long counter, upon which were displayed, as the principal commodity, a multitude of ropes of garlic, strings of sausages, and puddings of formida- ble magnitude, and through their thin transparent coats re- vealing the excellencies of the fat and the lean pork, and the garlic, of which they were fashioned out in nearly equal quantities ; they were rather dusky resemblances of the 17 130 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. columns of the Capitol, in the variety of their shades ; coils of Tajo, that is ropes of dried beef, concerning which 1 shall speak hereafter ; tallow candles hung against the wall ; and the other merchandize were disposed, without much regard to shew or order, on massy shelves. The pulpero vv^as em- ployed very busily in serving his rapid succession of cus- tomers, while an assistiente^ stationed at a large jar of some twenty gallons measure, served out to his class of customers a liquid which my turn had not yet come to taste ; it was Guarapa, and when I come to relate how partial I came to be to this fermented liquor (when nothing else could be had), the future traveller may anticipate, however deli- cate his palate or choice in his liquors, that he will cer- tainly find himself in a position to render Guarapa desira- ble. Our friends, resolving to enjoy the first effects of the fine light air, into which we had ascended, ordered a refresco for us and company ; and, desirous of partaking of the good things of the new world, gravely directed it should be the best, and without garlic. I suppose my articulation rendered my injunctions unintelligible, for we were shewn into what may be called a room, because there was a space of about seven feet by six ; a sort of old door on a truck about four feet from the floor, which was intended for the table j there was only one chair, and that had lost half a leg, per- haps in the war ; a large wooden dish was placed on the ta- ble, as I may call it ; some of us contrived means to place ourselves in a position for the attack on the salt pork junks, from which issued vapour and perfume of garlic, quite enough to satisfy curiosity. I tasted it, and it was actually- well cui'ed with salt, and if the dish had been something, to appearance, cleaner, and the garlic dispensed with, I could have made a good breakfast of it. Finding that chocolate and some eggs could be had in the pulpurem, and some Caracas bread, this I preferred to the casava, which v/as VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 131 brought to table in a pile, with some cups of tolerable Ca- taloiiia, we continued to finish our refresco — without very much reducing the contents of the wooden dish. If the table was not covered with delicacies, the charge was moderate ; and we prepared to separate from our friends, who partook with us in the pleasure, and the fun produced at our feast. We mounted, and pursued our way up the winding ravine, which forms the road to the mountain of Higiierota, and reached Buenavista, said to be five thou- sand icet above the ocean, from whence we had a delightful vie vv of Caracas. The morning was charming, and luxuri- antly refreshing ; and we frequently turned round to take a last look at a city where we had found so many friends, parta- ken of so much kindness and hospitality ; and winding our way, indicated by our silence the emotions and anticipations of the past and the future. The ascent had been here graduated by labour into a spacious road, of sixty feet broad, the sides, impending banks of earth. Lieut. Bache discovered some specimens o^ asbes- tos of considerable length of fibre, which was in great abun- dance. Soon afterwards a number of youths with musquets met us as we descended the mountain ; and soon after a general officer and his suite, dashing desperately down the steep descent ; it was general Paez, who simply touched his hat to us without halting. We soon after met a numerous detachment of soldiers, marching without order towards Caracas ; and from a sub-officer, whom I addressed, learned who they were that passed us, and that the troops he was with, were principally recruits marching to the depot ; and with more than usual communicativeness, observed that the general was not going to Caracas with troops for nothing. We were soon involved in a thick mist, which to the first seeming had fallen upon us, but in fact the clouds were suspended in an horizontal range, that left an unclouded space beneath, out of which we ascended, and entered the stratum 132 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, of clouds ; from which we very soon emerged again into a bright sun, and, while or heads appeared to reach above the clouds, our bodies were yet involved in the shade. This moment of immersion presented a most sublime spec- tacle ; we seemed to stand upon an island in a vast, but tranquil ocean ; no part of the country was visible but the summit of the long ridge along which we travelled ; and the sides of its really steep precipices appeared to be but the shores of the sea; while our course above the horizon of that sea, was in a bright but not offensive light. The ridges of Los Teques, which border on, and separate this ridgt from the Caribbean sea,were not discernible, though unquestionably higher than the upper surface of this cloudy horizon ; we passed a posada, where muleteers were carousing, and the name of Bolivar was, as usual, the burden of their song. Having passed the summit, and commenced our descent, we now seemed to enter a veil of vapour, which continued to involve us a considerable way down. The road on the summit was a level well beaten track, our route now was through a rugged ravine, the surface, partly covered with a rubble of angular stones ; the earth, which was a grey gritty clay, had been washed away, and knolls of a more adhesive yellow earth were left standing in the road ; which rendered the descent not only fatiguing but dangerous, and I found it it prudent, in passing some of those knolls, to throw my- self off my mule, rather than risque worse consequences, which I accomplished without any unpleasantness besides. We had now descended below the stratum of clouds once more, and could enjoy, with great satisfaction, the richly verdant country, now and then illuminated by a sunbeam breaking through the clouds. The vapour on a sudden cleared entirely away, and the deep blue canopy was unspot- ted, but the atmosphere became warmer with the sunbeams, and the sierra stood in dark sublimity, on our right, ranging from west to east ; and the mountains we had passed seem- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 133 ed to turn their backs upon the sun, and fling their long sha- dows obhquely across the valley. We had sauntered above the clouds without any other thoughts than those which were produced by the grandeur and beauty of the scenes before us ; but the difficulties of the descent retarded us so much, that it was an hour after night set in before we gained the brow of the deep valley of San Pedro, computed to be about thirty miles from Caraccas. We had here some new experience of the importance of good servants. Vincente, being a native of the country, was dispatched in advance to seek the alcalde, procure accom- modations, and refreshments. This valley, though very deep, has its line of direction apparently from north to south, and a piercing cold air passed through it, which we felt the more, as we were much fatigued, hungry, and in need of repose. Having descended to the village, Pedro found a posada, which we entered, and there found that Vincente had ordered a supper : two wooden dishes were laid on a table containing some rank sausages, two cold roast fowls, one of which had been winged by some preceding sharp-shooter ; some coarse bread, and two bottles of muddy Catalonia wine. The in- variable fragrance of Spanish cookery was not yet so fami- liar as to find acceptance, even with keen appetites ; as before, we shifted with the bread and bad wine, which, as a substitute for the dead stock, was to us as welcome as Bur- gundy. We however obtained some chocolate, and were as content as if our entertainment had been luxurious. Vincente had not succeeded in finding the alcalde ; but Pedro had obtained some bundles of young sugar cane, which came from the warm valleys, and is the common food of mules, as barley is the forage of the cooler regions, as well as molocha, that is, the stalks of maize in that state before they shoot out ears. The maize in grain is also given for food. Vincente at length returned with an order for quarters, and it was no other than the sacristy of the village church, which 134j visit to COLOMtilA. we had left half a mile above the village as we descended. The domestics having procured a torch, v\'e soon entered the church yard, which, under the circumstances of novelty in which we were, had a strange and ludicrous appearanct. Our baggage mules, with a torch, led the way, we followed in Indian file, the lieutenant first, Elizabeth next, and I brought up the rear ; another torch came soon after. The piety of the concerned in the church had placed on the stone pillars of the fence which surrounded the place a number of human skulls ; the sacristy stood at the north or extreme end, and thus we passed to our appointed quarters. The sacristy was about twenty feet in length, and twelve or thirteen in breadth, and adjacent was another smaller room ; we hung up our three hammocks for the first time here, and Elizabeth's ham- mock being placed in the middle, our two domestics, and the muleteer who was attached to the baggage mules, occu- pied a corridor, where they slept on cow-hides, having made a fire in front as a security for the mules, for which forage had been provided for the night. The cold during this night was intense, notwithstanding a figure of the Virgin, large as life, but rather ordinary in costume, stood at the end of the chamber in which we slept. It was our purpose to move before five in the morning of the 15th, but we could not get the mules laden at that time, and having in the mean while procured some chocolate for our road stock, we moved off about seven o'clock, ascended the mountain of Cuquisias, passing through the village of Loxas without halting ; ascended through another water- worn ravine, and were passed by about two hundred soldiers straggling slowly towards Caracas, the greater portion of whom appear- ed to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, but full of heed- less gaiety. Their cheerfulness and alacrity surprized me ; the muskets they carried were of the London Tower pattern, and must have weighed nine or ten pounds ; they wore cross belts, cartridge boxes, and bayonets; a leather japanned cap, a VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 135 shirt and pantaloons of oznaburgs, and a jacket of duck or Russia, which once had coloured facings. They had none of them shoes, but several wore a sort of sandal called pa- ragattas. About two miles farther west, where there was a level road, we met a corps of about the same number march- ing in good order in double files ; and after them, at various distances, several women, some on foot, and some mounted with the military accompaniments for cooking, and as usual, young children. We entered Cuquizias at half past ten, and here took some of the country beverage called chichay and eat a luncheon from our own stock. The village of Cuquizias consists of not more than a dozen cottages, scattered on the ridge which it occupies ; the sum- mit is prolonged in a south-west and north-east direction, and is no where more than 100 to 150 yards in breadth; the sides are steep and precipitous — the plains, on each side, present the most exquisite pictures of nature; di- versified by cultivation, and hamlets scattered at unequal distances. We reached Consejo, at the foot of Cuquizias, at twenty-five minutes past one, and the heat of the day in- duced us to halt and refresh there — as we were now within a short distance of several towns. We halted at a well-or- dered puipureia, where there was an active traffic in pur- chase and sale ; I slung up my hammock, at the invitation of the hospitable pulpero, in the spacious store, which ap- peared to be a central resort from the surrounding country. He was an obliging man, he presented my daughter some excellent bananas and oranges; and, with some wine, we found ourselves, by three o'clock, fit to march. The pul- pero would not accept any remuneration ; he was frank, po- lite, and communicative, and, on being informed we were North Americans, his fine black eyes appeared to scintillate — he took some pains to direct us, and appeared much inte- rested in us. Visit to Colombia^ The river Tuy passes under a rude wooden bridge, elose to the pulpureia ; a limpid stream, having its source in the valley of San Pedro, about thirty feet broad, winds from the north- east, chattering over its pebbled bed ; and, turning oft be- fore us to the west, holds its way at the foot of the group of Cuquizias, which here presents a receding slope on the south side of the luxuriant valley which it irrigates, and gives life, and beauty, and vigor to the plantations of sugar-cane, that occupy its sides ; when again winding round the base of this group of these ever-green mountains, takes a direction south, variably south-east, and meandering through the val. leys of Tocata, Cura, Sabanade Ocumare, St. Lucia, and The- resa, unites the volume of its accumulating waters with the Guayra ; and affords, among the other benefits of its beauti- ful stream, water sufficient for the navigation of small boats, upon which the excellent cacao, coffee, sugar, and other pro- ductions of the course which it fertilizes, are transported to the neighbourhood of Cape Codera, and is by light craft thence diffused along the coast east and west, where cargoes are made up. The Tuy, and the Tuyco, which falls into the Gulf of Triste, west of Puerto Cabello, are the only rivers between Barbaruta, west of Puerto Cabello, and the Yara- cuy, in Cumana, that are navigable. The Tuy is susceptible of considerable improvement, by the mere application of ma- nual labour to the removal of the obstructions formed by the accumulations of forest trees, which have been deposit- ed by iloods, and which produce most pernicious inunda^ tions, in seasons when the rains are more than usually heavy in the mountains, whose waters are concentrated in its mean- dering bed. The Spanish authorities, in 1803, caused Pe- dro Caranga, a skilful engineer, to make a survey and report on the practicability of improving the Tuy, with a view to revenue, by preventing those desolations by flood, which repeatedly destroyed many rich plantations. His report shew- ed, not only the greater advantages, but the little expense or VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 137 difficulty required to accomplish it ; but the Caracas influ- ence, calculating that they must be ruined, if the adjacent valleys prospered, the affair was buried in the archives, until a more generous and wise judgment was directed to it since the revolution ; believing that the improvement and enrich- ment of any part of the same country must, under a liberal system of government, benefit the whole, it continues to be one of the objects upon which the public providence will act, now that peace and independence admit the faculties of the republic to be taken from war and directed to economy. The Tuy forms the line of separation from the valley of Ara- gua and the road lying on its right bank, until it suddenly winds off to the south within a few miles of Victoria. From my own observations, I believe the Tuy and lake of Valen- cia may be united and rendered navigable. Our mules had abundance of fodder, and, after a hearty repast of molocha^ sweetened oft' their meal with the most delicate green sugar canes, and on this, as on many other oc- casions, we found the benefits of such good provender in the proportionate alacrity of our mules. This part of the valley of Aragua presented a different as- pect from that of the city of Caracas — the space was not here a uniformly flat extensive plain, but consisted of what we should call rolling ground, hills and dales, in which light and shade gave infinite diversity of field and fruit, deep and dark verdure relieved the foreground, and the enamelled leaves of numerous plants cast forth a tremulous light, giving the whole that kind of effect which the bright tints of Chi- nese pictures yield, while the receding shade of the hills in the distance, south-east and south, presented a line which appeared orderly, well defined, and unbroken ; but this was the illusion of distance and indistinctness ; we had in a few days after a demonstration both of the enormous elevation and broken texture of thes<^ spurs of the Cordillera, which 18 138 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. appeared as airy and light as the lace on a lady's morning cap. After half an hour's ride along the brink of the pebbled bed of the Tuy, it disappeared in the opening of an appa- rently narrow chasm ; but our route continued nearly a dead level. Sugar, indigo, maize, and cacao plantations, and vast fields of maize covered all within the range of our ob- servation I cultivation was both active and prosperous, and, did not a brighter sky and the presence of tropical plants arrest the impression, we might suppose ourselves in Pennsylvania at harvest time. It was half past five, and being recommended by a friend to spend a day with an officer resident at Victoria, we sent Vincent forward, who soon found the place; the officer however had gone on a visit to Achaguas, a kind of Mont- pelier ; but the house-keeper, on presenting ourselves, threw open the doors, prayed us to alight and walk in, and without waiting for an answer, directed the servants to the corals and how to provide forage. The coral is simply a yard or en- closure for horses, mules, or other animals, and, as there is no ingress or egress from any house, but through the one gate, the coral comes within the domestic precincts, and animals are kept without danger of going or being led astray. We had entered Victoria by the Calle de Colombia, which lies north and south ; it is the main street. The external appearance of the houses is cleanly, neat, and handsome ; though there are none of more than one story, they are lofty and spacious, as is most suitable in a warm climate. The white-washing outside and inside I found to be here a stated periodical practice ; and there were numerous shops, in which, like the stores in our interior, were exhibited and sold all sorts of commodities, food, raiment, and frippery. We had already found it expedient, though small as our corps was, to distribute and assign duties, so that no excuse for neglects should be shifted ; to Vincent was assigned, as a VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 139 native, and having something of personal vanity about him, to be our agent vidth the alcaldes, in the business of mules, quarters, and whatever appertained to him. To Pedro was as- signed the purveyorship and cookery. The first step in quar- ters was to select the positions for our hammocks, so that Elizabeth should have the most suitable place, and ours be so contiguous as to leave no cause of apprehension. After the hanging of the hammocks, the standing order was chocolate immediately, and as it is consumed by all descriptions, and made up in balls ready sweetened, the operation does not require more than five minutes, as a single boiling with a due agitation in the process is sufficient. We therefore took care to be provided against any scarcity that might happen in our route ; but the trusty domestic had acted in the way I presume her master. Major M'Laughlin, was accustomed to do ; chocolate was presented to us before Pedro could provide his boilers. That we should not tax the civility of the domestic in her master's absence, we had directed Pedro to prepare a good ragout of fowls, and no one certainly could do it better ; but the domestic appeared to think her- self outwitted, perhaps her services disparaged, and resolved to be even with the cook, by laying some ready prepared rice-milk, eggs, and wheaten bread, with some decanters of excellent wine on the table. These little incidents are given, not because they are particularly important, but it is because they indicate the character and manners of society. Eggs and omelets, spinach and other vegetables, entered into the routine of our travelling fare ; and sometimes mutton, kid, and very well cured salt pork, made a further variety. It may be proper in this place to notice a particular that might not be anticipated by a stranger. In building houses, where the climate is warm, and hammocks the most convenient and comfortable mode of going to rest, stout iron rings are af- fixed in an eye bolt or swivel, about ten feet from the ground on the opposite sides of the sleeping-rooms ; cords for sling. 140 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. ing are usually purchased with the hammock j and, as there is a little knavery in all trades, there is some skill required in choosing such cords, and it is a part of the knavery of muleteers and others, to appropriate such cords, if care be not taken in putting up the hammock to roll it firm, and place the cords in the inside. The hammock usually hangs, when occupied, about three or four feet from the floor ; higher according to inclination. Certainly, in a climate where acute cold is unknown, no bed is so comfortable as a hammock after a few days habitude. We were mounted and on our march, before six o'clock on the 15th, in the splendid valley of Aragua; the space oc- cupied by the whole range of vision appeared a level plain, here and there diversified by clumps of lofty trees, a fantas- tic thicket clothed in flowers of brilliant tints, but particu- larly the morning glorify which, in different places, assumed different colours, so that I have seen in some of the coffee plantations desolated by the Spaniards, the elegant cones that had escaped, covered with this beautiful sycophant ; the diflPerent trees with different colours from the rest ; and this beautiful dress of the wild tufts and low shrubs conti- nued where the temperature was the same, through our whole journey. The hedges were formed by the accidental direction of a mule track, which seemed as if like quicksets they had been planted by art, and all wore this brilliant livery. The mountains, in the valley of Caracas, bore a strange- ness of figure and order, that I had not seen in any other part of the world ; this dissimilarity became in the valley of Aragua, and as far as the extent of the range east of Barquisimeto, more remarkable, and such as I had not seen described by any writer, so as to leave an impression of the characteristic forms, and their conformity in a long range ; I shall give my impressions hereafter. The rivulets which crossed our path, flowing from the chain on our right which separated us from the ocean, were numerous and re^ VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 141 ireshing, limpid, cool, and murmuring; they led their way to the rich plantations which filled the spaces on our left; our route being west of south, variably a point more or less west of south. One of those rills, more loud and gurgling than its neigh- bours, attracted our notice ; it was quarrelling with a small brick arch of excellent mason work, but either the workman did not fit the stream, or the stream had outgrown the arch, end seemed to wrangle for a passage. The water which is- sued from beneath the arch, now spread into more than a dozen small rivulets, and wound their way round the foot of a projecting mound or spur of the mountain, which also in- tercepted our view to the south. A very spacious, though rather dilapidated building, sur- rounded by a wall of pita, stood on the brow of the hill which the road separated from its main stock ; the building had certainly been battered by the war, and violence had thrown some parts down ; it still indicated some former opu- lence ; it was as commodious as our Pennsylvania barns, and though we could not discover what it had been, or to whom it belonged, from the passing muleteers, our progress brought us into a position which opened to our view, a quar- ter of a mile below, an immense field of sugar cane, which appeared to cover the plain as far as the eye could reach ; beneath the foot of the hill which we were now descending, appeared a busy scene, crowds of men and mules coming and going from a group of buildings which bore the aspect of freshness and prosperity ; at the north-east angle of the spacious sugar field, the valley appeared about two miles broad, and a handsome river flowed on its south-east side to the eastward ; the extent in the prolongation could not be less than four or five miles, I was told five. We descended to the valley, and found this scene of activity, which did not cease for several hours that we halted there, was a sugar- mill, from which the mules were carrying away loaves of 143 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, fine white sugar, of much greater magnitude than is usual with us ; the loaves were placed in bags, and the bags slung across the mules. The road at the bottom wound off to the south round a steep but not very elevated hill, on the sum- mit of which stood a handsome pavilion, which, though not in entire ruin, was in some respects shattered, and to appearance uninhabited ; the style of the building was tasty and neat ; the fences in its rear were in ruin also, and showed vi^here a spa- cious garden had once stood, now disordered with wild weeds, and desolate to the foot of the forest which clothed the moun- tain to the summit ; it was San Mateo, the estate and pavi- lion of Bolivar, and the battered venitians and walls perfo- rated with bullets still remaining, showed who had disfi- gured this beautiful place. Senora x\ntonia Bolivar had written to Senor Martin Duran, the major-domo of the pre- sident, to receive us as her friends ; it was kind, but he would have done so himself; the spirit of the owner per- vades every thing at San Mateo. We halted here till four a'clock. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. M8 CHAPTER X. Some account of San Jtlateo — the Major-Domo an intelligent raan— our enter- tainment — the scene of the gallant self-immolation of Ricaute — the economy of the sugar mill — the sugar fine — an unceasing demand — anecdote — dinner — the pavilion— the barbarian Boves— historical facts— Tulmero—Maracayo— our arrival anticipated and quarters provided — industry proverbial here — wise conduct of the government to soldiers* widows and orphans — leave Maracay — ■ lake of Valencia—pass of La Cabrera— various historical events there — attempt to assassinate Paez — frustrated by a child. Coming upon the view of this scene, without being aware where we were, was certainly an augmentation of the plea- sure. Had we been prepared, the reputation of the owner would be the predominating impression on the judgment ; that litde area which had attracted notice, if it had been known to be the work of Bolivar, and that those streams which issued and wound round the hill, and formed a pro- longed and ample current at the foot of the hill just above the long range of the sugar-field, with its sluices prepared to open and supply the vegetation beneath ; all these would have been diminished in importance connected with a name so celebrated ; but, seeing it in its single character of a work of art and skill, very rare in this fine country, the sa- tisfaction was more ample ; when we were introduced to Se- iior Duran, and seated at his hospitable board, the gratifi- cation was indeed great. A good wall of stone, built with hme, surrounded the spacious area of this sugar-mill, and the entrance was on the road by which we must pass ; he had descried us on the brow of the hill above, and came to the gate, without affecta- tion, habited as if he was immersed in business ; a cheerful visaged little gentleman. I inquired the name of the place, and, with a smile, he signified it was St. Mateo, the planta- tion of the President of Colombia, and entreated us to enter. 14l< VISIT TO COLOMBIA. a servant having previously opened and kept the gate extend- ed — that the day was warm, the young lady would need re- freshment — and our mules would travel with better spirit after taking some young sugar-cane. We entered, as we in- tended, and had been enjoined by the President's sister, and were conducted into a paved hall, at one end of which was the dwelling of the major-domo and his family, whom he made us acquainted with ; fruit of the finest flavour, lemo- nade, and chocolate, succeeded each other as a refresco ; and we were invited to see the various processes of the sugar refining, distilling, and to visit the grounds, the ac- tivity going on having excited expressions of surprise and pleasure. As I had been familiar with the name of this villa, and the gallant self-immolation of the young patriot Ricautehad given it a celebrity that must endure with the republic, I intended to go up to the pavilion and visit the scene ; but was informed that the pavilion was out of repair, that it had still the marks of military violence and Spanish wantonness on its walls ; but he pointed the way and led us to his apart- ments contiguous to the sugar-mill, and we sat down in a porch truly Moorish in its structure — where a spacious ta- ble was soon after covered with a fine damask cloth, and salvers of the most delicious fruit ; light wines, and a ser- vice of chocolate — with hot rolls of as good a quality and as well made and baked as we could have had in Philadelphia — €ggs and butter, and sweetmeats — and a handsome case of liqueurs covered the board ; the spouse of Seiior Du- ran, with her lively children, soon presented themselves ; and some visitors from the neighbourhood filled the table, though spacious as it was — our appetites were good, and our host and hostess perfectly delighted, and appeared to en- joy our familiarity without reserve, and the pleasure which we could not but manifest, from an association of ideas, in whieh the place, the owner, the contentment, the abundance, VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 145 and the activity which pervaded this delightful villa, were every instant manifest. After we had been some time at table, the worthy host proposed to show us the establish- ment — we descended half a dozen stairs, which brought us on the floor of the mill ; an overshot wheel of excellent me- chanism, of about eight feet shaft, or sixteen feet diameter, turned a set of three massy iron vertical cylinders, of about two and a half feet diameter, which were supplied by two hands with ripe cane ; and gave full employment to a con- stant succession of mules, which brought their loads of cane, discharged them on the floor, and carried off to the distillery the trash (as it is called in the West Indies), or squeezed cane. The vat, or reservoir beneath the cylinders, though spacious, was kept constantly full, though two hands were unceasingly employed on it ; one skimming the floating fe- culence from the surface, which appeared to be tending to fermentation ; this scum was carried into the distillery, which was established in a building forming an angle with the mill on the east end, and beneath which the stream of water passed, supplying the uses of the distillery before it reached the sugar field, which, by happy contrivance, was so con- ducted as to irrigate the whole of the vast field of cane we had. seen from the summit of the hill. A second man, with a bucket ladle, poured into a line of spouts the skimmed liquor from the vats ; these spouts led to the apartments where the sugar was boiled, on the vyest angle ; contiguous to which were apartments appropri- ted to moulds, and the process of claying. On the east side of the coral, in front, toward the road, was a commodious house, built of stone, as was. the mill and offices altogether, — this was a drying house for the loaf sugar, a series of very large coffers — resembling, in their form and mode of use, the drawers of a bureau, which were placed beneath the eaves of the drying house. The loaves of sugar taken from the moulds were placed on racks 19 146 VISIT TO COLOMBIA* within those drawers, and, if there was an apprehension of of rain, those drawers, which were expose) : totht sun while requisite, were shoved beneath the eaves, and above the ceil- ing of the house within, which was the lodging apartment of a certain number of the labourers. While I was viewing this excellent contrivance, the busi- ness of sale was going on. Several persons rode into the yard, tied up their horses to a rack ; persons were employed in weighing the loaves of fine white lump sugar, upon which I found marked 22, 25, 27 pounds. The purchasers brought mules with sacks, suitable for the service, and placing a loaf or more at each end of the bag, tied the bags to the pannier, said little, paid their money, and moved off. Some horsemen purchased one or two loaves, and carried them across the saddle bow. The appearance of every thing, and every face of this place, spoke contentment and abundance. A domestic at- tached himself to me, and we rambled over the cane field — -aa avenue or bank, which runs along the north side of the val- ley, retained within a ditch the lively stream we had seen at the bridge, and had heard forcing its way beneath the artifi- cial arch. A stream that gives to the domestic economy a never-failing fountain, activity to the ponderous mill, sup- plied the distillery, and now rushed gaily along the lane of sugar canes, and, by well contrived demi-sluices, at con- venient distances descended to the inclined plane of the sugar field, thence conducted as experience required to any part of the vast field ; those channels were so well contrived, that all the field, or any part, could, by closing or opening small sluices, be irrigated at discretion. As the efforts of a stranger to speak the language of a country, are in almost every country treated with respect, and as if complimentary, and being desirous to make myself familiar, as well as to be informed, I spoke unreservedly with those whom I met on the plantation. I addressed my- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 147 self to a well-looking negro, with a sleek shining skin, and ask- ed him whom he belonged to. He looked at me with a smile something between surprize and gravity, but spiritedly told me, there were no slaves connected with Bolivar ! The feeling with which it was uttered was delightful, and I apo- logized by assuring him of the satisfaction he had given me : he was at once at ease, and informed me, that though he might go where he pleased, he preferred to remain where he was, and would ever remain with the libertador Bolivar. Though our desayuno^ or dejeunc, had been luxurious and abundant, dinner had been provided while we were traversing the estate in different directions ; and the time elapsed so ra- pidly, that it was already two o'clock when we were re- quested to sit down. On the first entrance, the necessity of attending to personal civilities and conversation, rendered it inconvenient to bestow attention on objects around us : the hall in which we were now entertained was paved with rounded pebbles, and the ingenuity of the paver had been exercised, in giving, by means of different-coloured pebbles, an imitation of Mosaic ; the table was massive, and to ap- pearance as ancient as the sixteenth century ; the chairs were not a century more youthful, only that the backs and seats were of the dried cowhide of the country, though wrought upon with more than ordinary skill ; heavy carving on the backs and frames ; the table utensils of silver, as forks and spoons, were in the same antique style ; but there were the best of Claret, Madeira, Muscadel, and, what we least ex- pected, American porter and ale, from Philadelphia, in good condition : we were generously and kindly entertained. But it was necessary that we should part, though it was evidently with reluctance all round ; and our mules, as t-rdered, were ready to mount at three ©'clock, though we encroached half an hour on our regulation in respect to our worthy host. The ascent to the pavilion I did not atteinp; Ixif Li* ut. Bache ascended, and traced the position of the Spaniards by 148 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. the direction of the bullets, which continued to hold their places in the wall. The outhouses of this villa, during the diversified war of the close of 1813 and the beginning of 1814, had served as depots for the patriot armies, who had bea.en fhe monster ^oz;aHing and disastrous, had given them a very VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 179 high reputation; indeed, if their conduct be contrasted with the condition of the population from which they were drawn, at the commencement of the revolution, their discipline and character altogether present a most extraordinary example, and the evidence of what may be done by a mild system, and the example and familiar intercourse of officers with their comrades : for this is the Colombian system ; neither blows nor stripes are permitted ; they could never succeed there ; they never succeed any where to make soldiers that can be relied on. The facility with which such men were converted into victors and veterans, must be a grateful subject of reflection to the friends of freedom : men who, in 1810, trembled at the flash of a thimble-full of gunpowder, and contemplated a firelock as a demon, became so indifferent to the fire of batde, that they have frequently attacked the artillerists at the muzzle of their guns, with the bayonet ; often by charges of cavalry, carrying no weapon but the lance. It may be pertinent to remark, here, in relation to some notions which prevail as to the horrible consequences of a whole people being rendered so susceptible of military enterprise ; the truth is, that the troops of Europe are incompetent to make any durable impression in those countries — within forty- miles of the ocean they must perish of the climate — beyond that distance, of hunger ; they must retreat or starve. On the other hand, the Colombian troops could not sustain the rigors of a cold climate. They are happily adapted to the defence of their own country, and invincible to all the world, when conducted as they have hitherto been. Indeed the whole population, and both sexes, have undergone a change of character, produced by the duration and savage character of the war, as carried on by the Spaniards. The frequency of peril, has taught them caution as well as courage ; they do not now apprehend danger when there is none, and are prepared against it when it happens. 180 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. In reference to the disinterestedness and constancy of the native troops during the revolution ;• — the vicissitudes of mili= tary marches, and the scantiness of subsistence, were not the only traits of fortitude and fidelity — none of the armies of Co- lombia had magazines for subsistence, nor hospitals, nor even pay or clothing ; a whole army has been without a single shoe, or a second shirt. The climate rendered the want of tents not so great an inconvenience, but clothing of some kind was of absolute necessity — ^and that necessity could not be supplied for many months together. Occasionally one or two reals a week were issued, some weeks not even a real ; an occa- sional arrival, from the United States, brought a few suits of clothing ; but the credit of the government was low, and the artifices of the Spanish agents in the United States, who, by what means is not certain, had secured many presses in the United States, produced discredit, by pouring forth calumny on the revolution and its leaders, and represent- ing the cause as not only desperate, but despicable. These odious doings cost many lives ; and interfered materially-, not only with the supplies, that would otherwise been have furnished, but on the government of the United States. The wants and sufferings of these people were proportion- ably aggravated, and in contemplating their constancyj and their triumphs, admiration is augmented, as the par- ticular facts are discovered. The troops, nevertheless, did sometimes shew symptoms of discontent and disappoint- ment ; but there is no instance of their disobedience to or- ders, or refusal to meet an enemy ; even their miseries were forgotten in the presence of an enemy, whose barbarity was perhaps a very powerful spring of action, and cause of uni- on among the native troops. Danger seems never to have been apprehended, when they had officers who were brave and kind to them, and whose talents were known, and cour- rage exemplary ; with these the roar of artillery, and the re- verberations of the Andes, made " cheerful music." They sometimes developed faculties adapted to particular service VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 181 in an extraordinary manner. The riflemen of the valley of the Cauca, I have been informed, were equal in coolness and precision to our own ; and their cavalry, where the country was adapted to their operations, had no superiors — they were as expert horsemen as the Arabs or Persians, and of more resolute courage than the Tartars; for daring and dexterity, in the use of the lance, and the management of the horse, perhaps they have no equals. Those who have not traversed the Andes considerably, can have no adequate conception of the marches and servi- ces of the armies ; nor of the unfitness of European troops, to strive against them. It was the boast of the soldiers of the revolution of North America, that the path, over which they marched, was frequently stained by the blood of their shoeless feet ; and it was too true. But in Colombia there was neither a shoe nor a road ?ny where, the prepared work of art ; the best, which occtsionally offered, was a track beaten by the feet of mules, on a level, or on a yielding mould ; and the range of m' litary action, was not always, as at Carabobo and Boyacca, on a highway ; but on the sides or summits of rocky steeps and precipices, where wheel carriages were never seen, and could not move. The coun- try east of St. Carlos is comparatively level ground ; after passing the battle ground of Carabobo, it is a broken and ever varying wild, unless where the population is somewhat numerous ; cultivation and the pasturage present some scenes rescued partially from natural rudeness. All the rivers rise in these vast mountains, and the routes of armies, as well as travellers, are directed to the loftiest ridges, because it is on- ly by that course the crossing of the torrents is to be avoid- ed. I have been placed on many occasions in positions, in whichj if I had not been so fortunate as to have obtained an experienced and expert guide, I should have gone astray, or been entangled in ravines, and precipices, from which ex- trication would seem hopeless. 182 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. There are certain peculiarities in the track that must of necessity be travelled, which, though stated here in advance of the experience by which they became known, may serve to show the reader what difficulties the traveller, as well as the soldier, had to overcome. The route generally through the populous countries is traced by the mules, on soils which receive the impression of their feet ; in thickly wooded re- gions, or in the savannas, where the rapidity and rankness of vegetation give a velvet sward that bends elastic to the tread, or grass so tall as to rise above the rider's head, the track is seldom visible below. In such cases the guide is like the pilot on a coast, he looks out for some headland ; and the waving lines and fantastic forms of the summits of the Cor- dillera, show peaks, which, like land-marks seen on the ocean, tell the bearing or direction of the route. The experience of the commandant at Valencia, and an examination of our servants, had pointed out the necessity of our having some better guide than either of them. A Serjeant of the grenadiers, who had been somewhat disabled in the feet,- was attached to him as an orderly, and having consulted the serjeant, he was proposed to us as a guide ; he had travelled the route five times before, and we gladly ac- cepted the favour, and with gratefulness, though far short of the thanks we afterwards found to be justly due. Our guide had been attached to the commandant since 1817, and he wore the yellow ribbon and medal of Carabobo at his button-hole ; he was a vigilant and faithful soldier ; as we proceed he will be better known ; it is merely enough to say here, that he was an Englishman of Suffolk, and had been a seaman at the battle of the Nile ; he had the dry humour of an Irishman of the same class ; and the same never-ceas- ing flow of animal spirits, vivacity, and inclination to mirth : upon occasions, such as the apparent inextricability of a savan- na, forest, dry river bed, ravine, or bleak paramo, I was accus^ tomed to provoke his drollery for pastime, and as it was the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 183 only compensation he was allowed to receive, I endeavoured to make up in confidence and kindness for the good which he most cheerfully and unceasingly rendered to the very last moment of separation. I was accustomed to ask of him : " Serjeant, have we not lost the road?" " What road?" asked the serjeant; " there is no longer any king's highway in this country ; they have all become republicans." " But repubHcans must travel." " Well then, look at that peak to the south-west." " What, the highest peak of all ?" *' Ay, colonel, the very highest of all." " I suppose our route lies near that?" " Near it, colo- nel ! yes, faith, over the very tip-top of it." "This is not the first time that I observed our road lay over the highest places." " Faith, colonel, you may take it as a rule, that, if any mountain higher than another lies in your way, your road lies over that; it was the way with the Indians, and the way with the Spaniards after them ; and it is, as you see, the way still." " I suppose, after the war is closed, there will be bet- ter roads, and over shorter spaces?" " That, colonel, is none of my business ; I belong to the grenadiers of Colom- bia, and when they give us our arrears of pay and allowance of land, I may be able to talk about that." According to the theory of our military conductor, the policy of impassable roads, or of no roads, belonged to the aborigines ; being in constant conflict, they had for purposes of defence, as well as offence, selected the most elevated and difficult paths and passes, from which they could discover an approaching enemy, or descend upon him by surprize, or annoy an assailing force, by rolling ponderous masses of rock down the the line of approach ; a stratagem repeatedly practised, with terrible success, against the Spaniards, du- ring the revolution. The policy of the Spaniards, he said, had adopted the plan, to prevent communication between adjacent provinces. The theory was plausible ; indeed the only communication permitted between Bogota and Caracas 184? VISIT TO' COLOMBIA. was that of the correo or postman, which took forty days to perform ; stations were assigned, at which the runners were changed, and as the package was often light enough to be carried by a pigeon, the labour was not very great, nor the speed expedient. Private individuals obtained permission to travel, with difficulty. I have introduced these particulars here, because they serve the double purpose of illustrating the marches of ar- mies, and preparing the traveller for the roads he is to sur- mount. Our stay ^t Valencia had been prolonged, from respect to General Paez — but he had been ordered on service in a different direction ; an accident, however, made my stay eleven days. The commandant, in his desire to afford me and my companions every gratification, intimated that the lake could be seen to advantage from the terraced roof of an adjacent house, which stood on the corner of the Pla- za, now occupied as a barrack. On the twentieth, we pre- pared ourselves with our glasses, and ascended, and here it was that I found a terraced roof, such as are found on all well constructed houses in India. The lake lay between three and four miles to the south-east of us, and the prospect was cer- tainly grand ; the Serrahia of Ortiz^ which runs in an apparent line from east to west, on the south side of the lake, appear- ed like a changeable silk scarf in the distance, a sort of van- ishing and returning mirage ; while the lake, changing from the aspect of a broad sparkling sea of quicksilver, appeared diminished into a narrow gulph, of which the extremity was imperceptible. The mountain ridge, which separates the valley from the sea, when we looked along the lake, seemed to present shadows of an ochreous hue, interspersed with dusky green, and from which a scintillating transparent va- pour appeared to rise, which seemed to give substance to thfc atmosphere. VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 185 After gratifying our curiosity, we were about to descend. The stairs (unfortunately for the occasion) were not the Gothic double flight of ponderous brick, but of wood, with four landings. Some of these landings had been stript for fuel, by the cocineros of the barrack, and more apprehensive for Elizabeth, than careful of myself, I for an instant for- got that the landings were stript, until I found myself seat- ed on the ground floor beneath the stair- case, through which I was carried by my own weight ; my first impression was to halloo — " all's well," though I found myself not quite well enough to stand upright, and crawled on all fours from my place of deposit. I was a little stunned, and so much bruised, as not to be able to mount my mule before the twenty-eighth. The accident was more than compensated, by the acquaintances it had procured me, and the kindness it produced ; it procured me the intimacy of Seiior Pefial- ver, who, hearing of my arrival, had returned the very eve- ning this accident occurred. The physician of the division of the army stationed at Va- lencia, on hearing of this accident, called upon me of his own kindness, and I had the benefit of his skill, and the gratifica- tion of his intercourse. Dr. Wm. Murphy is a native of Sligo, in Ireland ; he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, studied medicine, and took his degree there. As a catholic, and a man of talents, his own country was the last in which he could expect to prosper, or to live in quiet without base- ness, and Colombia presented to him a field where his qua- lifications and virtues promised to place him on equal terms with men of virtue and worth. A townsman, youthful com- panion, and college friend. Dr. French Mullery, similarly circumstanced, associated with him in the emigration, and both had risen to the rank of surgeon-major in the military establishment. I met Dr. Mullery afterwards at Barquisime- to. Both these gentlemen were held in the highest estima- 24 186 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. tion, as well for their professional merits, as the exemplary integrity of their social character. If words could convey sufficiently the sentiments with which these worthy Hiberni- ans inspired me, I should not be so sparing of my expres- sions of esteem and gratitude for their generous and disinter- ested attentions to me and to my family party, as Dr. Mul- lery significantly described us. Obliged to remain four days in a reclined position, I had ample opportunities from the kindness of Seiior Penalver to converse on every kind of subject — the revolution ; the bar- barity of the Spanish chiefs ; the ruinous effects on families ; the early distractions and parties arising out of unsettled views ; the inexperience of free government ; the force of lo- cal predilections ; personal ambition ; jealousy of men with better talents ; the remains of Spanish attachments, which nothing could have completely eradicated but that very bru- tality and ferociousness, which characterized every governor and officer of Spain, from the commencement to that very hour when Morales was spreading desolation, and accumu- lating by plunder a fortune, to be transferred to Europe, where he meant to retire as soon as it amounted to what he deemed competent to his future designs. The characters of men of eminence, living and dead, were happily and perspi- cuously reviewed, and the proud prospects which the revolu- tion presented for posterity, but which had cost so much misery and ruin to the generation that had accomplished it. I learned that he was the only survivor of seven brothers; the rest had perished in war or by assassination ; one niece, and one nephew of sixteen, and a daughter of eleven, were all who remained of a numerous family ; their estates had been de- solated ; he had been in voluntary exile from his home, and his niece had suffered all the hardships incident to a flight by sea, in which she had visited the West India islands, return- ed by the Orinoco, and thence by land to her native home; VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 187 and who, in doing the honours of his house, left us nothing to wish but that it were possible we should never be sepa- rated. In the various interesting transactions related while I was thus delayed, was a horrible act of deliberate perfidy and as- sassination by a Spanish general : the campaign of 1814 was most calamitous to the republic ; the wants of the army could be supplied only by its separation into divisions, to equalize subsistence on different parts of the republic ; the Spaniards had distributed their forces under a number of partizan chiefs; and it was deemed by the republican chiefs the safest policy to meet them in that mode of operation which they had pre- ferred, a guerilla war. But the result to the patriots was disastrous : in the plains, in Coro, and other places, they suf- fered defeat. The ferocious Boves entered Caracas in 1814, and the casemates of Laguayra became the prison and the grave of many generous men. The siege of Puerto Cabello was obliged to be raised. Valencia yet held out with suc- cess, though not without disaster ; every thing after the first battle of Carabobo, 28th May, 1814, appeared to reverse their good fortune, and it became necessary for Valencia to capitulate upon a proposition very plausibly made by Boves. The utter disregard of treaties and promises which had uniformly characterised the Spanish commanders, led to the insertion of an article in the capitulation, which the Valen- cians hoped to find more solemn and binding when sancti- fied by their most sacred solemnity. It was agreed that the capitulation should be ratified at high mass to be celebrated in the from of both armies, where, in the presence of the sacred emblem of the divinity, each should swear upon the host to observe the conditions faithfully. The solemnity and the oath having taken place, the city was surrendered to the royal authority. 18S VISIT TO COLOMBIA. The calm which now succeeded appeared auspicious : a disposition began to be manifested which preferred submis- sion to the further prosecution of war. Alas ! this calm was but the precursor of a sad catastrophe. The custom of cele- brating important events by festivity and feasting pervades Spanish America. The city was tranquil, and the remem- brance of past evils had lost some of their acuteness. To give testimony of his satisfaction at this quiet state of things, Boves signified that he would give a grand entertainment. Notifications were circulated, and all the principal persons of both sexes were invited to a splendid supper and ball : it was even hinted that absence would be construed into dis- loyalty ; the effect was such as was intended. Upon festive occasions, where the company is numerous, it is customary with private families to borrow from each other their plate and other conveniencies. On this occasion it could not be supposed that the Spanish general was pro- vided with plate for the table to supply such a concourse. Every family was eager to contribute whatever remained un- plundered ; and they were the more eager, as it seemed to promise more favour. There were few articles of plate re- maining in any private house after this contribution ; - and the feast was accordingly sumptuous. The day was spent in consolements and condolements, regrets for past afflictions and compliments that they were terminated. The evening seemed too long, and night too hasty, to the dancers. The music already enlivened the halls, and the streets exhibited a social holiday. In one saloon the youth of both sexes " tripped on light fantastic toe," in another the flask circu- lated with unsuspecting freedom. The females were nearly all left to dance alone, such was the attraction of momentary conviviality — a few only refrained from the indulgence — in the midst of this double career of enjoyment, the folding doors are suddenly thrown open ; soldiers occupy them with their sabres and bayonets, and a general massacre of the men VISIT TO COLOMBIA. iB9 instantly takes place, amidst the shrieks and cries of females in the adjacent apartments — wives, mothers, daughters for- get their own safety and rush into the midst of the mas- sacre, vainly seeking husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers — ■ whom they find bathed in their own blood, and in the ago- nies of death. It would be fruitless to offer any commentary on such an atrocious deed. It will occur to every one that the mas- sacre reduced the plunder of the plate borrowed for the fes- tivity to a petty outrage. Some subaltern officers, who were not among the guests, had the honest imprudence to avow their execration of the deed — they were not long concealed from the tyrant Boves, and were unceremoniously executed, along with some soldiers, who had uttered similar indigna- tion, on the very spot v^•here the solemn mass had been per- formed in ratification of the capitulation. Among the few who were so fortunate as to escape the general assassination, I had the satisfaction of being intimate with one at Bogota. Senor Miguel Pefia, one of the judges of the Supreme Court at Bogota. This gentleman was among the guests invited ; whether from a distaste of ca- rousal, or some movements which he happened to notice, which induced him to caution, he had retired to the lower apartments, and contrived to obtain the habit of a monk, in which he found no interruption; and intuitively made his way to an adjacent mountain, and to a village on the oppo- site side, where he awaited to ascertain the truth or error of his apprehensions, which, when he found realized, he lost no time in retiring out of the range of apprehension. He con- firmed the story to me at Bogota. The narrative here given was made from memory, after a casual relation by a contemporary resident ; some incidents have escaped my memory of an aggravating kind ; but I prefer stating substantially what I heard to risking an imper- fect or mistaken point in a transaction sufficiently detestable and abhorrent^ im CHAPTER XIII. Aguas Callientes — prepare for marching — charges for mule hire — our party augmented — depart the twenty-eighth — charming country — vast range un- cultivated — description of our party — proper to travel armed — it is the cus- tom — aspects of the country — pi'omontories issuing into the plain-^divergen- cy of the route — towns on the line of march — the field of Carabobo — conduct of Morales — quarrel of the Spanish chiefs — La Torre retires — Morales' conduct — manly declaration of Captain Spence — towns on the road — warm climate — travel by night — Palmas — river Portugueza — accommodations at Palmas — good-natured fat acalde— some particulars of the customs — style of building — recollections and comparisons — smoking — the custom abating. Before the accident which detained me at Valencia, I had contemplated an excursion to the Aguas Callientes^ or the warm springs, in the neighbourhood of Puerto Cabello, which is about twenty-two miles from the city ; but it would have been impracticable, the Spaniards holding Puerto Cabello still, and a picket from Valencia being posted at the princi- pal pass in the mountains, with absolute orders not to permit any person to go or come between the two places. Lieut. Bache, however, obtained a passport, with a view only to visit the springs, his curiosity being excited by the descrip- tion of Humboldt; but the picket would not permit him to pass ; and he returned, though he was compensated by viewing the ground of the battle at Naguanagua, and the steepness of the Cordillera, over which the route to Puerto Cabello lies. Having so far recovered, as to be able, with some altera- tions in the seat of my saddle, to mount my mule, it be- came necessary to provide mules for the baggage and ser- vants. The charge, for a single mule, from Caracas to Va- lencia, about 107 miles, was five dollars ; the demand made for nearly the like distance to Truxillo was ten dollars each mule ; at first sight, this seemed like extortion, but Colo- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 191 nel Gomez, formerly an aid of President Bolivar, satisfied us that the nature of the country made the difference justifi- able. We had experienced, from every officer of the Co- lombian service, the kindest attentions, and Colonel Gomez took upon himself to provide an ariero who would accom- pany us : the master muleteer was somewhat better than his man, though he played us some tricks, but none that were so important as to require a report to the Colonel — and we found the route, as the Colonel described, such as war- ranted double the demand for mules of that from Caracas to Valencia. Our good friend, the commandant of Valencia, actuated by his good wishes and his experience, as noticed in the preceding chapter, had discovered, from our servants, Vin- cent and Pedro, that although they both professed to be so well acquainted with the country, as to undertake to be our guides, neither of them had ever been farther south or west than Truxillo ; and proffered us his orderly sergeant, who had five times passed the whole route, to accompany us. The sergeant, of whom I took notice before, whose pas- sion was rambling, and who had become so much natural- ized to the climate, food, and people of the Sierra, was so well knov/n, every where on the road, that this little jaunt, of 1300 miles, was as welcome to him as a party of plea- sure, and the whole addition to our expence was the hire of another mule ; the commandant making it a condition that he should receive nothing — and in truth, it was not ne- cessary as to the sergeant, for he considered the permission to go with us as a favour to him. This addition to our cavalcade had many very useful effects ; he knew every bo- dy, every where ; he knew where to procure what wt want- ed, and always on cheap terms ; and without him, it is mo- rally certain, we should not have been able to find our way in three months, nor to manage the knavish dispositions of our two hired asistientes* A sergeant or a corporal is as 19^ VISIT TO COLOMBIA, proud of his rank, and tenacious of his command, as a g€» neral ; accordingly I placed him in command of the rest of the suite, and as when mules are hired, a muleteer accom- panies every three or four mules, to provide their forage, load and unload, and take charge on their return, we had now the arierOf who rode his own mule, and his servant mu- leteer, who walked, attached to our corpSt so that the ser- geant was in his element, and conducted things as if he was on military service. When mules are hired, the subsistence of mules and attendants is comprehended in the hire. We had been eleven days at Valencia, and had obtained the esteem and good will of many estimable persons of both sexes, of whom we took leave on the 27th November, par- ticularly the gallant commandant and several officers of the grenadiers, and our amiable friend. Dr. Murphy. Our mules being punctual, (a rare case,) we were mounted at the dawn of the 28th, and found, as customary, a party of our friends already prepared to escort us out of town. The venerable and worthy Ferdinand Perialver was the last who left us, at the distance of nearly ten miles, leaving such impressions of his liberal and cultivated mind, and practical virtues and prin- ciples, as can only cease to be felt along with the cessation of every faculty. It was not until the converse with our friends had ceased, and we were at ease to look around us, that I could bestow any attention on the beautiful plain and country through which we were passing, nor the number of our cara- van. Our sergeant led the van. Lieutenant Bache and his sister followed, and I came next ; then the three mules with baggage, and the spare mule, the ariero and his man, and last of all our two domestics — eleven mules, and six in our party , besides the muleteers. Our sergeant had caparison- ed his mule and himself in the military style of the coun- try, with a good bridle, but an enormous bit and snaffle, with some ornaments, though faded, which shewed it had at VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 193 some day kept good company and seen some service. His saddle was a Spanish peak and high pommel, formed upon a powerful saddle-tree, which threw out, above the mule's haun- ches, two firm limbs, which saved the mule from rubbing; and, at the same time, carried his valise, which contained a good stock of powder, ball, and some flints ; a tinder-box, steel, and matches ; what he called a kitj being a collection of various mechanical implements, nippers, plyers, gimlets, chissels, files, hammers, a vice, turn-screw, cork-screw, awls, knives, needles, from a sail-maker's needle and palm- thimble, to cambric, of which he had some assorted papers ; with ladies' thimbles ^^Jbr love tokens;''^ besides tapes, bobbins, scissors, and buttons and buckles of various de- scriptions. A blue military short coat, with standing collar and yellow buttons, at one of which, on his left breast, was suspended the yellow ribbon and silver medal of Carabobo ; his pantaloons, of Russia ; a black stock ; quarter-boots, with one spur, the rowel of enormous prongs, sufficient to put an elephant in action ; his black belt bore a stout cu- ^hilla^ or sword, broad, heavy, and sharp, of twenty-seven inches; his holsters carried a pair of pistols, and on the right side a short Prussian rifle hung to a running swivel attached to the saddle ; on his head, at times, a leather in- fantry cap, with a long plume of feathers and beautifully coloured with the cochineal, the indigo, and the turmeric of the country, and a cockade of the same three colours ; at other times, when in a city such as Merida or Tunja, his grenadier's cap appeared; and w^hen mounted, a lance of ten feet, to which was attached a stout line, wound round the shaft, the other end in a slip-knot attached to his upper arm ; the ferule of the lance resting in an iron socket attach- ed to his stirrup; over his saddle he carried, in suitable folds, a good blanket, which was to be his coverlid by night, his romero when it rained. I have enumerated the provident care of the sergeant, be- 25 194 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. cause, in the course of the journey, very few articles of what he had laid up were found superfluous, and some were of very great convenience in a country where there are no arts or trades of any kind, but the merely agricultural, ex- cepting in the great towns, and even there not many nor good of their kind. I had provided myself with convenient articles, such as a hammer, small vice, some files, &c., and I would advise the carrying of a small hatchet or tomahawk in good order, at the saddle bow, as in the luxuriant valleys and passing through the bamboo thickets, such an article will be found of much convenient use. Though we had not any just cause to apprehend any design upon us, we followed the practice of the country, in arming ourselves, each of us having a good sabre, and pair of pistols ; the natives of the country who are met on the road are usually armed, some with muskets, or musketoons ; this perhaps is the conti- nuance of an old custom, or it may have arisen out of the war, which generally casts forth some unfortunate beings on the highways. The knowledge of the language is above all things the most necessary. Our sergeant spoke it with more fluency than correctness, and more vivacity than is usual to Englishmen, and never failed to make himself understood, and nine times out of ten agreeable. When he found a su- percilious or a knavish alcalde, or a pilfering muleteer, he was not so agreeable, for he not only took care to make known his own importance, and his ribbon and medal of Ca- rabobo, but the importance of the Coronel de los Estados Uni- dos del Norte to whom he was attached by the commandant of Valencia. We now rambled in a desultory chain, Indian file, over the plain of Valencia. Leaving the city, the road leads nearly south, and a gentle descent towards the lake, which we passed in a line obliquely to the westernmost extremity, the ground rising as the lake receded, where the road led more westwardly, and rose to the right and left into the VISIT to COLOMBIA. 195 ridges which bound it on both sides. It was noticed on en- tering Valencia, that at the termination of the city, on the west end, there was one of those promontories, which shoot out like great arms from a long sea-coast chain ; from the west side of this projecting point, a chain of mountains more depressed, not one third the height of the mountain of the coast, throws its prolongation to the south-south-west, and extends thence beyond Varinas : from the front of this range of depressed mountains, issue a multitude of rivers of various magnitudes, so that they intersect the plain, their direction be- ing generally to the south-east and east, and rendering the pas- sage to the greater Andes impracticable for half the year, and inconvenient the other. The route which travellers pursue is, for a considerable distance, along the summit and across the beds of many of those rivers and ravines. The greater Corde- lier, which proceeds out of that which passes to the east in front of Merida, and is therefore called the Paramo of Merida, is here in sight, its dark base separating the verdant horizon from the gloomy clouds, which for a great part of the day hide its loftiest line. To give a familiar idea of their position, the promontory behind Valencia west, may be presumed to repre- sent the point or summit of the letter A, and the depressed range from which the rivers issue south-east to form the right line of the letter ; leading to Varinas, the greater Andes are re- presented by the left line or continuity of the Merida Paramo. Now the road from Valencia, instead of pursuing the right line towards San Felipe, or the left line leading towards Va- rinas, turns abruptly to the north- nest, at a point correspond- ing with the cross-line at the intersection of A, where a ridge, a little more elevated, pushes across, and terminates near Bar- quisimeto. The villages and towns in succession from Valencia, are Tucuito, Carabobo, Chirgua, Las Hermanas, Tinaqu ilia, Pal- mas, Plomera, San Carlos, thence San Jose, La Cey va, Quebra- da de Camouraka, Tinaco, where the road abruptly breaks off to the north-west, by Camarocate, Caiesita, El Altar, Ba- 196 TISIT TO COLOMBIAe^ ladera, Gamalotal, Lamorita, Rastrajos, Caudares, toBar- qiiisimeto. Tucuito, though it be the first town, is not the first habi- tation ; the town stands on the left side of the river Guata- paro, which has its sources in the ridge west of Valencia, and on its sides a beautiful valley, with many handsome plantations. Having crossed the Guataparo, the ground has a gentle ascent to some distance, when it becomes level, flanked with fine forests. A ravine is darkly visible through the deep sliadows of foliage always verdant, it being the now- dry bed of a rivulet, that, at a different season, is overflow- ing. Crossing out of this ravine, the side is steeper than the descent ; gaining it, the traveller issues out of darkness into broad sunshine. The sergeant immediately galloped off an ascending ground, which opened in beauty and grandeur before us ; he placed himself, with his lance couched, wait- ing to display the positions, and, looking round to mark every point, waited our approach ; I believe it was only a suspicion, for I thought I saw the sergeant eye his yellow ribbon and his medal, with his dark blue eye more bright than usual ; in fact, this was the field of Carabobo, and like my uncle Toby's aid de-camp, he was now placing himself in a position to besiege Dendermond once more. We fol- lowed him, after viewing some decayed bamboo huts at the opening of the thicket by which we entered ; these^ he told us, were the tents of the Spaniards' picket guard the night before the battle ; and he went on to relate where the line was formed, where the reserves were placed, where Bolivar, and where Paez, where the British legion, and where the gre- nadiers of Colombia, were placed, for he was there among them ; where this evolution took place, and that charge " made a finish of the fight." I returned to the bamboo bivouac, and found the stones which formed the hearth, and the ashes of the fires whereat they cooked, many of them, their last supper ; the country VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 19T people, who do not, as in some other countries, destroy wan- tonly for amusement, had even spared this bamboo ruin. The fragments of earthen-ware, the charred fire- wood, were there too — and time only, which has not respected Palmyra or Persepolis, had alone made an impression on it. Perhaps there was some pride in this forbearance of the Colombians ; it may have consoled some friend of one who had fallen on that field, or some orphan, some widow, or some parent, who had been a guest at Boves' bloody entertainment in Valencia; to such persons this ruin would yield console- ment, as an emblem of Spanish power, in its desolation. I confess, upon examination of myself, it was not the mere ruin that induced me to return to it a second time ; but sympathy with those to whom the emblem would carry con* solation. If a military man were to search the world for a field of battle, for any number under 10,000 men, no finer position could be found. Rising out of the ditch, at the entrance, the burst of light, after the dusky thicket that is passed through,, for an instant produces a halt, and a most picturesque and extensive field opens upon the eye, ascending about a quar- ter of a mile, where the sergeant had posted himself with his face to the south ; he showed all parts of the field of batde. From his position in front, the ground slopes, for half a mile^ gently to the entering place or the bivouac, and is level there for three or four hundred yards, when the ground rises more abruptly, and seems to consist of a succession of rising plat- forms, covered by very thick woods and wild shrubbery; and farther on, the trees more open, and farther still, the deep and dark boundless forest rising to a mountain height : on the right or west there was a long and more rapid descent, and at the distance of a quarter of a mile from where he stood, was a remarkable dry ravine, about fifty feet broad and forty feet deep, the water- scooped sides exhibiting a mass of angular "Stones, and abruptly opening from the sod a perpendicular VISIT to COLOMBIA, Steep. Behind him, at about eight hundred yards, com- menced a range of hills, covered with verdure, of the shape of large stacks of hay, the intervals exposing other conical hills ; and behind these a deep shady forest. Every thing could be seen from this spot : the sergeant was eloquent, and I have no doubt accurate, in his narrative. The Spanish General La Torre, who had succeeded Mo- rillo, commanded in this action ; Morales was his second. The latter, monster as he was, displayed, on this occasion, the firmness of a soldier, and the talents of a commander ; he collected as many of the flying Spaniards as he could, and formed them into four heavy platoons, of which he formed a hollow square, placed himself in the centre, and kept up a running fight until he passed beyond Tucuito ; some of the cavalry of Paez pursued the fugitives with the lance to the neighbourhood of Valencia. This victory had a signal influence on the revolution ; and led to a rupture between the two Spanish chiefs, for which both had been some time prepared. The emissaries of the latter had spread abroad insinuations to the disparagement of La Torre, intimating that he had connived at the defeat ; that having married a lady of Caracas, he meant to remain in Co- lombia ; and that he was at heart a democrat. Morales in fact aspired to the command himself; La Torre was dis- posed to sustain the humane compact for regulating the mode of war agreed upon between Bolivar and Morillo ; Morales was opposed to it, and in favour of an exterminat- ing war. His ferocious disposition, and his license of in- discriminate plunder, had made Morales the favourite of the Spaniards and renegado Colombians, who sought to persuade themselves, that with due energy the republicans would be either forced to lay down their arms or be exterminated. La Torre was a polished generous soldier, and looked to a recon- ciliation by a magnanimous policy. Morales was as unprin- cipled as Morillo, and as sanguinary as Boves, and above VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 199 all, was determined to secure a fortune by plunder at all events. The attacks on La Torre's honour and reputation were made known to him, how they were prepared and circu. lated, and left him no alternative, but to send Morales home in irons, or to resign ; his generosity forbid the first, and when his resignation and the causes were unequivocally as- signed in Spain, he was appointed to Puerto Rico. Among the stratagems of Morales, he caused, through one of his agents, formerly a resident of Caracas, imputations, such as above noted, to be published in some gazettes of the United States, and those gazettes were sent to Madrid as proofs of the allegations! Morales, upon the retirement of La Torre to Puerto Rico, broke the treaty concerning the conduct of the war, and carried on a scene of ravage and plunder along the seaboard, spreading alarm from the gulph of Paria to Cartha- gena, and carrying desolation to the borders of Merida and Truxillo ; at Bayladoros, when we reached that place, the in- habitants had fled to the Sierra with their cattle and movea- bles ; we were within two miles of the Spaniards, who were at Las Puentas when we arrived at Gritja. Morales in 1822 issued a furious proclamation of sanguinary menaces ; which being directed against all persons of foreign countries who should visit Colombia, Captain Spence, of the United States navy, promptly issued a declaration, that the United States would not submit to such menaces against their citizens who visited Colombia, and in such spirited and magnanimous terms, as to induce the tyrant to refrain from executing his menaces. We passed through Chirgua the 29th of November, and thence to Los Hermanos, and Tinaquilla. The mid-day sun was more ardent than we had felt it since we left Valencia ; we therefore had moved at half past four o'clock in the morning, and were at Tinaquilla by seven o'clock, where we break- fasted on our own chocolate, and had an abundance of fine oranges, alligator pears, and delicious bananas. The fervor of the sun on the naked rocky declivities had not abated, at ^00 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. four o'clock, P. M. ; butrwe determined to proceed, and, de- scending by winding and abrupt rocky passages, we gained the gravelly dry bed of the small river Tinapon, which flows into the Tinaco, and so darkened by rich vegetation that night seemed already to have come upon us, and gave to our path the temperature of a subterranean vault. Emerging from this abyss, wc ascended by winding ravines and shelving rocks^ and it was already night when we gained the bank on which stands the village of Palmas. The river whose bed we tra- versed is a contributor to the Tinaco, which is itself a tribu- tary to the spacious river Portugueza. The alcalde of Palmas, a dapper, greasy looking, fat little ■man, belied his externals more than can vi^ell be imagined without experiment; he required no messenger, and, although it was eight o'clock at night, and more than usually dark for the climate, he had my bridle in his hand the instant I halted, and answering his own questions, for he made no pause to Sicar, said — "the Senor shall have accommodations, the best of the village — and whatever he can possibly want." It was wholly unnecessary to reply, as he had anticipated every thing which a traveller needs ; and we followed this good-natured Memejante of the governor of Barrataria, who led us to a cot- tage of no great compass, where the cocks and hens were already at roost on the brace beams of the thatched roof, vwhich appeared to have been japanned with the best black- ing, or like the inside of a smoke-house. After dislodging the poultry over the spaces to be occupied by our hammocks, which we were under the necessity of suspending in irregu- lar angles, and not parallel as customary, for the space would not admit of three in a row, we left our sergeant, who had, with great pleasure to himself, and to our advantage, taken upon himself the duty of hanging up Miss Elizabeth's ham- mock in the best place, and that of the colonel in the next contiguous position. The floor of our apartment was rather uneven, as not much pains had been bestowed on it for per- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 201 haps the last six months, or years, to sweep it, or to level the inequahties, in some of which water, not very pellucid nor fragrant, appeared to have been some time undisturbed. We repaired, therefore, to the corridor — the grey haze had become somewhat more transparent,^ and some handsome formed trees had risen in the caprice of nature on the green slope, reproving by their brightness and beauty the negli- gence of the waking dreamers, who vegetated in the rank- ness of their own manure within doors. The practice of constructing cottages in all the warm cli- mates, exposed to rain or inundation, has a strong resem- blaiice. The scite and dimensions of the ground plan being measured off with a line, or guessed off by the eye, a bank of earth, raised about two feet above the natural platform, is prepared, with different degrees of dexterity, skill, or indif- ference ; in the warm regions the inappreciable bamboo fur- nishes the uprights at the angles of the proposed structure, and the jambs of the door- ways ; the temperature instinctively determines the elevation ; where the atmosphere is subject to cold damps, rains, or winds, the roofs are low ; where the heat is uniform, or sometimes ardent, the height of the house would serve as a kind of comparative thermometer. So, where the heat is constant, mats of the palm, and other abundant materials, form the thin partitions within and with- out, but every where the roof, thatched or tiled, presents a colonade, a veranda, or, in the language of the country, a corridor fronts or surrounds the house, and this is more or less spacious, in proportion as the wealth and inclination to obtain comfort by accommodation prevails. This corridor was, in fact, only a continuation of the sloping line of the roof, beyond the upright partitions ; and either a continua- tion of the rafter-like timbers of the roof, resting their ends on a line of upright posts, beyond the wall or partition of the house, or an addition subsequently made. As this de- scription of the cottage-architecture will serve for all parts of 202 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, the country, allowing for the circumstances to which we have- referred, the description has been the more circumstantialj though the example was one of the very worst I had seen. The place we took outside was the raised bank, which form- ed a continuation of the platform within, and afforded a seat upon which the sergeant, with an untiring attention and an- ticipation of our comfort, placed some dry hides to interpose between our garments and the floor. Here we had an excel- lent chicken stew, some good potatoes, apios, sweet yuccas, and an abundance of eggs, and arepa, or bread of Indian corn, to which keen appetites gave a delicious and enviable flavour; and as we had brought a small supply of wine, as much as our means of transport would admit, we were here sufficiently fatigued to derive all the benefit and pleasure it could afford. Our little oval alcaldi appeared to delight in our good spirits, laughter, and fun, in which we were ac- customed to indulge on the sights we had seen, or in the mind's eye. I could not but contrast, in this kind of cogitation, the ha- bitations at Palmas, with the light, airy, ever clean bungalows of Hindustan ; where filth never remains an inmate, nor the garment ever soiled ; where the pure sweet mat covers the commonest floor, where no garment is worn that does not testify to its snowy purity. The taste and luxury of smok- ing was not less striking. In Hindustan, as in South Ame- rica, all persons smoke, every man, every woman, every child ; in South America, the luxury is in the acrid aroma of the tobacco, augmented by the perfume of the vanilla. In Hin- dustan, it is the poorest people only who smoke the cherut^ (or cigar,) in its raw state ; the waterman, who carries his goat-skin leather bag full of water all day at a cent a bag ; the bearer, who travels with a human load on his shoulders, in a palankeen, from morning to night, or after, at two hun- dred cents a month, refines m the luxury of smoking, and embalms his tobacco with aromatics or assafoetida, and di- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 203 vests it of acridity by passing the vapour he inhales through pure water — -and, when he can, through rose-water. A fe- male, of the same relatively humble station, would scarcely use a cocoa-nut for this purpose ; art and ingenuity had made smoking not only inoffensive but salubrious, by means of what is called a hooka, which, I make no doubt, will find its way, along with commerce, to the plains and cities of the Andes, when, instead of concealing the cigar from the consd' jo^ they will be proud to exhibit its elegance, and smoke with him — con-amore — out of the same pipe. But we are yet in a world that has been locked up three hundred years. Be- fore the Colombians have reached an equal national antiquity with the children of Bramah, they will, perhaps, abandon cigars, and adopt the hookah. It is but justice to say of the lovely women of Colombia, that they applaud the ladies of the United States for not adopting this custom from the men : it continues to be the custom in South America to hand cigars, as it is in India to hand beetil^ or a nosegay, or to pour rose-water on the hands of visitors. At the public and private assemblies and feasts at which I was a guest, both in Caracas and Bogota, and at the theatre, where smok- ing was formerly general, it is no longer in practice. In. some private houses the practice of smoking is continued, and I have been sometimes so well clouded or smoked, that with a little aid of the imagination I might presume that I was on my way to the seventh heaven of Mohamed ; where nothing could be seen except it was the black eyes of the angels, peeping and twinkling like stars through the clouds. 204j CHAPTER XIV. Leave Palmas—Tinaco— hospitality there — kind manners—abundance of fish-«" visitors, 'Li;e!r kindness — move before sunrise— bivouac — march in the eve- ning' — s orni approaching — take shelter — oriental customs — a frail habitation • — oil-cJoth cloaks beyond value — men and mules huddled in a small space — heavy rain— delightful sleep — San Carlos — very Asiatic looking city — churches resemble mosques — female peepers — latticed windows — military command- ant, his lady and her sister — amiable frankness — their excellent chocolate — good cream — wheaten cakes— sweetmeats — apprize us of bad roads — pas- sed St. Jose — Ceyba — fine-flavoured cow's milk— a venerable widow — Caye- sita — El Aitar, a remarkable pass — obliged to climb it — Humboldt's Jicus gig-antica or buttress tree — Bejucas — rio Coxede, here called rio Claro — some notices of fig-trees. After sleeping, fearless of impending showers from the roosts above us, and indifferent to the little pools of un- gracious scent beneath our hammocks, — we were on our mules, before the dawn could reveal what more was to be seen ; the alcalde, with his chubby, good-natured face, and his japanned leather breeches, was as punctual as his pro- mise (a very novel occurrence among some of that species). Some bottles of fine cow's milk were ready for delivery, a basket of eggs, and some indifferent oranges, which he ex- cused for not being as good as they should be, because, he said, he did not make them. — The roosting, milk, eggs, and all, did not require a dollar to pay the whole reckoning —•and in Palmas, I question, if we could be found better for a thousand. It was on the morning of the thirtieth, and we had a long warm ride over the elevated ridge of Palmeria. As good- natured alcaldes are, in this part of the country, rather scarce, we pushed for the handsome and gay village of Ti- naco, or, as some of the inhabitants named it, Tanac, stand- ing on a brilliant river of the same name, which is a VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 200 tributary to the Portugueza and Apure. As we rode along the street of entrance, a military officer, who had just come to the gate, seeing us a little dusty, perhaps languid, po- litely invited us to enter ; the gates being thrown open, our grenadier, without stopping to enquire what we should do, made his salute, and rode prompdy into the patio ; and we, *' nothing loth," were soon unhorsed, our mules placed in the coraly with a rich service of young sugar cane ; our cook gave us our chocolate, almost as soon as our ham- mocks were slung up, and we took our breakfast, while a gay cantarista^ in an adjoining apartment, strummed her gui- tar, and sung a lively air, unconscious of so many strange listeners. This town was neat, the quarters clean and commodious, and, though the sun shone so bright and warm, the air was quite sweet and elastic ; the bed of the river, just in sight, was throughout almost as white as snow, composed of pebbles, against which the sprighdy stream seemed to sparkle. The sergeant, who knew what was peculiar to all parts of the route, procured a basket, and was not absent five minutes, when he returned with it near- ly full of fish, much resembling the winter perch of the Delaware, and these added variety to our day's dinner. Fruit was abundant and fine, and, unless it was for the use of our attendants, we rarely sought beef or pork ; the poul- try being every where fine, and the eggs and chocolate al- ways a ready and pleasant repast, in quarters, or in the forest, or on the cool paramo. Several of the most respectable citizens of both sexes honoured us with a visit of courtesy, and I remarked how solicitous they were not to appear too inquisitive ; the young folks, in the usual ingenuousness of their years, pressed us to stay a week at least, and assured us that our time should be made agreeable ; some sent fine bananas and pine apples, others, some small, but fine flavoured oranges, as eviden- ccs of their earnestness for our stay ; we were not behind 206 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, them in expressions of thanks and respect, and refused, with an assurance, that good inclinations were not wanting, but that our stay could not be protracted. We took the op- portunity to lay up in some baskets, arepa bread, rice, sweet bananas, some raspadura or cakes of sugar, some bottles of fresh milk, a small basket of limes, plenty of young onions, a dozen of live fowls— and closing our evening with choco- late and arepa — -we were in our hammocks before nine o'clock, determined to rise before the sun. On the first of December, at three o'clock, A. M. we were in motion, and had made considerable progress by eight o'clock, when we halted under the shade of a lofty forest, on a bank, from which issued a limpid stream. We hung up our hammocks, resolved to rest and refresh during the heat of the day. By the aid of the sergeant's magazine of flint, steel, and matches, a fire was soon blazing in front, and our chocolate was soon frothing. Our limes, which were excellent, enabled us while they lasted to make a be- verage of lemonade, with the aid of the raspadura^ and some tortumaSf that is, bowls made of the shell of the calabash ; no traveller goes without a tortuma, for the convenience of drinking on the road. We had a pleasant nap in the shade, while the heat abroad was more than usually ardent ; our mules had alongside a rich pasture, and were well refresh- ed by three o'clock, P. M. when we moved off the ground. We soon emerged from the forest upon the open sloping plain ; the ridges on our right were much diminished by dis- tance, those on our left obscured by clouds ; a delightful green sward, with a few dispersed clumps of low thicket, some fet^trees of various figures and elevation, were scattered over the plain ; the green sod was ornamented with wild flowers and flowering shrubs, some of which were familiar, and the greater number strangers to us ; the atmosphere, however, soon became humid, and the air close and sultry, the clouds appearing ready to burst in the south-east. An VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 207 open cottage, or caravanserai, which had been once inhabited, but now tenantless, stood on the road side ; I determined to take shelter there from the evidently approaching storm, not- withstanding the ariero's unsought advice, and accordingly rode in beneath the roof, and mules and all followed in suc- cession. The usages in Colombia, and all South America, in rela- tion to the traveller, and accommodations on the road, corres- pond remarkably with those of Asia. The duties and func- tions of alcaldes are exactly those of the cauzis of Hindustan. Whether it be custom or institution I had not inquired, but in the villages, and often on the road where there is no vil- lage, but where some pulpureia^ or huckster's shop is usually established, the traveller finds a shed, that is, a roof thatched, without any side walls but the posts which sustain the roof. In the peninsula of India, places of this kind are called choul- tries, in the west of India, serais ; whence the Persian cara= vanserais. There had been a pulpureia at this place, but its debris only remained, and it had been so long since the hand of repair had touched our choultry or caravanserai, that the palm leaf thatch had suffered the light and the rain to find more places of admission than between the pillared sides. We proceeded as usual to hang up our hammocks, so that we should (as much as possible) escape the pelting of the storm. Bipeds and quadrupeds were all huddled beneath this fragile roof. Our trunks were ranged end to end on the leeward side, on which the sergeant, with his saddle for a pillow, and his velice as shelter on the outside, placed him- self, and the others on dry cow hides, one serving to sepa- rate the body from the floor, and another, like the roof of a house, to cast off the rain : and as each had his blanket, they lay down with perfect indifference to the approaching rain, of which the sprinklings gave warning. The mules and their^ associate muleteers had the farther end of the serai to them- selves, and their panniers, ropes, and provender formed a line of demarcation between them and our hammocks. The *jp 208 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. oil-cloth cloaks were on this occasion of particular value ; we placed them over our hammocks, so that, when the rain came on heavily, though it poured through the thatch abundantly, we remained perfectly secure and dry ; the rain was little more than mizzling when the grey light came on, and we finished a repast, in order to close all baggage for an early march, but the skies soon became troublous, the thun- der roared and reverberated among the mountains, and the clouds poured their force with all the volumes of tropical tor- rents; but we went to sleep without any more discontent than if we were snug in Philadelphia, and slept later than we intended ; the air was so sweet and exhilarating, we did not awake tillpast six o'clock on the morning of the 2d Decem- ber, and having a beautiful clump of trees and odoriferous wild plants close to our hosp'idage, we had our trunks brought out and arranged for a comfortable meal, seasoned by a fine appetite, of chocolate, eggs, and arepa bread. We were mounted, and crossed the Oropu, time enough in advance to see San Carlos rising before us, embowered in lofty trees and shrubbery ; the domes and turrets of its churches, in as- pects so oriental and picturesque, that the idea of an Hindu pagoda seemed so real, and the whole picture so like Futty- ghur in Hindustan, that for an instant I was at a loss to say whether it was an illusion or a reality ; the narrow streets and the intervals between houses, and the exuberance of vegeta- tion, particularly the banana and other tropical plants, that I could not persuade myself that I had not been there before. The houses soon became continuous, though the streets were still not more than ten to twelve feet broad, and we sauntered along the pavement, admiring the very striking Asiatic style of the houses and churches ; the lozenged lat- tice closing small windows, which did not however conceal the eyes of curiosity peeping through them. Here too the military commandant was in advance of our wishes, and we were conducted through an ample patio, bounded on every VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 209 side by a handsome and spacious corridore, in which the fif- teen inch tile was more than usually well dressed and laid. The inconvenience incident to my accident at Valencia, ren- dered it necessary to halt this day, as, though I carefully avoided complaint, I suffered much pain before we reached Barquisimeto. The rank of the commandant here was that of major, and his lady and her sister introducing themselves with an amia- ble frankness, we soon became perfectly familiar. They did not enquire about our concerns ; but were very much delighted to learn (I suppose from the serjeant) that the young lady, who left home in a feeble state of health, was restored to the full bloom of health and robustness, and in excellent spirits, by the air of Colombia. They compli- mented us with some uncommonly fine chocolate, and what we had not for some time seen, good cream, wheaten cakes, and sweetmeats ; fine fruit never omitted. They wished us to stop a week, and apprised us of the difficulties of the road, particularly the pass of El Altar ^ and the winding valley lead- ing over the plains to Barquisimeto. On the 3d we passed through the village of San Jose, three miles from San Carlos, and the village of Ceyba ; be- yond which the road turns off at Camaroukata to the north- west ; we sought refreshment without success at a Posada in Camaracata, or Camaroukata — for our muleteers and guide differed as to the name : we were more fortunate in procur- ing some cow's milk, which a venerable old lady, in deep mourning, milked into the calabash bowls for us, and of which we had more than three or four quarts, for which she asked no more than a media, that is, a sixteenth of a dollar. The abundance and excellence of the article made it so cheap, that I feared she wronged herself, and i inft rred from her attire and the downcast eye, and air of melancholy about her, that adversity had dealt hard with her, that she had been stricken by the war, and had, perhaps, to mourn the compa- 27 210 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. nion of her youth ; she seemed to be gratified m serving strangers, and this gratification seemed to be all to her, and the value nothing ; for when asked the price, she seemed not to seek even thanks, but looked as if to learn whether or not we were pleased ; and when she named a price, and re- ceived what she asked, it seemed to be with reluctance, and as if she would refuse, but feared to offend by an appearance of false pride ; we thanked her from our hearts, and sug- gested that the compensation was not enough; to which she replied only by a negative turning of her head, continu- ing to look at us with silent kindness for a time ; and while a tear found utterance, her eyes were fixed upon us, as if she had lost some one, husband, son, or daughter — and the cur- rent of tender feelings gushed out as we bid her adieu — she stood immoveable, with her eyes fixed upon us as we con- tinued our way, to a considerable distance ; I turned often round, and she still was there ; her attitude unchanged ; and when we turned the last angle which was to separate us from her view for ever, I returned a few paces back to look, and still she stood fixed, musing upon that sorrow which we were solicitous, but could not ask her to unravel. I learned, farther on, that she had lost her husband, who was a Frenchman, and her youthful son in battle. We reached Cayesita the 3d, and barely halted to procure some guarapa for our attendants, prior to passing El Altar. After winding through a long and shaded mazy alley, over- arched with rich foliage and thick forest trees, the lane of gravel washed by a shallow, but limpid rivulet, the spread- ing sides of which were garnished by an abundance of the finest water-cresses, (of which we took care to bring some away) we slowly crawled along, over pebbles beautifully rounded, and of different degrees of brightness, yellow, white, brown, and red ; we were at last ascending, to our left, the path still only fit for passage in Indian file ; sud- denly breaking from the covert, we could discern the ariero VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 211 and his man, on the summit of a steep rock, hauling up by- ropes the last trunk of our baggage. We had ordered on the baggage an hour before our departure, expecting that they would gain the valley before us ; in a few minutes we found the road occupied the whole way across by a lofty- vertical rock, seeming to say, " thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." The muleteers had been under the necessity of unlading the mules, and we must of course follow them. At the first view it would seem as if we had come the wrong road, but the fact was not so, for there was no other ; and it seemed unaccountable, that no one should have made a road at either side of this rock, which it appeared could be done with no other tools than an axe and a spade ; but every one must pass the same climbing passage. Our sergeant, to whom this place was familiar, dismounted, and leading his mule to the foot of the rock, it was chmbed without hesitation ; we also dismounted, and our mules ascending with no more difficulty, we followed the mules by stepping where they had stepped ; for myself, I looked down with amazement when I gained the top.. It was near an hour before we could proceed forward in our descent to the valley, which, as soon as it opened upon us, presented a prospect in every way different from any prospects we had already seen. Before I left Caracas, I had read in Humboldt's Personal Narrative, Vol. IV. p. 75, of a tree, which he calls a new kind of fig-tree, and he names ^^Jicus gigantea^ from its attaining the height of an hundred feet ; and in the moun- tains of Buenavista and Los Teques, the Jicus nympharfo- lia''^ The description he has given of this new Jicusy in- duced me to seek it as we passed the mountains whereon he described it as growing with its stupendous buttresses, but I suppose it escaped me in the midst of those clouds in which the mountains were involved at the time I passed. The ardour of the sun in passing the plains and the slopes, tempered by numerous rivers and streams, and forests ex- 21S ¥ISIT TO COLOMBIA. eluding air, and retaining moisture, made the difference of temperature agreeable, when compared with the suitry close atmosphere of this valley, where the magnitude of the trees was such as I had not seen before on any part of the route. The two immense trees at Maracay, which he names Za- mangy 2iTQ great curiosities, and my young companions saw them with admiration ; to me, however, they were less ob- jects of curiosity, because, as magnitude has relation to some measure, the Zamang was diminutive by my standard of ad- miration, which was the banyan tree of Hindustan. Though disappointed of seeing the buttress tree on Cu- quisias, it was the first which attracted my attention in this valley of El Altar. In this sultry, deep solitude, surrounded by perpendicular walls of mountain rock, this buttress tree, by Humboldt called Jicus gigantea, flourishes in lofty lux- uriance, with mighty buttresses, which seemed so pow- erfully sustained as to defy all force but actual dissolution. The elevation of many was more than 150 feet, and the shaft of the tree of fantastic shapes from eight to ten feet diame- ter ; but a horizontal line three or four feet from the ground, taking the outer lines of two opposite buttresses, would give double that diameter. The soil of the road, or ravine, lying across the roots of those trees, was washed away by succes- sive floods, and the roots themselves, larger than ordinary- trees, lay in all directions, sometimes two feet above the earth, sending forth numerous lesser roots ; which com- pelled the traveller to wind round those trees in all directions, from the difficulty of passing over them ; and the valley ap- peared covered with a monstrous net of these stupendous roots. The buttresses are well described by Humboldt, re- sembling in their forms masses of wood, having their outer base line five, six, or seven feet from the vertical stem of the tree, with intervals between, showing the upright stem, and composed of compact timber, a growing part of the tree, without separation from it, only that the buttress-shaped part VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 213 has the sloped line, from five to six or eight feet from the ground, and extending outward to five, six, or seven feet at the base. The branches of this tree proceed in a horizontal direc- tion from the stem, at twenty to thirty feet from the ground, and often not lower than fifty or sixty feet ; but in this val- ley, the Bejucas^ a kind of a giant vine, throw their elastic limbs from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, sending down limbs of different thicknesses, from the size of a twine, to three and four inches in diameter, descending the trunk of the buttress tree capriciously, and sometimes inju- riously to the traveller ; sometimes they appear with a hang- ing curve like a slack rope, sixty or a hundred feet above ; again they are found, firmly embracing tw^o contiguous trees, and stretched between, at two, three, five, or eight feet above the ground, so that the foot passenger, and the man on horse or mule, is sometimes tripped, or drawn off the horse or mule. In such cases, a sharp tomahawk or hatchet would open a passage, over dry ground, where, to avoid it, there may be a necessity of crossing a mire or pool, of which the depth or danger is not seen. The trees of other species, some oaks and ash trees in the same valley, look like shrubs, along side the Jicus giganticus. The Rio Coxede or Rio Claro, flows on the right side of this valley, having its sources in the great Cordillera, which is a conti- nuation of that of Merida. Its upper streams commence about twenty miles west of Barquisimeto, and pursue a course, generally north-east, to near El Altar, where it sud- denly winds to the south, or a little curving to the west of south, when, in the latitude of Aurare, it takes a decided course a point east of south, it unites with the Tinaco, and with the Rio Portugueza, which descends into the Apure, This river derives considerable celebrity from the sanguina- ry battle fought there, in which, more than five-hundred men on each side were put hors de combat. Without any other pretensions to knowledge of the natural 214 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. sciences, than that of a general reader and casual observer, my pursuits have made me more conversant with books than botany ; the name given, by Humboldt, to this tree with large buttresses — -Jicus gigantica^ has added to some difficulties and incongruities, which, among others, have casually taken away the pleasure looked for in seeking knowledge. The fruit, so well known in all temperate climates, is by- Botanical writers named Ficus Carica^ from the country from which it is supposed to have been derived. Now the ordinary signification of the r\2ime Jig tree is " a tree that bears figs.'* The mode of classification by the flowers, will not sanction this appellation to other trees, and this contradictory mode of denomination is not calculated to afford true knowledge, nor induce respect for the science. Among the trees which are named ^cwj, the number is considerable, and the dissimili- tude remarkable — such as fall under recollection and refer- ence at the moment, are the following : — 1. Ficus J Ficus Carica, Fig-tree. ("the Indian fig-tree,") ^, i 2. Ficus Indicus, 4 the arched fig-tree, I tiie r>anyan-tree Ithegodtreef J of Hindustan. 3. Ficus Indica, i "^"'^ paradisiaca, the banana. ' I musa sapientum, the plantain. 4. Ficus itifernalis, Palma Christi, Castor-oil plant. 5. Ficus Indices granis, Cactus cochinillifer, ^ ^^ chineTl^C ^'ctus' 6. Ficus Cactus ofiun-') /-, ^ \. i-. • , , > Cactus opuntia, Prickly pear. 7. Ficus e^ie'antica of ) _, Humboldt, 5 Buttress-tree. 8. Fig-tree of Tana, of the New Hebrides, mentioned in Fos- ter's Cook's Voyages, vol. ii. p. 334-392, There are some others, as the Ficus Sativa, Ficus ariday &,c. but not one of the above bears the least resemblance, in magni- tude, foliage, flower, fruit, or figure, to the Ficm Carica. The VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 215 second, or banyan tree, bears a small red berry, about the size of a red currant : this tree is happily described in the ninth book of Paradise Lost, though I am inchned to think, from a striking error in Milton's description, that he has confounded the banyan with the banana^ giving the banyan tree all its magnificent limbs and extension ; and, instead of its own small laurel-like leaves, he has given it the beautiful leaves of the banana : the passage is as follows : There soon they chose The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned, But such as at this day to Indians known, In Malabar or Decan, spreads her arms, Branching so broad and long, that in the ground The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade : There oft the Indian herdsman shunning heat. Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds At loop-holes cut through thickest shade : those leaves They gathered, broad as Amazonian targe^ And with that skill they had together sewed. The tree so well described in other respects, than the leaves broad as Amazonian targe, is exact, only that Miltoii implies it bears no fruit. How came Milton to be mistaken ? He was in fact misinformed of the natural fruit and leaves of the tree, as he was of the geographical distinction in the same elegant description, for Malabar was part of the Decan when he wrote. Perhaps the mistake was produced by the banana being also named Jicus indicaj which really bears " those leaves as broad as Amazonian targe :" botanical science, in Milton's time, was yet scarcely in its infancy, and India and its products little known to literature ; he confounded two plants, taking the broad leaves of the one for those of the other. Here then the error may have arisen, and has been confounded, from his authority, by naturahsts generally. The banana and plantain are only species of the same ge- nus ; in every thing they are exactly the same, but in the dif- 216 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. ferent magnitude and flavour of their fruit : the banana is a sweet luscious fruit, and when ripe is superior in richness to the fig ; it is of the consistence of a soft butter pear, but without acid : the fruit is not produced single like the com- mon fig, or the apple, flowering and coming to maturity on de- tached branches or single stalks, but in bunches, side by side, from a thick elastic and strong strap-like membrane, issuing from the head of the plant ; for it is not in the botanical sense a tree ; its growth is from the elevation of ten to fifteen feet, but its stem is not wood ; there is no wood in any part of the plant. The root, when divested of the numerous shoots which it throws out, appears like a yam ; the roots planted are placed in rows at ten feet apart ; from this root se- veral suckers rise, but they are timely arrested in order to se- cure the stem that is preferred. From the eye of the growing sucker, a small tube shoots up resembling the rolling of a fine pea -green China paper on a round stick ; when about three or four feet high, another tubular roll issues through the first, and thus it continues to produce new tubes till it gains its natural height ; as the plant elevates itself from within the first tube, and the second, and so to ten or to fifty are expanded, it throws out beautilul leaves of eight to ten feet long, and three to four feet broad, which bend outward, giving the figure to the plant : the base of the stem is formed of a green, pithy, fibrous, vegetable substance, in which the stem of every leaf has its share. It is an annual plant, and there are more than twenty species, only differing in the sweetness or insipidity of their fruit. The great plantain, sometimes called miisa sapientum^ produces a very large, and, when raw, insipid fruit ; but it is used for food in various shapes ; roasted in the embers, it becomes an agreeable food, much resembling the sweet potato ; boiled with meat cut up into short pieces, it boils like a potato, and is much preferable to the yucca. The bearing ligament of this plant shows frequently fifty to sixty plantains of ten to sixteen inches long, and two inches VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S17 thick, each weighing from one to four pounds. The fruit of this plant is the main food of seven-tenths of the people, who arc not opulent, in all parts of South America, where it thrives ; it is more generally an article of transport and sale than any other in the country ; every road presents mules la- den with plantains ; I have met fifty in one drove with no other lading ; every pulpureia deals in them, and it composes the principal stock of the shop. The name of musa paradu siaca, is perhaps derived from some traditional prejudices, among which are the use of the leaves, as Milton describes them serving as garments for mother Eve in Paradise ; ano- ther tradition is, that the sweet banana was itself the forbid- den fruit, but whether emblematic from its shape, or what other allusion, cannot need inquiry. It is a mistake, also, that the tree is cut down to get at the fruit ; that is not neces- sary, though it decays annually. These remarks are more than I intended ; similar remarks as to the misnomer Jicus would apply to every other tree so named. We continued our march in this entangled, tiresome, and sultry valley, having the Coxcde on our right for several miles, the thickets unsubdued concealing the river, and rank with the luxuriance of the cane and the palms, of which I discerned several date trees. Here I saw first a plant which rises only in a single leaf nearly as large as the banana, thence denominated the wild plantain ; it is used for packing cof- fee, cacao, and other articles in bales. This digression, though not entirely called for, serves nevertheless to make better known some of the natural productions of Colombia. 28 ^18 CHAPTER XV. Enter a rich country— Baladera—Gamalatol — Santa Rosa— opulence and change of manners — Barquisimeto — ^wade the river — ascent— pious alcalde — remain in the street — exhibited two hours— relieved by a military man passing — Dr. F. Mullery — the commandant's quarters — who is absent — a present of fruit from the village opposite—Senor Lara — alcalde finishes his oraciones — and finds an un-christian like cause of offence — feel indisposed — notice of Barqui- simeto — military depot at Santa Rosa—country adjacent — rich in products- commandant — malice of the pious alcalde — interview with the commandant— and find him a warm friend — alcalde bites his thumb — anecdotes — shock of an earthquake — march 10th December — dismal plain — fit theatre for Milton, Vir- gil, or John Bunyan — Quibor — find a pure atmosphere— birds of plumage and song — paroquets and cacao — the linnet of Europe here — the perfume of the locust blossom reveals its presence, yet unseen Tucayo its river and rich valley — halt in the suburbs — a sombrero manufacturer — hospitality— en- ter the town — received in the commandant's quarters— his lady's kindness — her orgeat — and medical treatment — visited by Dr. Leonardo, the friend of Dr. Mullery — he commends the lady's prescription, and why — visitors — travel carried in my hammock by peons. Our first place, after passing La Bocca de la Montana, was Baladera, a small village engaged in cultivation ; thence we proceeded to Gamalatol, and here was very perceptible more business and bustle than I had seen since we left the valley of Aragua ; the route from the valley to the road was a continued but not a rapid ascent, and we began to feel the delight of a soft fanning breeze, while our track changed to a descent as we passed through the small hamlet of La Muri- ta by Restrajos to Caudares, from whence to the bed of the river Coxede, which here takes the name of Santa Rosa, the descent is more steep. It was a festival, and the young folks were displaying their finery, not a spurious shew, but, though gay in colours, and more like the fashions of other countries, the whole place gave evidence of more than usual industry, activity, and opulence. It was observed, as VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 219 we approached this place, that the children, even to the youngest, were clothed, and in a neat and tasty manner. Many young ladies, with their beaux, were dressed in silk of bright tints and in a most excellent taste ; though there is no part of Colombia where the females are not remarkable for their small feet, of which I don't know why they should not be proud, and I suppose that it is in the same frank spirit they are not so coquettish as many young persons, who, with the same inclination to display, affect not to know it. The neat- ness of their silk shoes, laced in the sandal fashion, and the saucy breeze ascending from the adjacent river, displaying more of their silk stockings than they seemed to intend, could not but attract the eye of the traveller sauntering along, and he must be a stoic who could not afford a smile on per- ceiving the pleasant disorder of the pretty Senoritas ; it would be a sort of miracle if they did not laugh too, on seeing, by the strangers' significant leer, that their con- fusion was understood. Indeed it was not possible but to admire their graceful and elastic gait, or to feel pretended re- sentment, when they sought to be revenged by laughing louder at the dusty wayworn figures that smiled at the wan- tonness of the breeze. We had intended to see more of this lively place, but, on enquiry of a civil gentleman whom a touch of his hat led me to ask the distance to Barquisimeto, he pointed to it on an elevated platform not far from the bank of the river, on the opposite side. But he was not content with wordly civility, he invited us to halt and rest at his house, and welcome, and that we should find that place much more comfortable and agreeable than at the other side of the river ; we were grate- ful and thanked him, though we declined, and he accompa- nied us -to the usual fording-place, and told us how to pass over. Our sergeant was, however, well acquainted with the ford, and we parted with this generously. disposed Colom- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. bian, who knew no more about us than that we appeared to be strangers. The breadth of the bed of the Coxede, at this place, is nearly a mile across — perhaps the day's ride augmented the space, — and presents a mass of rounded stones, none very small, and some of considerable size ; the water, at this sea- son, was low, and was divided into several narrow currents. The sergeant, as usual, led the van, and though the streams were sometimes strong and washed our stirrups ; but, having gained the left bank, we had now to ascend a steep slope, which had been cut since the earthquake, and which we all agreed could not be less than half a mile up to the plateau. There New Barquisimeto stood at some distance on our right, and while we made our way to the main street, the sergeant galloped off in search of the alcalde, and quarters. He found the alcalde's house, who was out on church affairs ; we had therefore to wait ; and we did wait for about two hours, seated on our mules, and cracking jokes at each other and at the ideas entertained by the crowd which gradually collected round us. It was the second occasion, on which civility and hospitality, every where else so voluntary and kind, w^as want- ing ; it was literally wanting ; for our march had been rapid for three days past, and the inconvenience to which I was subjected by the fall at Valencia, rendered any other than a sitting position desirable ; nor were my young companions indifferent to rest, though they made a joke of their enter- tainment at Barquisimeto. We enquired for a posada, there was none; we enquired for the military commandant, he was out of town ; so we made merry with the prospect of lying in the street. Were it not fit, that incidents such as occurred here, should not be unknown to others who may travel in the same track, I should pass over the folly and disregard of the char- acter of his country, and even his town, exhibited by the VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S21 alcalde of Barquisimeto. Our sergeant followed this pi- ous magistrate to church, and made such intimations as he supposed likely to prevail ; but his answer was " they must wait." We had no alternative but to wait; as la paciencia vince todoj or, as Sancho Panza has it, patience is a plas- ter for all sores, we had to try the panacea, much to the amusement of some ladies, within some adjacent iron bars, who, as we did not distinctly see them, I set down as nei- ther so beautiful, nor so well dressed, nor with such pretty satin shoes, nor, above all, such neat silk stockings as those on the other side of the river ; and in the ill-natured mood of the moment, I insisted they were jealous of the roses on Elizabeth's cheeks, which the removal of her chip hat and the dust seemed to have exposed merely to vex them. Af- ter all, it was more ridiculous to be vext, than for those stran- gers to gape at strangers, especially a female, of a distant coun- try ; who was, in fact, at the same moment making fun of these curious incognitas, with her no less funny brother. The piety. of the alcalde was not yet exhausted, though our philosophy had almost run out, for the grey light was not very distant ; good magistrates compensate for many things by being pious ; like charity, it covers a multitude of sins; it was therefore not wonderful that he would not be disturbed at his oraciones, though the business of his magistracy stood still — In the midst of our exemplary pa- tience, a gentleman in military uniform was passing on the opposite side of the street, he crossed and accosted us in English, enquiring if he could serve us ; his uniform led me away from my point, but I enquired if he knew Dr. Mul- lery — " I am that person," said he, " and you must be Colo- nel Duane." We were in an instant acquaintance, though they were the first syllables we had ever exchanged — he moved on with *' follow me." The sergeant, who had just returned from the third or fourth siege of the alcalde, took the word from the doctor as quickly as if he was going to TISIT TO COLOMBIA, Storm a breach ; and was at the heels of the doctor in a mo- ment ; we followed down the street, and a pair of folding gates flew open, and presented a spacious patio^ into which we all followed, and leaving the charge of the mules to the servants, and our shooting utensils to the care of the ser- geant, the doctor conducted us into a spacious chamber, where a long table covered with green cloth stood, and a young officer busy in writing. The young gentleman had but a word from the doctor, when the room was cleared, and two sleeping apartments adjoining, shewn to us, and our ham- mocks were immediately hung up ; while Pedro had q^lready found his way to the fire-place, and in a few moments fur- nished us with a welcome cup of chocolate. This house belonged to the government, and was the head quarters of the staff, and the commandant Colonel Manrique then absent was daily expected home. It was in the same quarters Colonel Todd lodged when he was on liis route to Bogota ; and we found letters here from his se- cretary, Mr. R. Adams. The doctor left us, with directions to the sergeant to call on him for whatever we wanted ; who took the opportu- nity to shew his ribbon, and then to remind the doctor that they had been on service together ; that he was Sergeant Marcus Proctor^ oflos Grenaderos de las Gardas Colombia- nos — attached as orderly to Colonel D. of America del Norte^ by the commandant of Valencia^ Coronel de los Grenaderos. In half an hour every thing was in order, and we soon sat down to an excellent fricasee and some good bread, and fruit from the other side of the river, ordered by Senor Lara, a resident of the opposite village, who very soon after entered, and I recognized in him the civil gentleman who wished us to remain at his house. He apologised for intru- ding, but having heard of Colonel D. before, and one of our servants, who had stopt in the village, having told him whom we were, he had ordered a little fruit, and determined VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 223 to make himself known, as he had for many years been ac- quainted with the history of the person he came to see. Mr. Lara was by birth a Spaniard, but a man of education and liberal principles, and had distinguished himself in the cause of Colombia. I had no expectation to find any one in a po- sition so much secluded from the ocean, who knew any thing of me, and was truly surprized to find him intimately ac- quainted with my former political and military concerns, and had been for many years. His intercourse was constant while I remained, which I was compelled to do, and fortunate to find a skilful and friendly physician, under whose care I was com- pletely restored. The alcalde at last finished his business in the concerns of another world ; yet the dignity of the magistrate was offended by our accepting any quarters but through him, and signified that we must remove instantly. As the man was either a fool or a knave, 1 determined to play the old soldier with him, and pleaded, what was really true, that I should not be able to leave my hammock for three or four days, which threw him into a rage. It would have been an unequal contest. My fluency in his language was not such as to authorize a war of words, I therefore simply signified I was not able if I were willing to move, and that there I should remain till Colonel Manrique returned. Seiior La- ra had sought to restrain him, without consulting me, and though he was quieted he was not satisfied. My indisposi- tion really required the immediate care of Dr. Mullery, who I felt satisfied would not have placed me where I was with- out a perfect confidence in the commandant. In a few days I became so far recovered as to go abroad, and we fixed upon the 11th for our departure. We had, during this time, an opportunity of seeing and hearing all that concerned Barqui- simeto. On entering the town the streets were actively occupied by muleteers and mules, and a multitude of ill- clad boys. The streets were about twenty feet broad, weU SS4j visit to COLOMBIA. paved, and although this place had been founded and built since the earthquake of 1812, it had already the appearance of an old town. The plateau upon which the town stands, seen from the river, presents a steep perpendicular bank to the river, while on the right side the descent to the river is a gentle slope. The surface of the earth after ascending the platform was without grass, some coarse wild plants formed some tufts, and solitary thistles were dispersed here and there, exhibiting the only verdure ; looking to the west and south and south-west, the absence of verdure, and the presence of a discoloured grey sooty surface, prevailed all round, only where the shadows of objects here and there ris- ing abrupt, served to make the spectacle more desolate, but seemed still more desolate when the eye was turned to the eastward, where perpetual verdure and luxuriance gratified the eye. On our left, as we entered the town, in a line oblique to the verge of the plateau, the sergeant pointed our attention to the sciteof the city, which suffered total de- struction in 1812. Nothing of walls or any object more ele- vated than mounds of earth formed by the ruins of the pita^ ©f which the whole place was built, now remained ; and these were only real graves which had sloped into their then shape, from the irregular masses of the buildings overthrown, and in which the inhabitants, as well as a battalion of nearly se- ven hundred men, were entombed. The only alteration in this heap of ruins, were some attempts made to penetrate the tombs where persons resided who had the reputation of riches ; the summits of those heaps rounded by rain, or their intervals filled up, are all that remains of the city, which was | said to contain eight thousand inhabitants. Those alone es- \ caped who were engaged abroad on business, or at the plan- j tations in the valley ; for at Barquisimeto, or on the plain '-'^ thence to Quibor, near Tucuyo, the cactus, of perhaps twenty ' species, constitutes the only vegetation. The ruins are j about two miles west of south from the new town. The j VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S25 mountains to the north-west and west, at the first glimpse, had the appearance of chalk, and produced the first idea of snow ; but, on closer looking, they were too dull and mot- tled, and in fact chalk or natural lime. About three miles north of the town, near the margin of the plane, is the town of Santa Rosa, which I did not visit ; it was, after the earth- quake, and at this time, a military depot and magazine. Seen at a distance, its appearance was handsome, and per- haps owed an air of cleanliness to a free use of the material so abundant in the adjacent mountains. It has a monastery, of which I heard no good, and made no further enquiries, as what I heard, from authority above misrepresentation, would not bear painting. The valley on the east side of the Coxede (here called Santa Rosa) is uncommonly rich in plantations of sugar, cacao, coffee, and other productions. The cacao of Barquisimeto is reputed to be equal to any that the country produces, and by some to be superior in richness and flavour to all others ; though not having a di- rect access to a port, from which the valley is bounded by that lofty cordillier, which separates it from that of Mara- caibOi and the arid plains of Coro, the product of Barqui- simeto reaches a market under some other name. San Fe- lipe and Puerto Cabello formerly carried off much of it, and the little ports on the gulph of Triste. The passage of the paramos made the transport too expensive, and the war had given the activity of the valley, on the west side, another direction ; peace restored^ this valley will not be behind any in production or enterprise ; and, under all the evils of war, these happy people appear to have surmounted the general distress with more effect than any I had an opportunity of seeing. The very great ignorance which still prevails in other countries concerning Colombia is more particularly applicable to this part of it ; and it is the more remarkable, because its manners and industry are said to have received 29 SS6 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. an advantageous improvement from a number of foreigner^ who some years ago were cast there by accident, and prefer- ing it for its seclusion from the sea- coast, fixed their resi- dence there, and bringing with them experience, and pro- ducing emulation by their successful example, have en- riched their posterity, and given them the character and the tsteem which they merit. On the night of the 8th the commandant arrived. He had not been apprised of the occupation of his quarters, and it being late, he did not disturb us. The alcalde, however, waited on him early in the morning, and made a doleful re- port on our occupation of the quarters without the alcalde's authority ; and, as it appeared, did not hesitate to embeihsh his representation with some fiction, mingled with asperity, against those insolent Inglesias / In the mood produced by this complaint, the colonel found Dr. Mullery, lieutenant Bache, Elizabeth, and myself, at our morning chocolate. The doctor soon perceived that the commandant was disturbed by something, guessed that the alcalde must have been raising a storm in his own puddle, and at once introduced us severally to him ; after a few ex- pressions of civility, he asked my name again, as if to be as- sured, and, On my stating it, was somewhat surprised by his asking, '* Arc you Colonel Duane to whom Congress voted thanks at Cucuta, in 1821 ?'' I replied in the affirma- tive. He said the alcalde had been making an unnecessary disquietude ; hoped we would think nothing of it, and begged we would make ourselves at ease, and we should have whatever we wished and the place afforded ; and inti- mated that he would wait on us the next day. He came however in the evening, and I was fully compensated for the alcalde's authorative incivilities, by the pleasure of this amiable soldier's acquaintance. I found him frank and communicative, particularly on ancient and modern history, and military affairs, the revolutions of the age, and the su- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 227 periority of the representative form of government ; and, though he was devoted to the existing constitution, and con- sidered it as best adapted to the circumstances of the country during the war, he preferred, as he said Bohvar himself pre- ferred, the federal form for a period of peace, and offered some ideas which were bold as they were novel to me, but irresis- tibly true. He said he owed me some thanks, as well for my friendliness to Colombia as a politician, but as a military man, and was in possession of several of my military publi- cations ; and referred to a memoir which I had written, (and which was translated into Spanish by my friend M. Torres,) and circulated through Colombia ; he was the only person whom I had an opportunity of knowing, who had that me- moir, and which I was solicitous to obtain, as I had not re- served one. We spent some hours on the 9th together, and were to have corresponded — fate has denied me that satisfac- tion. I intimated to him, that being now perfectly restored by the skill and kindness of Dr. MuUery, I should depart the next morning (10th), instead of the 11th before proposed. His character appeared in a new and endearing light ; he ex- pressed an apprehension that the improper behaviour of the alcaldi had induced this intention, and entreated me not to attribute that conduct to any other cause than his egotism. I satisfied him that his own conduct and esteem had erased every kind of dissatisfaction ; and before we parted he sat down and wrote a letter to the commanding officer at Tucuyo, our next halting-place, and Dr. Mullery wrote another to Dr. Leonardo, a gentleman who had studied medicine, and visited the hospitals and lectures at Paris, London, and Edinburgh. These letters were very useful to us subsequently. Colonel Manrique was considered as among the most ac- complished officers in the Colombian army, he was under thirty at that time. Maracaibo, having been surprised by Morales and a superior force, it was the fortune of Colonel Manrique to be placed in command, and to expel the Span- 2^8 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. iards, for which he was promoted to the rank of General of Brigade, which many said he should have had before ; soon afttrr I parted from him, the severity of the duties, and the exposure which was unavoidable, broke down his fine per- son and constitution, and Colombia was soon after deprived of one of its best heads and liberal hearts. The attentions we had experienced from Dr„ MuUery, above all others, the kindness of Mr. Lara, who daily sup- plied us with ananas and bananas, narangas and nisperos ; and the civilities of the worthy commandant, made Barquisi- meto, which was far from interesting in itself, very agreeable. Our amiable friend, Dr. French MuUery, the companion and countryman of Dr. W. Murphy, whom we knew at Valencia, had been also his fellow-student. His talents had obtained him general esteem, and his professional skill caused . him to be appointed to the army which passed the isthmus of Panama to Peru. His professional duties, which rescued hundreds from the grave, exposed him in passing up the Chagres, and deprived Colombia of a man of rare merit, and his friends of one who was always sure of esteem where known. On the 5th of December, at twenty-five minutes before four o'clock, A. M., we felt a very sharp shock of an earth- quake ; I had reclined on my hammock with a book, and Elizabeth was also reading. The sensation was felt by me, as if a person had passed beneath my hammock and given it two rapid shakes. Lieutenant Bache, who was in the cor- ridor, felt it at the same instant, but it could not have occu- pied four seconds, and nothing further occurred. On Tuesday, the 10th of December, we left Barquisime- to, and entered upon its arid and inhospitable plain : our first course was ascending and through a village, such as John Bunyan might imagine for the residence of despair and desolation, and from thence our route was due west. No words can convey a distinct and expressive picture of this VISIT TO eOLOMBIA. 229 plain, or the vegetation that covers it, or of the mountains which are first seen in the north-west, composed, apparent- ly, of chalk, with here and there some tufts or creeping rib- bonds of the thorny cactus ; there were some patches which seemed to afford grass, but it had the hue of the chalk it barely grew upon ; vast ravines cut the sloping sides of these mounds of chalk, and presenting on one side the brightness of the sun's rays, and on the other the shadow of the impending bank, formed the only exceptions to its wretched monotony. Our route lay about fifteen miles from these mountains, but narrowing to a valley, of which the south-east side at first thinly clad with forest, as we proceed- ed became as chalky on the left as on the right side, till the plain below became narrowed to about six or seven miles. The whole surface, on each side of our path, was a dense thicket of cactus, impenetrable to man or beast. Even the ground on which our mules trod was overgrown with a dwarf species, I believe the creeping cerus ; to fall upon which would be as injurious as to fall upon a flax-dresser's comb. The cactus of three or four species are abundant on the Sier- ra in front of the sea at Laguayra, and in other places where the soil will produce nothing else ; but on this plain I per- ceived varieties with which I had no previous acquaintance. Humboldt, I believe it is, who likens a species of cactus to a large candelabra ; there is some, but it is an imperfect simili- tude : this species is a tree with a stem or stock of twelve to twenty inches diameter ; about four or five feet from the ground, it throws out lobes covered with stars of five points, in the centre of which a long thorn projects to some part of the edge of the first, another and another lobe grows in capricious flatted figures, so as to present no leaf nor limbs, but such thorny cakes of vegetable substance, as compose the co- chineal cactus, opuntia, or prickly pear ; these strange-look- ing limbs protrude from the stem to the height of ten to twenty feet, and, from the absence of foliage, seem to be the 2S0 VISIT TO COLOMBIA, remains of trees that had undergone the scorching of fire. Others of this thorny tribe, spread m long ribbons of about two inches wide and half an inch thick, covered with the like five-pointed stars and thorns. I have estimated some which I have fixed my eye upon and followed above sixty yards, and then without seeing whence it sprung or termi- nated. The common grovelling cactus, or opuntia, was abundant along the skirt of the thicket, which appears to have been a road cut across this miserable plain, that would have spared the poets the exercise of invention, in describing the borders of hell and the valley of sin or death — by the fit- ness of its lonely desolation. As when heaven's fire, Hath scath'd the forest oaks, or mountain pines, With singed top, their stately growth, though bare, Stands on the blasted heath .... .... The causeway to hell-gates, On either side, disparted chaos. The heat was ardent, as we ambled through this lane of dreary uniformity, where man, nor beast, nor bird, nor brook to assuage thirst was seen. The soil, stript by the feet of the mules, appears like a compound of grey ashes and chalk ; and where, after we had somewhat farther advanced, some patches of the soil were bare, the earth had sunk some ten or twelve feet in a compact mass, its surface whole, and the steep edge of the unsunk soil perpendicular ; the sur- face sunk, shewing about three hundred yards by fifty, be- low the former level. Wondering much to see human dwellings, after we had marched twelve ijiiles through this dismal avenue, and our usual stock of water in our flaggons of calabash, which we constantly carried, each at the pommel of his saddle, the dust and heat, the impression of such a desolate place, induced us to turn into Las Horcones (probably from horcone, a rope of onions) — though certainly there was no place in VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 231 sight where onions could vegetate — we found water here as scant) as with ourselves, and were very glad to find that there was some guarapa, fresh fermented, of which we made refreshment, and learned that we had ten miles yet to ride before we should meet a rivulet. We had derived some benefit from our halt, but with such a long march before us, we pushed on for Quibor, which we reached some time before night. The village any where else would be unsightly ; but after our day's ride, it appeared gay and comfortable. A fine stream passed through the village, and our appetites for food, rendered a refreshment of tajo or dried beef, though dressed with gar- lic, not unpalatable ; fatigue had left us without curiosity to see more of Quibor, than our line of march, so disposing of our last bottle of wine, we retired to our hammocks before night, and before the sun rose, we had left Quibor in our rear. After passing Quibor a few miles, the cactus disappeared, our route was an ascent, and led to a low range of verdant mountain, and amidst fine hedges, where we once more found birds of beautiful plumage and song, which were so abundant before we reached Barquisimeto, that they ceased to be as interesting ; though the screams of the paroquets, and others of the parrot kind, swarm where the cacao is cul- tivated, here they became more interesting. Here I saw the linnet of Europe, and recognized its note before I saw it. We were ascending now through a shaded lane, cooled by rills of pure water, the appearance of luxuriant grass covered with dew drops, very much resembling parts of Eu- rope, as well in the shrubbery, as in its temperature ; and the perfume of the rich locust blossom, made itself frequent- ly known to us unsearched for. We gained the summit, and the rays of the sun sudden- ly beamed upon us, like the trick of a pantomime ; the shade had so abruptly disappeared, and the range of vision was now so much enlarged, exposed a broad valley, through 2B2 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. which a spacious river rolled from the south-west, whereon the bright sun shed so much hght, as to render it incon- venient to dwell upon ; the vast Cordillera that separates Merida Valley, was the boundary on the west side of the river, at about seven or eight miles distant. It was the Tu- cuyo river, which flowed to the north, and at our feet on its east side stood the city ; the plantations of cacao, sugar, and coffee, spread along the shores of the river in a northern di- rection, and the road was lively, and visible along the slope, by which we descended towards Tucuyo ; looking to the right, or north, and the banks on both sides exhibited fer- tility, luxuriance, a close and wide spread cultivation, splen- did sugar fields, and orange flowers, and the euphorbiums, soft green banana plants, betrayed the rich harvests of ca- cao and coffee, which they were placed to protect and shade. Cotton trees presented their snowball Hower, in clumps, rows, or insulated. In the midst of these contrasted prospects, and inclining a little to the left of our point of view, the opulent and hand- some city of Tucuyo was now in distinct view. The heat was here more than was agreeable, and about three miles from the town I hung up my hammock in the corridor of an industrious hat-maker, who was at work upon a hat of the cuquisias fibre, or agave, which he wrought with great pa- tience, neatness, and constancy, while he sung a patriotic vanta, in which the theme and conclusion of every stanza was Bolivar ; it was this incident that drew my attention to him, and perhaps it was the expression of my countenance, between fatigue and satisfaction on hearing the song and sub- ject, that induced him to lay down his work, and, with a courtesy that would have merited to be worth ten thousand dollars a year, which his manner and hospitality would not disparage, he pointed in a few words and gestures to what he thought good for me, and I was, in a few seconds, with the sergeant's aid, swinging in my hammock, and the unaf- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 233 fected Sombrerero at work as if nothing had happened, and relating to his wife, and two sprightly, indeed lovely children, his notions of the Seiior — that, from being accompanied by a grenadier, and all his retinue wearing swords, he must be some general officer, and the young officer his aid-de-camp, and as for the senorita^ she appeared una angela de la guar dial The good dame from within, who had, in the same kind spirit as her husband, plucked some fruit from the surround- ing trees, advanced as if approaching to pay homage, and with a smile of beneficence, and hospitable emotions, would present to my daughter a near turtiima (calabash) of excel- lent lemonade, hinting with her significant eye, and " nods and smiles to make an argument," that when she had re- freshed herself she would help the object of her care. We spent two hours in this place, amused by the inno- cence of the children, and the natural elegance and content- ment of mind and manners, displayed in this humble cot- tage. They had procured milk for us, eggs, and abundant fruit, and it was with difficulty they would accept more than what we deemed one-third of the value of what we had from them : a thousand dollars would not purchase half the delight and gratification we derived from them at less than a quar- ter of a dollar; we endeavoured by some little presents of trinkets with which I had provided myself for such purposes, to leave something to the children for remembrance : the worthy Sombrerero and his wife seemed to think we should not have parted so soon. The heat of the sun had abated, and we travelled slowly along the descending road, and entered by the main street, in which stood the head quarters of the commandant ; the sergeant handed the letter of Colonel Manrique ; the gates unfolded, and we were in an instant in the patio. Upon our dismounting, the lady of the commandant came forward in deshabille; her appearance was pleasant and kind as her manners ; her person was uncommonly large and 30 ^34 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. roundj and of corresponding symmetry. I have seldom seen a female of equal magnitude and rotundity, yet her feet, which, when in full dress, in neat blue satin slip- pers, relieved by bright silk stockings, were remarkable for their smallness, and disproportion to the otherwise well formed and agreeable superstructure ; yet it was the dispro- portion of different habits ; those little feet were her orna- ment, and like all her countrywomen, she had a right to be proud of them. A long couch-formed bench, covered with a crimson covering, stood along the wall of the saloon into which we were introduced. On our left, as we entered, was the lado separadamente of the respectable Seiiora ; on the right was the camarita assigned for my accommodation, ad- joining to which Elizabeth and Richard had their camaritas, and our baggage and attendants were as conveniently placed as if we had predisposed every thing for our own convenience, j I felt much indisposed, and my hammock being, as usual, \ prepared " in the first intention," I retired to rest, leaving the I young folks to amuse and be amused with the good-natured I Seiiora, and a number of female friends, who had fled upon the wings of rumour to see the foreign curiosities. Orgeat, sweetmeats, and Muscadel wine were served ; and while the good lady occupied her guests and her friends, she had undertaken to perform Lady Bountiful for el viejo coronet — and presented, with her own hands, a bowl of the universal specific of those regions, an infusion of sliced bitter orange in warm water, with sugar and some aromatic ; as it was not only very innocent, but very much to my taste, I was not wanting in deference or belief of her assurance, that it was like the " parmacity, the sovereignest thing in the world for an inward bruise." I took it as it was administered, and the good lady, with as much kindness as if I had l^een her father, placed the coverlid over me, adjusting my hammock, /*^j gave it a gentle swing, I suppose to rock me to sleep; what- ' ever was the intention, xhe effect was that Ifell into a de- \ VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 235 lightful slumber, awoke in a profuse perspiration, and shift- ing entirely, shaving and washing, before I was suspected to be awake, I appeared in such excellent spirits, that the good Senora was more confirmed in the efficacy of the specific warm infusion of bitter orange ; and it was not for me to question conclusions, which were sanctioned by the change in my appearance, after the fatigue, lassitude, and disguise of dust, and soiled travelling habits, in which I made my first appearance. The commandant was a portly, well-look- ing, but rather a reserved man, and seemed to think his good Seiiora was too weighty for an angel ; but the good Senora herself was not only persuaded that she was angelic, and took no great pains to conceal her beauties in all the fulness of nature, and really tastefully arranged ornaments. I determined to remain here another day, as in the even- ing I found a tendency to fever, indicated by the state of my pulse and skin. Lieutenant Bache had sought for Dr. Leonardo, to deliver the letter of Dr. MuUery ; he was at his plantation, two miles distant, and thither Richard determined to go and make geological and botanical researches on the road. He found the doctor at his hacienda, and, after spend- ing some time together, and viewing his collections of books, natural curiosities, and some well-conceived original sketches of the doctor's own execution, they walked together to town, and I had the satisfaction to see him at the very moment when I wished for advice ; he soon set me at ease, and re- commended a repetition of the good Senora's specific, which he said he placed no other confidence in than as it promoted perspiration, and nothing more was required ; I was anxious to proceed, but postponed it for a day, and he recommended to me to travel, for a few days, in a reclined posture. In India this would not have been difficult ; but the doctor an- ticipated my difficultities, and overcame them, by stating that the commandant would issue an order for twelve peons, VISIT TO COLOMBIA. and, with my hammock slung upon a good round bamboo, I might be carried on the shoulders of the peons. The commandant seemed pleased to have an opportunity of doing something to show his good will, and he rose and issued orders for the required number of peons to be at his quarters at seven o'clock in the morning. An excellent dinner of poultry, game, and fine sausages, with sallads and fruit, and good Catalonia wine, and bread, as good as any of Phila- delphia, was prepared on this day, and company of both sexes invited to partake with us. We found the company agreeable, and desirous to do every thing that could con- duce to our pleasure and entertainment. With the usual chocolate, I retired early to sleep. CHAPTER XVI. Kindness and hospitality — departure — direction of the route— intersection of the mountains — aspect — Humano caro Baxo — a knavish alcalde — tricks upon travellers — efFectively repelled— singular position of this place — and the road from it— dangerous elevation of a path or shelf on the side of the deep valley — a Aa^o— dangerous declivities— the safety of the mules— conduct to be observ- ed — sloughs and mule — ladders — rain — oil-cloth cloaks excellent — niglit tra- velling and rain — discovery of quarters — military rencontre — accommodation for travellers— baggage not arrived— part from our new military acquaintance —and learn the news. The orders of the commandant of Tucuyo were punctu- ally obeyed ; breakfast was prepared early, and some fine rolls of bread were put up in the delicate plantain leaf, to serve us while fresh on the road; and the peons having brought with them a suitable bambooy of about four inches diameter and twelve feet long ; my hammock was aflixed VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 237 to the bamboo at each end, and placing myself in it, after taking leave of our hospitable entertainers, we left Tucuyo about half- past eight, our party being now considerably augmented. This practice, I find, is frequent ; the pay of the carriers is only a real a day, but I determined to pay double. Our baggage had been sent on an hour before our departure, and we overtook it about six miles beyond Tu- cuyo. Our route lay in the direction up the right bank of the river, about two miles above the town, where we forded : the water, though broad, was not very deep ; and its bed composed of small pebbles. The cordelier, at the loot of which we were crossing, was clothed with stupendous fo- rests, from the left margin of the river to the summits ; we entered the woods immediately upon crossing, and discover- ed, that, although the range of the cordelier from Merida to the north of Tucuyo appeared unbroken, it was here cut through to the very base, and seemed to be the ends or be« ginnings of several mountains which rose out of a plain ; the opening led into a vast area, in which the mountains seemed to terminate, in order to unite their mountain floods with the Tucuyo ; we passed several of these streams, and followed a path lying westward, which led up the side of a small ridge, and along this side to the south of west, about thirty feet above the common plain. The route was very much broken ; but the poor fellows, who carried me, were in perfect good humour and contentment ; though the sun was bright and its rays warm, the position of our line of march, and the forest trees on our left, gave a comfortable shade. The country here presented a mixture of lofty fo- rests, rocky ravines, streams gurgling and nestling into each other's beds ; and banks, a little elevated at intervening points, tinted with flowers amidst carpets of velvet verdure. To me the passage was as pleasant as could be desired, as I had all the comfort and ease of a couch, and was exempt from fa- tigue ; while I had, without any personal care to require ^38 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. my attention, a full opportunity to view the landscape which appeared to glide by me ; the capricious forms and direc- tions of the mountains and the valleys, the new plants and flowers, and the innumerable tribes of birds, their painted plumage, and their occasional mingled roar of song : but I must confess, that the same kind of feelings which I expe- rienced on being first carried in a palankin on the shoulders of men, in Hindustan, were revived here. The palankin is a well-balanced, light, and a manageable carriage. It is so contrived as to divide its weight upon the shoulders of four men, who can relieve each other without altering the celerity of their pace, over a surface uniformly flat for many hundred miles, iind in which a stone as large as a grain of gunpow- der is never found. The case here was in every respect more laborious to the bearers — there was no made toad, two men could not travel abreast upon the track, and the whole sur- face was composed of angular rocks, of fragments of angular stone, without even a rounded pebble in the brook beneath. The burden too was more cumbrous, because the hammock being suspended at length, hung so low that in some passages there was a contact with the projecting rocks beneath. Under these considerations, whenever a favourable shade presented itself, we halted, and if the brook was near, we had some re- freshment. At length, we descended, forded a large stream, and crossed the broad and broken valley ; ascending the side of a long sloping bank, widening to a plain covered with a verdant sod, until we reached the village of Humano caro Baxo about three o'clock, having travelled more tlian twenty-seven miles. The alcalde of this place reported himself absent ; but the sergeant, who had several times marched this route, knew him, found him, and told him he knew him. Having been ra- ther rested than fatigued by the journey of the day, I sought for some of the usual beverage of the country for the peons, and they all had as much as they wished for ; the VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 239 baggage being placed in a convenient spot, the mules were allowed to roil and feed on the plain. The alcaide would not budge for the sergeant, who desired quarters and fo- rage for payment. I waited on him, and in the most re- spectful but firm manner requested accommodations. The suUenness and superciliousness of this man of brief authori- ty, was to me unaccountable. I called the peons together, in order to make payment — the usual hire of the country is a real — to be sure, the sum in our country is trivial, but be- fore I knew what the fare was, I made it known to them, that I should pay them double the usual fare. Whether it was a presumption upon this voluntary promise, either that I must be very silly or very rich, as payment of any kind, in former times, was so rare an occurrence, and stripes were oftener given than reals, it seems that the alcalde calculated upon my weakness, and his remoteness from responsibility ; hcAvouId neither give an answer, nor, as was his established duty, provide accommodations, though many houses were tenantless, and at his command ; the public law and custom requires of him, if fuel or food be required, to cause it to be furnished at a reasonable price. Night being close at hand, I directed the sergeant to seek the best vacant house, which he soon found and soon occupied it ; as we carried all the furniture we required about us, we were soon fixed, and our hammocks up ; we then called upon the alcalde, tendering silver in payment, for fuel, milk, and eggs, and for bread if any was to be purchased. The alcalde said nothing, did nothing, and, in fact gave no orders in our presence — but as our guide knew the man, and how to ingratiate himself with the inhabitants, he soon found that fuel, eggs, poultry, and bread were abundant, and he purchased accordingly ; but the alcalde had signified his displeasure to any one who would dare to sell any. The sergeant, therefore, insisted on paying first the price asked, and then taking whatever we requi- red. We thus got guarapa for the peons, bread, cake cho- 240 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. colate, some manteca or oil for stews— butter we had not seen since we left Susacon, and the cook was at length en- abied to go to work ; milk was obtained by Vincent, at some distance; and the peons were called upon to receive their pay. They had some unexplained difference among them- selves, and one of them came forward to receive for the whole. Some discontent was visible among the others, and I signified, that I would pay each individual into his own hand ; this was signified to them all by the sergeant ; a considerable number exulted in this, and the spokesman menaced them : and turning to me, with a staif in his hand, signified that the alcalde had told them not to take the fare I offered, nor less than four times the common fare ; I cal- led for the alcalde, who acknowledged the declaration ; I was determined to resist this design of robbery, countenanced by a magistrate; I prepared myself to resist the insolence of this unworthy man, and to repel any outrage, such as the menaces of a part of the peons unreservedly held forth. I accordingly discharged my pistols in the air, and reloaded them with ball and buck-shot in their presence, and caused our people to be at hand armed ; then calling upon the al- calde, I intimated my knowledge of his character; my per- sonal acquaintance with the Intendant of the department, whom I should see in a few days, and that I should make his conduct known ; that I should now deposit in his hands, if he required it, the fare for each peon ; that it should be double the ordinary fare ; that it was his duty to repress their insolence and their menaced robbery ; and that, if any vi- olence should be attempted, I should feel myself compelled to shoot him as their abettor. The effect was electrical, he now talked with volubility and superabundant meanness. The peons were called, and paid individually by me,;and on returning to the quarters we occupied, the alcalde followed us, with two dozen of eggs, which he insisted on present- ing to us. I had so far recovered my strength, that I deter- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S4l mined to move early — we had an abundant repast, and, as usual in this fine climate, a balmy repose. This statement, given merely to show the difficulties in which a stranger is placed, when he comes in contact with a man of a vicious temper ; the necessity of appearing able and prepared to repel outrage, how necessary it is to pursue a decisive conduct without violating decorum in w^ord br action. On more occasions than this I found it to be not only necessary, but the only certain mode of repelling inso- lence and wantonness from such people. This village stands in a position peculiarly wild and re- markable; in crossing the valley to approach it, the Sierra appeared within a few yards of it, but as we neared the town, the perpendicular face of the rock, lofty, naked, and unbroken, seemed so close as to be within stone-throw, and so elevated as to appear rather to incline towards us than from us ; its direction was north and south ; we, in the course of the next day's journey, traversed the prolongation of this ridge on the opposite side from south to north, where the serrated rocks seen from Humano caro Baxo now appear- ed like the debris of a vast artificial rampart piled against the wall on the exterior or east side. On Saturday the 14th December, at six o'clock, and re- descending to the valley by which we had entered, we took a southern direction for about two miles, where this vast wall was cut across by a valley running from east to west, and between the interval of which it formed one side. Be- low the winding ridges on the opposite range, several streams flowed into a common channel, and numerous paths diverged from this place to three of the cardinal points.- Our path lay the nearest to the ridge of Humano caro Baxo^ and our pas- sage was to the north-west, an ascent for more than three miles over immense rocks, where some industry had been exercised in constructing rude timber bridges, leading from rock to rock, and over deep fissures which the mountain 31 242 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. flood had not dug a passage, our ascent was tedious, diffi- cult, dangerous, and vexatious ; repeated halts to rest the inappreciably patient and persevering mules, enabled us to contemplate the enormous masses of rock which formed the slope of that Sierra, whose south-east side appeared like a wall springing from a green pasture perpendicular to the heavens. We at length overcame this rocky ascent, and entered upon the side of a mountain sloping indeed, but very steep, and covered with beautiful verdure. We passed a hato^ where horses and mules were bred and collected, and saw some very fine cattle ; but our ascent became so steep that the march could be continued only by a track, like a shelf round the mountain, some miles below its summit, but still so high at the pebbled shelf upon which we rode in single file, that cattle beneath us were distinguishable by the naked eye only like little flies upon a carpet, and lofty clumps of forest trees were diminished into bouquettes. This was the worst specimen of steep and lofty passages, on paths not broader than a quarto volume, wc had yet met, and, though wrought originally by art into level planes, now, by the attrition and descent of the soil from the inward side, formed a very decided inclination to the abyss. To ascend and attempt to travel such a path, even on foot, at home, would be deemed dangerously wanton, and full of positive hazard ; the head is apt to ring and the eyes become dizzy in looking down from heights not a third of the elevation we now travelled upon without hesitation, though not with- out apprehension. But, while examining the question how we should pass, such precipices, we already, without hesita- tion, or any effect upon our heads or eyes, had advanced considerably ; and I could not resolve it by any other rea- soning, than the confidence which is gradually acquired in the safety, firmness, and sagacity of the mule, which treads upon the roughest cliffs with as much firmness, and more VISIT TO COLOMBIA, 243 prudence than the goat. The horse is sometimes trained to equal sureness of foot in the Andes ; but it is only where herding, or habitually associated with mules, that this stea- diness is acquired ; the riding horse is accustomed not to seek or select its own path, the hand of the rider directs him; and the rider is not always as wise as the mule he rides. The mule is injured, nay, rendered useless by being constant- ly governed by the bit ; the safest course in riding the mule is to hold a free or loose rein, and if the mule requires to be ex- cited, it is effected by the spur, and not by feeling his mouth. It is the rule of prudence therefore to do no more than give the direction with the hand, and the mule will not only choose the best but the safest path. When we had gained a broader path, and once more found forests and sweet streams of water, we resolved to bivouac and dine ; we ac- cordingly selected a shady spot, contiguous to a limpid mountain stream, hung up our hammocks in the shade, and having provided some wine, as we uniformly did wherever any was to be purchased, we had laid in at Tucuyo sufficient to serve to the close of this day. We dined, and had a plea- sant nap. We were mounted at three o'clock. This proved to be the most unpleasant evening which we had yet experienced. Some rain had fallen to the west and north, and the road passing through deep forests of lofty trees, the product of a very rich soil and a warm temperature, the path lay over a black soapy loam ; the softness of the soil, and the hollow- ness of the path had produced sloughs and mule -ladders., for I know no other expression by which to designate them. The mule uniformly steps in the space where the mule pre- ceding him had left the trace of his hoof; there the mud ac- cumulates and becomes doughy and tenacious, the mule still prefers the open space, where a trace of a step is per- ceptible, to attempting a new step, or to step on ground ap- parently more firm ; thus successive mules always treading 244 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. in the same precise spot, the ground appears like a ladder, in which lines of earth cross the way, and rising between the spaces, which form a puddle more or less deep and difficult, as the weather is wet or dry. The ascent through this wilderness was, in this particular way, both dangerous and unpleasant ; Richard and myself have been at different times dismounted, or found it prudent to dismount, as the mules often found it difficult to extricate their legs from the slough, those cross lines of earth which give the resemblance of a ladder being wholly insecure, if by accident a mule treads upon one, the effect is to sink deeper in the intervening spaces. I We had a slight shower as we ascended half a mile from our bivouac, and had " cloaked aW for the reception of the showers which the clouds appeared ready to pour upon us ; the slippery soil would not admit of moving in more than Indian file ; and our train of ten mules made the march slow and tedious. The baggage mules were more feeble than our own, and, as we were eager to reach our place of rest, we pushed on with the sergeant in advance, leaving the two servants and muleteers to bring up the bag- gage ; the rain soon wholly separated us ; it was not yet dark, but the rain was in our faces, though our oil-cloth cloaks had performed the service they were provided for ad- mirably ; we had at length to descend. Our proposed halt- ing place was Agua Obispos We had passed an empty, but spacious bungalow, which had been a Spanish post during the war, and were inclined to stop there, but we continued our way, though the rain never ceased, and it was already night, with even more than the darkness incident to rain. If there had been a path it would have been impossible to see it, and our sole reliance now was not to be separated, to avoid pre- cipices or ditches by very gradual advances, and to trust to the mules for a path- way guide, and to the sergeant for knowledge of the country. Elizabeth's black mule had VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 245 travelled that route before, and singularly enough had pur- sued the right track, my mule led me in another direction, which, though secure from any precipice, as, upon recon- noitering the next morning, 1 found ; but to have pursued that track, would have been to go largely out of the way. By hailing, and renewing the engagement not to separate, I retraced my steps and joined my companions. The sergeant had disappeared altogether ; and the baggage and attendants were we knew not how far behind. The shadow of a dis- tant sierra, which seemed to cross our path in occasional gusts, was exposed, and its outline seen distinctly ; we found the mules had led us among rocks, between which rich her- bage and some wormwood grew up and brushed our legs ; and we continued to wind down through these rocky and shelving, but not very precipitous sides of the mountain — ■ when the welcome shout of the sergeant's voice advised us that he had found quarters ! Had he found a palace the information could not be more acceptable ; but what a house ! what a condition were we all in — no house was yet visible to our vision, and, were it broad day, there would be some difficulty to find it : our eyes had been affected by the rain, which beat upon us in front, and which our oil-cloths could not, at last, altogether protect us against. An oil-cloth capuchine, or capot, which I had provided to be attached tp my cloak, I had fortunately placed over my hat, and this protected my neck and shoul- ders. I found the sergeant leading my mule with one hand, and Elizabeth's with the other, and he placed me by the side of a rock, upon which my foot rested, and I dismounted, more feeble than I had suspected. We had come 40 miles, and had been under incessant rain four hours ; I found it necessary to have help to enter the hovel, in which an earth- en cup of oil, with a feebly lighted wick in it, now enabled me to " see land" for the first time. The sergeant and Elizabeths who were both as thoroughly drenched as I was, 246 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. attended more to me than to themselves : we entered the place intended for a door, and found the whole space within apparently occupied by hammocks, over which hung some implements of war, uniform coats, swords, and leather caps, indicating the occupants to be military men. A female of the house appeared, and to her Elizabeth recommended her-- self ; the sergeant had only to place our mules in safety, and our saddles ; our blankets had been, in the warm valleys, imprudently transferred to the baggage, which did not, in fact, arrive until late in the next day, the ariero and servants having halted at the Spanish camp. The sergeant had brought my hammock, and, without ceremony, began to suspend it within the inmost hammock, the incumbent of which, assuming the tone of the parade, in a bass voice for- bid the sergeant from hanging up my hammock there ; though very feeble, the urgency required exertion, and, as- suming a corresponding parade tone, I ordered the sergeant peremptorily to fix up my hammock in that place ; whether my Spanish was perfectly classical or not, I will not pretend to say, but the sergeant replied in sailor's style, " Aye, aye\ Coronel^'' and in a few seconds, by crawling beneath the suspended cords of five hammocks, I found myself in the sixth of the row, with full room, and very much to my satis- faction — for my fatigue was excessive. The vi^ord colonel had the effect which the sergeant expected, my suspended neighbour changed the pitch of his voice to that of com- placency and equality, and addressed himself successively to me in Spanish and French. I had, in remonstrating against his opposition to my accommodation, signified that the world was not made for any one man, and that the house which received five lodgers in a dreary night, might very well accoinmodate as many more if there was room. We soon became so well acquainted, that he deplored my suffer- ing under such weather, and calling to a lieutenant, who was swinging along side him, obtained from his haversack a bot- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 24t tie o^ aguardiente — I should call it whiskey any where else, but if it had been champaign, it would not have been more welcome; he brought a gill tumbler of clear glass; mischance had left a gap in one side of it, but he filled it as full as it would hold, and presented it to me, assuring me it was equal to a blanket in such a night, and in such a pickle ; it was clear as rock crystal, and the flavour could not be disagree- able, as I drank it all, and thanked the giver ; it was of es- sential service. Richard had, with a soldier's discretion, said nothing, but hung up his hammock athwart at one end of the others, and went sedately to sleep. Elizabeth had been ushered into a small nook about eight feet by six, in which there were four other females. It was a country of canes, and where the cane and bamboo grow there is seldom any plank or squared timber. The only accommodation Elizabeth could find was a cold earthen floor, or literally a shelf of canes, which extended along the wall on one side of the room, four feet from the ground, and there, after ob- taining some food, of which the sergeant had become the unbidden caterer, she went to sleep, none of us being able to change our clothes. I found by our conversation that my friend, along side, was a colonel in command of a light corps [cazadores) ; that those who were along side him were officers of his regiment, and he was not wanting in confidential discourse ; he enqui- red my name, the rank I had held in the United States army, the names and relation of the young officer and his sister who accompanied me, and found that the sergeant of Grena- diers, in my suite, had been ordered on the service in com- pliment to me, as it was neither boastful nor insidious, having nothing to expect from him, I advised him that I had the honour of receiving the thanks of Congress at Cucuta ; this to my surprise he had heard of, and something of my his- tory, in which he was more correct than could have been thought possible, if I had not witnessed it myself. The ^48 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. storm grew thicker at midnight, but what with fatigue and the aguardiente^ my first recollection was to find the light of a clear dawn penetrating the disarrayed wattled partition of earth and cane which had composed the exterior wall of the house, through which all the winds of heaven found free access ; but our hammocks hung above the wasted aper- tures, and though the floors were deluged, we were dry, and not uncomfortable under all circumstances. Our baggage had not arrived in the night, and the old colonel was the first in motion. His comrades were speed- ily equipt, and as our midnight conversation had made us known, we were now glad to see each other, after our ac- quaintance. They were soon mounted. The Colonel sig- nified that he was proceeding in advance of General Ur- daneta who was ordered to move in concert with the divi- sions of Paez and Colonel Manrique, the object contempla- ted to seize Morales by stratagem, or at least, expel him from the coast, that his corps was to be in advance, and procure information ; and that we should meet General Urdaneta on our route, which proved correct. 249 CHAPTER XVII. Baggage separated — native propensities to dancing — leave Obispos — abandoned habitations — not all massacred — plunder— conscription — dexterity of the mules, -— Carache — dreary position. — Santa Ana, negociation of Bolivar and Morillo here— singular appai'ent causeway on which it stands. — Treading and winnow- ing grain— killing of calves forbidden by policy and law of Colombia. — Lodge in the house where Bolivar and Morillo negoclated and slept — anecdote of. — ■ Unaccountable influence of the Spanish agents over the press.— The pro» positions of Bolivar in favour of humanity — both armies, unknown to each other, in a desperate situation. — Sucre's first public appearance as a confi- dential negociator — policy of Bolivar — recruits and reorganizes his army, and with surprising celerity appears at Carthagena, and prepares for its fall. — Com- missioners to Spain. — March— precipices — fatigue — halt at the foot of a steep descent. — Manners of the peasantry — cheerfulness universal. — Move off the road towards Truxillo. It was Sunday, and our baggage had not yet arrived j the night, though in a northern cHmate it would be deemed temperate, was here cool, and the want of our blankets sen- sibly felt. They reached Obispos at two o'clock, at that time the excuses of the ariero and Vincent were accepted, as the inclemency of the day and night taught us to think them reasonable ; but we found afterwards, that they had determined, on setting out, to stop, though not to sleep, at the Spanish camp ; the solution of which, and of other in- stances of delay, was to be found in the propensities of the ariero and our domestic Fince?it to dancing fandangoes. In fact, the ariero had sent on his servant the day before to that neighbourhood, and the inclemency of the weather fa- voured the fandango. The ariero was a man of some pro- perty, about thirty years old, and among his class a great coxcomb ; our domestic was, if possible, more vain of his dancing than Vestris, and we had some opportunities of wit- nessing his feats in that way. The Caracas folks, humble 250 ¥ISIT TO COLOMBIA. and elevated, and of both sexes, are distinguished above all others in the republic as graceful dancers ; it was therefore Vincent's point of honour to demonstrate the super-excel- lence de su propia pais, or, as he said himself, de todos los naturales de aquel pais, his superiority over all the natives of the CO y \r\\ On Monday, 16th of December, at seven o'clock, vi^e left this miserable cottage, at Agua Obispos^ or the bishop's water. It may have been a village or town in former times, but to us it was invisible, and there may have been a river or a well of water there, but probably it was so named from the almost unceasing rain that prevails there, and which gives to the plain and mountains that it sprinkles and surrounds, a rich pasture ; I could discover but two more dwellings, and of the same style of architecture, in the place : our route, after crossing the valley, lay along the ascent, parallel with its di- rection, two miles ; there were some fine wheat, barley, maize, peas, and other pulse, in pretty large patches, and an apparently well laboured culture ; there were numerous cat- tle grazing, which, from the position of the place, must be- long to somebody, and, if there were only a dozen owners, they must be all rich. There is a fact which has not been noticed by any of those who have travelled through Colom- bia, and which the scantiness of dwellings, and the richness of the husbandry calls to my recollection, as it has relation to the state of the population. We had several occasions to regret the desertion of towns and villages on the road, and, at first, concluded that their population had been all destroyed by the war. The destruction by war did not require any ex- aggeration, but we found, upon better inquiry, that this solitude was an abandonment always near the high roads, where cultivation was rich and abundant, which was account- ed for by some intelligent men, whom we occasionally fell in with on the road, or where we chanced to halt. Where the country was not rich in cultivation, tlie villages rem.ained VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 251 inhabited, but only by women, aged, or infant persons. In the rich countries the whole population moved en masses with their cattle, to some of the remote valleys, out of the reach of the pillage or the march of armies ; and out of the reach too of the military conscription. These vacate^ villages and houses, add an only apparent decay to the actual loss by the war ; it was merely apparent, because the people had only moved out of the range of the troops, as it was a frequent complaint when we reasoned with persons who replied to our inquiries for provisions — '* No aye nada^'' we have nothing — it was a frequent apology that exaction was as common with the troops of the republic, as with the Godas. Our appearance with a grenadier in uniform, with his lance in front, made us look entirely military, and as the sergeant was the usual forage- master and purveyor, the people on the roads treated 13S as they treated all military men, who too often obtained provisions and never paid for them. They acknowledged, indeed, that all the Colombian native troops took was mere food, or perhaps guarapa ; but the Godas not only took pro- visions, but any moveable they cast an eye upon, often broke open the chests, and abused the females, destroying also in wantonness what could not be useful to them. The three houses of Agua Obispos were more than a mile apart, and in that where we lodged, there were more than twenty females of all ages, and but two or three men advanced in years. It was six o'clock when we began to ascend the Sierra, and found the plains and verdant slopes of the ascent on both sides enlivened by a great number of fine horses, horn cattle, and some handsome and clean fleeced sheep. As Ave could not breakfast with satisfaction where we had slept, we halted at the side of a beautiful rivulet at eight o'clock, and made a sub- stantial breakfast. The rain had ceased, and passed to the summits of a distant range of the paramo, where it seemed to wait till we should move out of the way of shelter. The soil being very rich, and the earth soaked by the last week's 20S VISIT TO COLOMBIA, rain, the road of the Sierra became, in some places, si and dangerous in the abrupt descents. When I had read some traveller's account of the dexterity of mules in such si- tuations, I confess I was apprehensive of some exaggeratioUj but my incredulity was here perfectly cured. Elizabeth's black mule had travelled to and from Bogota before, and be- sides being a manageable and safe animal, and his load light, her vivacity led her to pass over such places, even before the sergeant, and it became to her a matter of sport ; in the de- scent from the Obispos Sierra, she was first in possession of the top of the scarp, and her mule took to the steep in a very remarkable manner, crossing its legs on the margin of the mound, and actually sliding with his haunches a little de- pressed, so that for fourteen or fifteen yards, she sat as erect and easy as on the level road, and her descent was perfectly quiet and secure. The vigour of my mule was unsuitable to this kind of adventure, and my weight added to that of the mule, his hoofs usually stuck in the soil, and it was neces- sary to descend by traversing the face of the steep zig-zag. We reached Carache after a not very pleasant ride over the Paramo de las Rosas, about three o'clock, and were glad to find shelter in the house of the alcalde, where we remained that night, and having experienced the want of wine or some liquor in the cold and wet we had been exposed to, no wine being to be had, we procured some very excellent aguardiente, a fine alcohol, distilled from maize, pure and colourless as a crystal spring, and laid it by for future exi- gency. The village scite appears to have been chosen in a whim ; the access to it, as we travelled, was through a va- riety of mazes, through hill and dale, glen and rivulet, where the mountain bases approached close, and their sides immensely elevated and steep ; rising a long winding track, covered with deep forests, we suddenly broke from the shade upon the flatted summit of a ridge, which seemed to have been constructed by art, across a valley, and to have divided VISIT TO COLOMBIA. S5S it into two, each of which was to be seen distinctly, for many miles, in splendid verdure ; it was the town of Santa Ana, which stands upon this ridge, on the south end, and is about a mile in length, the ridge itself about two miles, and the le- vel space about two hundred yards, the single street being about fifty feet broad ; the fronts of the houses are in the same alignment, but stand apart, and as the south end of the causeway approaches the Sierra, the road ascends and leads over a paramo where vegetation is stunted, and the surface has the appearance of a black turf, with some ferns, a; .d two species of the whortle-berry. This causeway, for it conveys the impression of an artificial creation, is the only thorough- fare, and appears like the summit of a vast bridge thrown over to unite two lofty mountains, which, without this com- munication at that place, would render the journey difficult and circuitous. Its inhabitants trade in mules, wheat, maize, barley, and other products, and transport merchandize. The valleys, intersected by the causeway east and west, present the most agreeable pictures of a country well settled and cul- tivation abundant. It has a much better church than towns of more celebrity. It being the only highway, exposed it to much depredation during the war, and its streets often de- luged with blood ; many of its inhabitants had transferred their families to the remote valleys, some of whom the al- calde said were returning. The winnowing of grain on the side of a steep acclivity, and the circular threshing floors, are seen here in the same style as in Egypt, Hindustan, Persia, and Boutan : a circle of stones placed on the edge, about three feet above the floor, has in the centre an upright post, to which is attached a light beam, as long as the semi-dia- meter of the circle ; the central end is placed by an eye or hole on a pin or pivot in the central post, and the horses, mules, or oxen, are attached to this light beam, and the sheafs of grain are laid within the track of the circle, around vvhich they move, and thus tread out the grain ; the abun- 254 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. dance of grain is unequivocally proved by the number of these treading floors, and by the fact, that such establish- ments are kept as a business like a grist-mill, to thresh the grain of other persons than the owners. The cattle were so numerous in the north valley, that I inquired and learned there were several hatos^ where the rearing of cattle for sale was carried on to a great extent. Here I first learned that the Colombian government, finding that the Spaniards were de- termined to exterminate the cattle as well as the people, and produced in some parts a scarcity, had by a public regulation forbidden the killing of calves or cows, so that veal is not to be seen in Colombia, as the wisdom of the measure has ob- tained the spontaneous applause of the people. The alcalde did not fail to let us know we slept in the apartment which Bolivar more than once occupied, and mentioned some oc- currences, which circumstances did not permit me to note ; there were three rooms, we slept in the central. It was from this place that Morillo, in 1820, dated his over- tures to Bolivar for an armistice ; and it was in this house they met and slept after the preliminary forms of negociation were agreed upon, and in the central room they first met. Morillo suggested that they might occupy the northern and southern rooms for repose, but Bolivar preferred the central room, and proposed that they should hang both their ham- mocks in that room, that they might have the advantage of conversation, and it was so settled, and the best part of the night was spent in discourse. The negociations, and the armistice that followed, conclu- ded at Santa Ana and Truxillo, which all belong to the same €vent, have never been truly published ; the public journals of the United States at that period, strange to relate, were, with two or three exceptions, either generally [passive or un- accountably hostile to South America ; this malign temper was carried to such an extraordinary extent, that the Spanish agents had free access for the publication of the most gross VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 255 misrepresentations, which, too, had a material and disad- vantageous eflfect on the rich commerce of those countries ; but the refutations of those calumnies were not permitted to be published ; or, if some one was found to publish the true state of things, the adverse prints maintained a systematic silence ; unless when there happened to be news hostile to the republican cause. Those celebrated negociations incur- red this exclusion and suppression ; nay, stories wholly contrary to the facts were published, and refutation not lis- tened to. Perhaps in the history of the world, a negociation so singular and novel in its character, so magnanimous and bold, or more consistent with humanity and wisdom, cannot be found. It had also features that seldom appear on the theatre of diplomacy ; premeditated deceit, personal artifice, and cunning, unfortunately belong to all diplomatic pro- ceedings, and this negociation is distinguished, by being proposed in deceit, in a premeditated determination to be rendered nugatory ; while on the other side, this premedita- ted perfidy was perfectly anticipated, and yet the negociation was conducted as if no such knowledge was possessed ; but it was made use of to estabfish generous principles of war, and to abrogate that barbarous system of massacre in cold blood, which Morillo himself had practised. It was known to Bolivar, that Morillo had received the permission which he sought, of returning to Spain upon the avowed hopelessness of subjugating Colombia ; he had soli- cited authority to precede his departure by overtures, such as he might deem eligible for an armistice, in order to lead to furth(^r negociations, and, if practicable, a reconciliation ; he was authorised to address Bolivar with the title of Gene- ral of the Colombian forces, thereby acknowledging the na- tional title ; and to limit the negociation, if its progress was not propitious, to a period that should leave Spain at liberty to meet a failure with reinforcements, in the event of failure. The proposition proceeded from Morillo, and even the forms ^ *^f 256 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. were suggested by him. Morillo was, in fact, in a desps= rate situation when he received those powers ; he must have been compelled to embark, if he had been pushed by a force of four thousand men ; and to retire under such circum- stances, after being denominated pacijicador^ and after so many outrages against humanity, was to retire under unmi- tigable infamy. If he could negociate even a truce, it would leave him an opportunity of retiring without notori- ous shame, and devolve upon his successor all the hazard and the responsibility which he wished to avoid. But what is most singular, is, that neither Morillo nor Bolivar was ac- quainted with the actual condition of the other ; each per- haps was engrossed by the feebleness of their own condition. The Colombian forces were reduced to a very low state, and all resources were apparently exhausted ; the corps, which were embodied, were very short of their complement, and it became necessary to divide them into detachments, and canton them, in order to derive from different parts of the country local subsistence, which they had not the means to draw to head-quarters ; and it was apprehended that the ar- my would, even thus dispersed, disband altogether. Both generals, in their own conception, were in a desperate situa- tion ; and it is in this way we must account for the ready acceptation of Morillo's propositions for an armistice. Mo- rillo thus assured an opportunity to disentangle himself from a war now hopeless ; Bolivar saw in it the salvation of the republic, of which, although he had never despaired, it had not been at any time, even after the evacuation of Carthagena, in a crisis more serious. The plan of Bolivar was instantly formed — circular orders were issued to the commanding officers of divisions and sta- tions — and upon their steady and exact conformity to their instructions, the triumph of their country depended — that the plan to be pursued was digested with care, and all that VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 257 remained, was for each to act in his particular province, as if the fate of every thing depended upon each individual. The details of the negociation, the correspondence on both sides, the appointment of Commissioners on the part of each chief, to digest the propositions on which pacification in the most extensive sense was to be founded — were all an- ticipated ; a line of demarcation was to be fixed, beyond which troops, on either side, were not to pass, had been in the first instance provisionally conceded ; but upon exami- nation it was found, that the proposed line would put the Spaniards exclusively in possession of the great magazine of provisions, the cattle of the plains ; a new line was suggest- ed by Boiivar, and agreed upon ; and care was taken, pend- ing these transactions, to make known to the country, that the overture came from the Spaniards, that it was opened even with a virtual acknowledgment of the national inde- pendence, and that nothing seemed now to be necessary, but to present a numerous army in powerful attitude, to shew that, though desirous of peace, they were prepared to assert independence, by energy and arms ; the occasion served also to draw forth resources, to sustain as well as to recruit the army, and with adequate effect ; though a few weeks before it was apprehended that every resource was exhausted. As soon as the first effects of this new impulse were percepti- ble^ and with a view to disembarass the proceedings by his presence, Boiivar devolved upon Colonel Sucre and Colonel J. Breceno Mendez, the charge of attending to the negocia- tions, and he signified that, pending these measures, he would retire to the plains. By an unprecedented march, af- ter writing a letter at St. Christoval, the first account heard of Bolivar, was his appearance in his friend Montilla's camp, before Carthagena ; where having put in motion the afFairs of the siege, and, as if he had passed upon wings, he appeared again, near the army, at Truxillo. 33 *Mi5S VISIT TO COLOMBIA. Morillo could not believe that Bolivar had been at Carthage- na : he was soon convinced,- — the place surrendered. Bolivar had re-organised his army, and pressed Morillo not to suffer the negociation to be conducted so tardily ; as the delay was assuring advantages to Spain, while it offered only disadvan- tages to Colombia ; and he made a proposition of a new cha- racter ; it was to fix the principles upon which war, if it should be unfortunately renewed, might be in future con- ducted ; and he stated specifically a series of propositions, which were to arrest massacres, assure good treatment to prisoners, establish cartels of exchange of prisoners, and the abrogation of every cruelty which called for retaliation ; as holding prisoners in manacles, and putting officers of high rank to servile labours ; every one of which inhuman mea- sures had been practised by Morillo himself. Morillo per- ceived that propositions of such a nature must come from a mind strong and confident ; that he could accomplish nothing as to the political relations ; and entered into the treaty re- gulating the mode of conducting war in future. One of the propositions of Morillo, urged by the negocia- tors, was that two commissioners should proceed to Spain with the treaties to be concluded. Bolivar at first consider- ed this as only a stratagem of protraction, and the termina- tion of the truce approaching, he considered it either a strata- gem for delay, or a cloud under which he was to make his retreat, and shift the responsibility from himself. But as the merely sending a mission to Spain could do no harm, and as, if not sent, a false pretext might be set up, at their meeting at Santa Ana Morillo solicited this mission as a favour, and Senors Echiaverra and Ravenga were appointed, but with absolute instructions not to enter upon any nego- ciation which had not for its preliminary the recognition of independence, in conformity with the fundamental law, passed at Angostura in 1819. The details of this transaction would form a volume, but the abstract here given, though incomplete, has not been pub- VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 259 lished before — as the affairs of South America have not yet obtained, even in the United States, the importance which belongs to them intrinsically, the publication of those tran- sactions at large will wait for a period of appreciation, when the affairs of South America are more rationally appreciated than they yet have been. We left Santa Ana on the 18th of December, and passed the rock which is celebrated as the first place of meeting be- tween Bolivar and Morillo ; it has nothing besides remark- able about it, but the positions of the outposts. We tra- versed up and down the tremendous and steep precipices which made this day's march fatiguing and disagreeable : our mules, for the first time, were seriously jaded by the ine- qualities and the laborious windings and descents over roads of rubble ; through deep shelving lanes overhung with drip- ping shrubbery, shut out from light and heat, and producing chilliness. As soon as we were extricated from this humid atmosphere, the heat on the rocky hills became unpleasant ; and these changes took place several times within three hours. We were about four miles distant from Truxillo before we began the descent of the mountain, at the foot of which the road winds off. A valley, on our left, was refreshed by a broad rivulet, which trembled like a silver thread below, and seemed almost within a stone's throw ; while we stood perched above the precipice in awe of the steep and tiresome zigzag we had yet to descend : winding over slopes of pro- jecting and crumbled rock, strata of red clay macerated by the action of the passing mules, and the previous day's rain ; and over which the persevering and patient mule labours his way with a constancy and security that is astonishing. In every other country the obstinacy of the mule is a sort of proverb ; but I saw no instance of such a character in the long journey I performed : and without mules it is not to be conceived how intercourse could be carried on over the frightful and desolate cliffs, ravines, and rivers of South America. They are, in fact, to these regions, what the ca- 260 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. mels of northern and western Asia, and the steam-boats of North America are ; their companions, the muleteers, are not so appreciable ; generally speaking, they have retained the shrewdness and plausible knavery of their prototypes in Spain. At imminent peril, with the fracture of some saddle crup- pers and girth buckles, we reached the deepest deep of the valley, but so jaded, that seeing a few huts on the side of the ravine, with some cotton and orange trees, and cows browz- ing on the slopes of the brook ; and, finding that Truxillo was more than three miles from the main road, I resolved to rest an hour or two here, and accordingly defiled to the right instead of pursuing the left road which lay along the ascent of one of the rivers, which assemble in this concentration and debouch of a hundred valleys and ravines. The females were occupied in releasing the cotton from its pod, and clearing the brilliant glossy fleece from its seeds; others were twirling the distaff with the same grace and industry which the poet has given as one of the finest attributes of Penelope — our appearance must have been delightful to them, for in an instant the varied occupations were suspend- ed, and all were on their feet, their eyes distended with cu- riosity and their lips adorned with smiles of satisfaction ; a buxom damsel, without affectation or forwardness, stept for- ward and offered to aid Elizabeth to dismount, and another superseded the sergeant in the same civility to me ; the apart- ment, which, like the cobler's stall, served for " parlour, kitchen, and all," was not very large, the floor was earthen and not very level, but it was cleanly swept, and the walls were as white as if they had been cut out of the material of the ravines of the Barquisimeto mountains. Only one ham- mock could swing in this chamber, and that from the ex- treme angles. An hour's rest, and some good chocolate, with milk fresh from the cows which grazed around, put my animal economy in order, and enabled me to spend another VISIT TO COLOMBIA. 261 hour in the open air, using the freedom encouraged by the gay temper and affability of the females, to crack a few jokes with the young and old, and to discover the temperament of their political affections. Here, as in every other place, with a single exception, the name of Bolivar had no rival but the Madre cle Dios — and the Goths or Godas were congenially grouped with the devil and his imps. At half-past two o'clock we parted with this cheerful and innocent people, and with many civil expressions — and turn- ed off from the main road, which lay in a west direction, to the side of the rapid current of the Motatauy along the side of which we travelled up south amidst plantations of cacao, su- gar-fields, and exuberant vegetation. The side of the stream consisted of irregular heaps of unequal sized stones, whose sharp angles had been barely rubbed off, and the river bed of lesser stones of the same recent forms — at four o'clock we had ascended much above the level of our halting-place ; the mountain on the left side of the river, which had been con- cealed by the forests, now appeared erect, and green, but naked of trees and somewhat broken ; the mountain on our left, on the right side of the river, became depressed, and de- scended to a gentle slope, upon which the sun cast an agree- able light ; our route lay across this river, which we passed upon a very rude bridge of the simplest structure, a few trees, their branches lopt, placed alternately tops and stumps, a quantity of brush wood tied across the timbers, and earth and sand beaten into the brush-wood so as to keep them compact, and form a very passable path on the surface. We reached some cottages, but the town was not yet to be seen, for vi^e were several feet below its lowest inclination, and in its suburbs ; winding round a mound and a ravine we reached a sloping passage, paved with coarse flat stones, and, led by the sergeant, who appeared as if scaling a rampart, we followed, and, on gaining the summit, found ourselves on VISIT TO COLOMBIA. el empedrado de calle, or the pavement of the main street, of this very celebrated, but much-misrepresented city of Truxillo. CHAPTER XVIII. Truxlllo misrepresented— a more exact description— polite subaltern — good quarters — accommodations— style of domestic economy — pretty ancles and satin shoes — the night-cap— Pandora's box — love of being looked at — good taste in apparel — religious costume — topography of Truxillo — the goitre — where prevalent — difficult to move — our ariero useful on the road — his ideas of the Revolution — characteristics — no mules — dispatch the Sergeant to Betijoque, head-quarters General Clemente, the Intendant — receive a most friendly an- swer — consequences — 20th Dec. leave Truxillo — the soldier's v/idow of Gua- yana — follow the course of the Motatan — Savana /arg-a- Hacienda de la Plata — Valeria — Alcalde knavish — difficulty to obtain mules— resolve to have them — Spaniards expected there that night — continue our march to the Para- mo in a heavy rain at 3 o'clock — above the clouds, sublime prospect— sublime desolate aspect — Valley of Mendoza — foot of the Paramo — lodged with the Curate — hospitable — Catechism — Christmas eve and night — sky-rockets — squibs — and firing all night — a native oboe or musical tube — Christmas day — polite Alcalde — the sun-dial. I HAVE said in the last chapter that Truxillo has been misrepresented. Indeed, I know no place that so little cor- responds vi'ith the acdounts given of it, in all the books that I have seen, as this ancient city. I suspect it must be the history of its first vicissitudes, and the richness of the circum- jacent country which have led to the general exaggeration con- cerning this city and scite. The date of its first foundation by Garcia Paredes is 1556, but the Indians drove the set- tlers out in two years after. There were three more unsuc- cessful attempts, but the fifth, in 1570, was successful, and it was finally fixed in the nook which it now occupies. What is most remarkable as to the scite of this ancient city, that it is more than three miles from the ordinarv roads, and ne- VISIT TO COLOMBIA, S63 ver could have been on the high road. Passing from the foot of the steep mountain where we rested, the highway leads to the westward along the bank of the Motatan, which issues from the south, through an obscure recess, on the left of the road, and winds off to the westward ; if we followed the course of the river, which is the direct route, we should have left Truxillo unseen ; for to go thither it is necessary to pass three miles to the south along the Motatan, and it is not till after crossing a primitive sort of a bridge or scaffold, and scrambling beneath some lofty forest trees, that a few huts are seen upon some detached knolls, which would never in- duce a suspicion that an ancient city was so near at hand. The sergeant, who was master of the Carte de pais, put spurs to his mule, and dashed into a ravine, so that we lost sight of him, till we saw him cap a pied mounting a slope of stone work, which resembled the slope of a covert way, to a rampart, where he waited for us ; we followed of course, and trusted to our mules for security in passing over the slippery flag-stones. As it was a warlike time, and this was a mili- tary commandancy, the serjeant led us directly to the quar- ters of the commandant, over a pavement that was in the usual style of excellence. The great man was absent, but a polite subaltern volunteered, seeing a lady in company, and conducted us to an adjacent street, where, opening a pair of folding gates, we rode in, and he presented to us in the cor- ridor an ample chamber on the main street, said, this house is yours, made his bow, and disappeared. The house was a very good one as to space and style, but it was not as clean as was necessary to comfort ; it belonged to a widow lady who was at her hacienda in the country, and it is the usage to afford accommodation to persons of respectable appearance in such vacant houses ; a poor widow woman, who had been accommodated by the owner in a rear apartment, presented herself and solicited permission to clean out the room, and as she had the broom in hand, and 264 VISIT TO COLOMBIA. went to work as she spoke, it was an act mutually agree- able. As there was no incumbrance beside the bare walls, every thing was soon in order — our mules were already un- laden, and feeding upon sugar cane — pur baggage trunks so disposed as to serve for chairs and tables ; our hammocks hung up ; chocolate smoking and frothing to find its way into three or four tea-cups of different ages and nations, which Vincent had placed, with some fine bread, on one of our own white napkins ; a fricaseed chicken, with some fine rice, completed our ample and delicious repast, which being dispatched, Elizabeth, in her night-cap, placed herself on the vis a vis seat of the window, with her work-box and her embroidery, and was as busy and unconcerned as if she was already at home — and as it was on the main-street, and the only promenade of this ancient city, she could see as far from her window of what was going on in that street, as from the top of the best house in Truxillo. I believe it is as true of cities as of villages, especially when the city, like Truxillo, is not larger, nor as large as some villages, that they are as proverbial for gossiping, and as curious about novelties. The arrival of an elephant or a whale could not have affected $he pretty ladies of Truxillo with more curiosity, than the 3*umour of a strange damsel, of fair complexion, and with cheeks as roseate as those of the Virgin of Chinchinquira, had arrived in Truxillo, and was actually quartered at the