YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

(V

St Homage

TO THE
EASTERN PART OF TERRA FIRMA,
OR THE
SPANISH MAIN,
IN
SOUTH-AMERICA,
DURING THE YEARS 1801, 1802, 1803, AND 1804;
CONTAINING
A description of the Territory under the jurisdiction of the Captain-Ge
neral of Caraccas, composed of the Proving of Venezuela, Maracaibo,
Varinas, Spanish Guiana, Cumana, and the Island of Margaretta ; and
embracing every thing relative to the Discov ;ry, Conquest, Topography,
Legislation, Commerce, Finance, Inhabitants and Productions of the
Provinces, together with a view of the manners and customs of the Spa
niards, and the savage as well as civilized Indians.

BY K gEPONS,
LATE AGENT OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AT CARACCAS,

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
WITH A LARGE MAP OF THE COUNTRY, &C.
TRANSLATED BY AN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN.

NEW-YORK:
PRINTED BY AND FOR I. RILEY AND CO.
NO. I, CITY-HOTEL, BROADWAY.
1806.

District of 7 T>E IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-second
New-York, 3 s X> day of September, in the thirty-first year of the
Independence of the United States of America, Isaac Riley, of the
said District, hath deposited in this Office, the Title of a Book, the right
whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words and figures following, to wit ;
** A Voyage to the Eastern part of Terra Firma, or the Spanish Main,
" in South- America, during the years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804, con-
" taining a description of the .Territory under the jurisdiction of the Cap-
" tain-General of Caraccas, composed of the provinces of Venezuela, Ma-
" racaibo, Varinas, Spanish Guiana, Cumana, and the Island of Margaretta ;
" and embracing every thing relative to the Discovery, Conquest, Topo-
" graphy, Legislation, Commerce, Finance, Inhabitants and Productions
" of the Provinces, together with a view of the manners and customs of
" the Spaniards, and the savage as well as civilized Indians, by F. Depohs,
" late agent of the French Government at Caraccas, in three volumes,
" with a large Map of the Country, &c. translated by an American Gen
" tleman."

In cokfobmity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, eiv
titled " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the Co-
" pies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of
" such Copies, during the times herein mentioned j" and also to an Act
entitled " An Act supplementary to an act entitled, An act for the encour-
" agement 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."
EDWARD DUNSCOMB,
Clerk of {lie District of New- York

A
VOYAGE TO THE
EASTERN PART OF TERRA FIRM A,
IN
SOUTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER IX.

A summary view of thefinances of the provinces of Caraccas — The establish.
ment of the office of comptroller or intendant — The governor of each'pro-
vince his deputy — His duties and prerogatives — The superior officers of the
customhouse — The court of accounts — The supreme chamber of finance
— The taxes — Duty of thealcavala — Of the almoxarifazgo, armada, and
armadilla — Of the consulate and anchorage — Of the aprovechamientos
Rum or tafia — Customs of the lake — Pulperias or licences to retail liquor —
Compositions, or sales of land — Confirmations of land — Fermageor rents
of land — Passage boats on the river Apine — Lances, or tax on titles —
Demi-annates of officers — Royal ninths — Indian tribute — Venal offices —
Stamped paper— Estrays — Fifths of mines — Hospital money — Salt-works
—Restitutions — Confiscations — Royal tithes — Corso — Guarapo and cock
fights — Fines and amercements — Vacant successions — Ecclesiastical
mesadas — Vacant benefices — Papal bulls — The general bull for the
living — The bull for eating milk — The bull for the dead — The bull of
composition — Rate of bulb — Monopoly of tobacco— Result.

Summary of the finances of the Provinces of Caraccas.
jr ROM the particulars I have given in the prece
ding chapter, of the languishing state of the provin
ces of Caraccas, even in the middle of the last centu
ry, the reader will not expect that the history of their
finances should ascend to a very remote period.
Mexico and Peru, out of the vast extent of Spa
nish domain, are the only portions which, since their
discovery, have furnished a superabundance of

wealth. Out of this surplus, after defraying the
interior charges of administration, Spain has always
appropriated a part in favour of those governments
whose local resources are inadequate to their ex
pense. The provinces of Terra Firma were a tax
upon Mexico, until a more active culture, and a peo
ple less addicted to illicit trade enabled the exche
quer to find within their limits, the means of dispen
sing with foreign aid. If this revolution in the trea
sury is not entirely owing to the company of Gui-
puscoa, it is at least during its existence that it has
begun to take effect. For, before the establishment
of that society, Maracaibo, Caraccas, and Cumana
received from Mexico a sum equivalent to two-thirds
of their expenditures.
Establishment of the office of Intendant, or Comptrol
ler, in the Caraccas.
In a country where finance was in its infancy its
regulations could not but be simple. As the per
sons in office were few their competitors were few
also. In the person of the captain-general, the united
powers of the civil and military administration were
concentred. The increase of the receipts intimated
that the time was arrived when it was necessary
to give to the management of the public revenue a
system more suitable to its importance. The number
of persons employed was necessarily augmented. At
length in 1777 they placed at the head of the finances
an intendant whose authority extends over the
whole district of the captain- general.

The Governors of the Provinces are his Deputies.
Under the title of delegates of the intendant, the
governors of the different provinces have continued to
administer, within their respective jurisdictions, the
public money. They direct all the ordinary expenses,
but without the concurrence of the intendant they are
unable to authorise any extraordinary expenditure.
They determine provisionally, on all difficulties arising
within their limits on the collection of duties, with a
right of appeal to the intendant, and upon condition, in
case none should be interposed, of submitting the de
cision to his sanction. It is to him, also, that they
transmit, at the expiration of each year, a general
statement of their receipts and disbursements.
The duties and prerogatives of the Intendant.
The intendant is totally independent of the other
authorities. Every regulation which he may deem
necessary or expedient for the interior government
of the finances in his district, he has power to ordain.
He is superior to every branch of the administration.
No payment is made by the treasury of Caraccas with
out his order. To every office in the administration,
which becomes vacant, he nominates provisionally.
Those who behave improperly he removes at his plea
sure. He arraigns, tries and pronounces definitively
upon all nonattendances or neglects. But if the of
fence is of such a nature as, on the merits, to admit
of a reversal, he restores the person ad interim,
or in the meanwhile) and sends the proceedings to
the king for his decision. The intendant continues
in office five years.

Litigated points, on every part of the administra-
tion, are referred to a gentleman of the law, who en
joys the title of associate* or lateral judge of the
royal estates, or finances. On the conclusions of the
solicitor of the exchequer, he passes his decree ; but
it has no effect until signed by the intendant, who
may, under his responsibility, pronounce a different
sentence, or submit the pleadings to another profes
sional character for his opinion. Smuggling, and
prize cases are also within the cognizance of the
intendant, and determined in the same manner.
The appeal from his judgment is to the supreme
chamber of finance, of which I shall hereafter speak.
At these times, instead of the intendant, who on other
occasions presides, the regent of audience fills the
chair. Agriculture, commerce and navigation are under
the intendant's immediate patronage* It is to these
three grand sources of public prosperity that he is
bound to direct his greatest care and attention; But
with respect to agriculture he has no authority to
make any regulation. His power is confined to trans
mitting to the king, his observations on the mea
sures to be adopted for its encouragement.
In regard to commerce and navigation he is not
thus restrained : for he may, without any responsi
bility, repress the abuses he perceives, or issue ordi
nances for improving their system.
In constituting him president of the general assem
bly of the consulate, and judge of appeal from their
sentences, it appears that the king intended he should
* Literally assessor.

.possess a decided influence over those affairs which
form the duties of this tribunal, created solely to give
an impulse to excite industry and animate pursuit in
commercial and maritime operations.
The town furnishes a guard for the house of the
intendant, and he receives from the military the ho*
nours of a field- marshal. This fixed salary is, like that
of the captain- general, 9000 hat d dollars a year. His
proportion of seizures for illicit trade and his other
emoluments, double that sum.
Superior Officers of the Customs.
In all the principal custom-houses there are a cash
ier, or contador, and treasurer, who bear the title of
royal officers, and whose duties are, with very little
variation, the same. The cashier keeps a separate
register^ which the treasurer is to subscribe, and not
the cashier that which the treasurer also keeps. In
the choice of apartments the law gives to the treasur
er the preference, but he is obliged to reside in the
house where the bank is kept.
To all acts of office their joint names are required.
In case of sickness, absence, or any other impediment
to one, the other signs alone, and his signature is valid
provided he expresses the cause which has prevented
his associate from subscribing. Each has a key of a
different lock to the bank, so that one Cannot open it
without the concurrence of the other. They give
security for their good conduct before they are per
mitted to enter upon the duties of their office, and,
Vol. HI- B

10
every ten years the fortune of the surety is examined
into anew. If it is supposed to be diminished, instead
of suffering any doubts on its solidity to remain, they
demand a fresh security,
Themselves, their wives and their children are pro~
hibited from possessing mines, plantations, or engag
ing in any species of commerce. The law has been
so careful lest the intimacy of their acquaintance might
expose their delicacy, that it forbids them to be ac
companied, in festivals or public ceremonies, by any
person whatsoever, excepting their servants, under
a penalty of fifteen gold crowns from the individual,
and ten thousand maravedis from the officer.
To avoid connivances destructive to this liability,
every royal officer who marries the relation of his col
league forfeits his place. The mere proposition,
whether written or verbal, incurs the penalty.
At the same time that the law has taken all the
precautions she could devise to restrain in the royal
officer every inclination to waste or neglect, she has
assigned to him, in the hierarchy of constituted au
thorities, a distinguished place, capable of fixing upon
him the public respect. In all processions and other
grand ceremonies the royal officers rank immediately
after the contadores de cuentas, ,who walk and take
their seats next to the audience. They communicate
directly with the intendant, and submit to him all their
doubts. Every month they send him a short state
ment of their circumstances, and once a year they
transmit their general accounts.

11
Court of Accounts.
The accounts of the several custom-houses, and
receivers are subject to the revision and controul of a
tribunal, which is denominated de cuentas, or of ac
counts. It is composed of two officers, under the ti
tle of contadores mayoresr or chief auditors, with a
salary of 3000 hard dollars a piece. All accounts, be
fore they can be sent to Spain, must, be verified by
them. They compel the different administrators of
the revenue to make good all the amount of all money
paid on insufficient orders, or not collected according
to the rate of duty imposed. They order likewise
restitution from him who has taken too much. In a
word, they regulate questions of account in every
point. Their jurisdiction is coextensive with that of
the intendant. Supreme Chamber of Finance.
An appeal lies from the decisions of the court of ac
counts, and intendant, to a supreme chamber of
finance, of which he is the president. The other
members are the regent of the audience, the solicitor
of the exchequer, the most ancient contador of ac
counts, and either the treasurer or cashier of the trea
sury, according as one or the other may be the oldest.
Those persons whose sentences are appealed from,
withdraw. Their places are filled by their colleagues,
and those of the next inferior rank.
After this succinct description of the administrative
authorities in the provinces of Caraccas, one would be

12
naturally induced to believe that the management of
its finance was perfectly simple, and in the hands of a
few ; butj to prevent all misconception on this sub
ject, it would be difficult to find a part of the world,
excepting Spain, in which the persons employed m
collecting the taxes are, in proportion to the amount
of the public revenue, so very numerous.
Taxes.
The theory and articles of taxation are in Spanish.
America nearly the same as in the mother country.
The poll and land tax are unknown ; but the treasury
recompenses itself under so many various denomi
nations, that we are at a loss to determine whether we
should most admire the ingenuity of the exchequer, or
the resignation of the people. The exemption from
colonial taxes the Spanish colonists are unable to ap
preciate, because the law has removed from them the
afflicting picture which in France its ancient mode of
collection presented. In the Spanish government the
taxes fall only on profit or rent.*
Let us examine their nature, beginning with that of
the alcavala, as being the most ancient, and most pro,
ductive of any. Of the Alcavala.
This tax was granted to the kings of Spain in the,
year 1342 as a supply towards the expenses of the war
against the Moors,' and particularly for the conquest
* " Production."

IS

of Algesiras. At first the gift was limited to three
years ; after which it was prolonged, even subsequent
to Algesiras being in the power of Spain. It was ori
ginally five per cent. By a decree made at Bengos
in 1366 it was augmented to ten per cent. This how
ever was but a temporary act. There never has
been, at least I have never seen, any national or royal
edict ordaining its perpetual collection. It has no
other sanction than the tacit consent of the nation, who,
having never objected to its collection, are thought
to have classed it among those imposts the sovereign
is authorised to levy for the defence and tranquillity of
the state. In other respects, the question whether it
is or is not due, would be so much the more idle, as
an existence of five centuries has given it a character
of legality which the most subtle reasonings cannot de-
stroy. It is then at this day a right of the king abso
lutely annexed to the royal domain. What ancient
duty can shew a more respectable origin ? The ga-
belle, a tax upon salt was established but for a time
under Philip the Long. The taille, or land tax arose
only from the project of a second crusade formed by
Saint Louis, and, after the expedition. Aids were,
in the beginning, nothing but voluntary tributes of
the subject to his king, or of the vassal to his lord in
circumstancesofpressingnecessity. Philip of Valois,
being compelled to maintain a war against the English,
was the first who rendered them obligatory. The
capitation or poll tax was introduced into France the
16th of January 1695, only for a momentary supply
towards the war which was terminated by the treaty

14
of Rysvvick. At the peace it was abolished, but re
established in 1710 on account of the war for the Spa
nish succession, and hasexperiencedno other variation
than in the progression of its rate. This species of
lure which governments are so often obliged to use, is
occasioned only by the reluctance of the citizen to part
with a portion of his property to enable the govern
ment to secure to him the residue. On his part, this
reluctance arises from a wish to enjoy the advantages
of society without contributing to their expenses.
Therefore,-so soon as a tax, supported by some pow
erful reason which no one calls in question, is favoura
bly received by those who pay it, instead of allowing
the effect to cease with the cause, it is found more
easy and politic to naturalize the impost to which the
subject is reconciled, than to offer him another which,
however warrantable its object, he would reject or pay
with discontent, without recollecting thatt he newduty
is no more than a compensation for the one suppress.
cd. But this is a digression from the alcavala.
Several authors have examined whether this tax,
imposed for carrying on a war against the Moors,
might legally be established in America where such
a cause could never exist ; but, as they speak of a
thing determined in fact, and not merely projected,
they have pronounced in the affirmative. " For,''
says Baldo, one of the examiners, " the duty of the
" alcavala, being recognized by the laws of the king-
" dom, may unquestionably, without any new grant,
" be immediately established in all possessions '
"subsequently annexed to the Spanish empire."

15
The kings of Spain, however, have never exacted the
alcavala in their new dominions, until a long time af
ter their conquest. The royal edict, by which it was
established in Mexico bears date in 1574, and that
extending this regulation to Peru in 1591. To ren
der its collection more easy, it was at first fixed at two
per cent. It has since been augmented in proportion
to the necessities of the state and the submission of
the people.
In Terra Firma it was for a long time at two per
cent ; about fifty years ago they raised it to five. This
increase was occasioned by an insurrection which took
place at that time against the company of Guipuscoa.
From this occurrence, it was thought necessary to
entrust the garrison of Caraccas to troops of the line,
who the country should pay, through the means of
the alcavala.
This tax is collected on every thing which is sold,
whether moveable or immoveable, and is rigorously
exacted at every sale and resale. An estate on change
of owner by transfer for a valuable consideration, is
charged with five per cent of the purchase money. A
bundle of fire-wood pays the same duty, but in kind.
Every species of merchandise, territorial production,
animals, poultry, eggs, vegetables, grass, fodder, &c.
is subject to this impost the moment it is exposed for
sale. Retail dealers compound for it. Every year a
valuation is made of the stock, and they calculate five
per cent on the presumed sale. Whether the traders
business is in the course of the year great or little the
composition is invariably enforced-

16
In a country where the transactions of civil life were
more brisk, the exchequer would, in a short time, en
tirely absorb the wealth of the community, and reduce
the people to the necessity of renouncing all comr
merce; enterprise and speculation ; but, thanks to the
local indolence of Caraccas, the alcavala takes from
the whole government only about 400,000 hard dol
lars a year.
There js paid also, on entering and clearing from
the ports, a tax which is called the maritime alcavala.
It is only four, instead of five per cent. It produced
from these provinces in 1793, 150,862 hard dollars;
inl794, 151,408; in 1795, 105,251; in 1796, 130,644,
and in 1797, only 10,248, because in this last year
maritime commerce was almost entirely suspended.
Almoxarifazgo.
The Spaniards correctly assimilate this duty, to that
which the Latins denominated portoricum, from its be
ing collected only on what is shipped or landed ; that
is to say, on entering and clearing. Amongst the
Romans it amounted to the eighth part of the article
on which it was levied. At the first discovery of
America it was fixed at fifteen per cent on all that
went from Spain to the West Indies. They often ex -
empt, for a time or indefinitely, countries the con
quest of which they are about to attempt. But, by
degrees, it has been universally established. (See,
for its rate and manner of collection, the account of
taxes inserted at the end of chapter viii.) It produced
in 1797 throughout the whole extent of the intendan-
cy of Caraccas, 187,727 hard dollars.

17
Armada and Armadilla.
This term which, in its present acceptation, signi
fies a navy, became the denomination of a tax es
tablished to supply the expense of government ves
sels, which it was necessary to maintain on the coasts
of Spanish America, to protect them from the insults
of pirates, who, as they met with- no opposition, could
easily make incursions. Some time after, this defence
was committed to small armed vessels, better adapted
to keep the coast, and run into the ports and shipping
places. This afforded the opportunity of establishing
an additional impost, known by the name of armadilla3
a diminutive of armada. Pirates have long ceased
to infest these coasts, yet the tax destined repel them
exists and probably will exist until the total subver
sion of the present system of finance, which it is very
possible may endure for some ages yet to come.
The receipts from the first of these impositions
amounted in 1797 to 15,415 hard dollars ; those of
the armadilla to 25,288 ; but they frequently rise to
double. They are collected at the maritime custom
houses. Duties of the Consulate and Anchorage.
These are received at the maritime custom houses,
and their product is accounted for to the consulate,
for the payment of its officers, and to employ the sur
plus in whatever agriculture and commerce may re
quire. (See, the article Consulate, in chapter viii.)
Vol. III. c

18
Aprovechamientos.
This signifies improvements. The sums which
surpass the estimate made of things belonging to the
king prior to their sale or disposition, are named
aprovechamientos. For this purpose they open, in the
treasuries, an account in which they credit for the
excess beyond the price estimated, or value assigned
to the article, and debit for the deficiency. For ex
ample ; goods seized in contraband trade being first
valued and then sold, furnish to this account the dif
ference between the product of the sale, and the pre
vious estimation. So the stamped paper which re
mains on hand, after the two years for which it is in
force, or the excess disposed of, is entered. It is plain
that the Spanish government means by aprovecha
mientos, that which a merchant comprehends in the
account he opens to profit and loss. The balance of
the aprovechamientos, in favour of the bank .was, in
1797, 1970 hard dollars. It rarely exceeds 3000.
Tafias.
The Spanish government obliges all distillers of
Tafia to pay one hard dollar per barrel weighing one
quintal. It amounted hi 1797 to 32,091 hard dollars.
Aduanas de la laguna.
By this appellation is understood a paltry tax col
lected on the lake Maracaibo. In 1793, it produced
3867 hard dollars ; in 1794, 21 ; and the three fol
lowing years nothing.

19
Pulperias.
Those shops in which inebriating liquors form the
basis of their stock, are named pulperias. A certain
sum per annum is paid for permission to carry on this
branch of trade. For the first licence, the pulperias
in the principal cities pay thirty hard dollars; those
in the country according to their presumed sale. —
Their subsequent annual payments are considerably
less ; but this tax affords no dispensation from the
alcavala ; they compound for that besides. The du
ty on pulperias amounted in 1 797 to 29,989 hard dol
lars. Its ordinary product is from 25 to 30 thousand.
Composition of lands.
We have already mentioned, in the VII. chapter,
that grants of lands in the Spanish Indies are not made
gratis, as in our colonies. They are put up at auc
tion, and decreed to the highest bidder. It is the
produce of these sales which in the language of
finance is denominated composicion de tierras. Lands
which, from their situation could excite composition
having been a long time since granted out, the re
ceipts produced from this kind of sale, are conse
quently of but little importance. In fact they were
in 1797 only 5859 hard dollars, the preceding year
they amounted to 14,422.
Confirmation of lands.
Independent of the price of the lands, it is neces
sary, in order to be the legal proprietor, that the con
firmation of the intendant who delivers the original

20
title deeds should be obtained. For this there is paid
a duty, which is called confirmacion de tierras ; in 1797
it produced 3566 hard dollars.
Rents of lands-
These are the rents of lands belonging to the king.
They are confined to the environs of Varinas, and
commonly yield from 30 to 40 hard dollars a year.
Ferry boat on the river Apure.
The rent of this boat, the proceeds of which are
paid into the coffers of the king, are about 300 hard
dollars per annum. Lances.
The titles of marquis, count, viscount, or baron
are granted by the king to every Spaniard who is
willing to sacrifice a part of his fortune, to give his
descendants a rank which he has more than once
blushed not to have received from his ancestors. Ex*
elusive of the great court patronage which it is requi
site to employ, and pay well, the king demands a
direct fine of 10,000 hard dollars. He contents him
self, however, with the annual interest, if the. titled
personage does not prefer redeeming it by payment
of the principal, and it is this interest which is termed
the duty of the lances. Its amount increases the an.
nual public revenue from 3 to 4000 hard dollars.
Demi-annates of offices.
By demi-annates of offices, is understood the moiety
Of the yearly product of all places whatsoever, which

21
die office is bound to pour into the treasury of the
king. In the judicial and administrative departments
it is paid but once. He who is promoted to a situa
tion more, lucrative, pays the demi-annate of the sur
plus of his appointment ; and if it be titular, the
moiety of what it is valued at per annum. Dignities
purely honorary pay in the same manner. Magis
trates chosen annually are rated at S6 1-2. Honours,
superior to that actually discharged, pay a demi-an
nate, which is assessed by the council of the Indies.
All places of new creation are exempted.
The Royal Ninths,
Are the portion which the king reserves out of the
tithes. By the bull of Alexander the VI, the kings of
Spain acquired ecclesiastical dominion in the West-
Indies, upon condition of making a conquest of the
country, and propagating the faith within it. In vir
tue of this grant, Ferdinand and Isabella, by a royal
edict of the 5th of October 150}, established tithes
in all their American possessions. Their product
was at first devoted to constructing churches, sup
porting them, paying those who officiated ; in a word,
to whatever relates to the catholic worship. Charles
the Vth, on the 3d of February 1541, ordained, that
the proceeds of the tithes, should be divided into four
parts, of which one should be appropriated to the
bishop, another to the chapter to be divided accor
ding to its dignitaries, and that out of the other two,
they should take two ninths for the king, three for
the foundation of churches and hospitals, and the re
maining four ninths forpaying curates and other offi-

22
ciating ecclesiastics. Time has induced no other
change in this disposition than that of uniting to the
four-ninths of the moiety of the tithes, the three-
ninths reserved for the construction of churches and
hospitals, because places of worship being sufficient
ly numerous, they now scarcely ever speak of erecting
others. The bishop and chapter have the direction of the
tithes so longas they are adequate to their maintenance,
and the king is not obliged to furnish any supply from
his coffers ; but they cannot be leased except
before the royal officers, and an oidor in those places
where a royal audience is held : and even then the
decree for that purpose is only on condition that the
highest bidding lessee shall pay directly and person
ally to the royal officers the two-ninths coming to the
king. Tithes are paid by all persons, and on every
product of the land. It is but five per cent on sugar,
coffee, indigo, and other commodities, which require,
before they leave the country, a costly process to give
them the form of commercial articles. But it is rigor
ously ten per cent on cocoa, cotton, grain, seeds, cas
sava, lambs, kids, pigs, fowls, green geese, milk, but
ter, cheese, wool, veal, colts, mules, jackasses, garden
produce, honey, wax, swarms of bees, grapes, olives,
and all sorts of fruits excepting pine apples.
The amount of the tithes has necessarily followed
the progress of cultivation. They did not assume
any settled condition in the provinces of Caraccas, till
after the establishment of the company of Guipuscoa,
because before that time the articles which were car
ried to the Dutch of Curacoa, or which they came in

23
quest of, paid no more tithes to the church, than taxes
to the king.
In 1734 the rents of the tithes of the bishop of
Caraccas, who then possessed one third more extent
of territory than he now has, amounted to
89,372 hard dollars.
In 1735 to ... . 92,872
1736 to ... . 100,148
1737 to . . . « . 96,754
1738 to ... . 81,328
But through the whole intendancy of Caraccas, the
tithes have arisen
In 1793, to 309,942 hard dollars-.

1794, to
1795, to
1796, to
1797, to

323,307
338,571 308,682
300,573

Which gives, on an average, for each year, 316,215
To which sum there may be added twenty-
five per cent for the expenses of man
agement and emoluments of the farmers, 79,05 3

So that the tithes yield per annum, 395,268 hard dolls.
Indian Tribute.
This is a species of capitation imposed on the civi
lized Indians, from eighteen to fifty years of age. I
have had occasion to speak of it in the chapter con
cerning the Indians, to which I refer the reader.
This tax, badly collected, and still worse paid, pro
duces annually, from the entire district of the inten
dant of Caraccas, deducting charges of collection, no
more than from 25 to 30,000 hard dollars. The
amount is applied to paying the salaries of the preach-

24
ers of the faith, and is received by the royal treasury,
which satisfies the preachers, keeps the surplus, or
makes up the deficiency. Venal Offices.
In America, as in Spain, the king sells all offices
in the common council, excepting those of the two
alcades, who are annually elected. Notaries, attor-
nies, receivers of the audience, assessors, tax-gather
ers, &c. are obliged, in order to obtain their commis
sions, to pay a fine in proportion to the value of their
situations, which the royal officers are authorised to
settle. Originally, places were bought only for the life of
the nominee. But by an edict of the 14th December
1606, the incumbent was allowed to sell his appoint
ment provided that on the first resignation, the person
in whose favour it was made, should perform the du
ties of his office for one half of the emoluments annex
ed to it ; and that on all ulterior resignations, they
should be discharged for one third of the value at the
time of sale.
The conditions to render the purchase valid were,
that the resignee should live twenty days after the sale ;
that he should possess the talents and qualifications
necessary for the due performance of all the duties of
his office, and that he should within seventy days pre
sent his title deed to the audience or political gover
nor, in order to be put into possession. It is requi
site moreover to obtain, within the first four years of
exercising the purchased office the confirmation of the

25
king, for which a duty is paid that goes to the account
of the venal offices. The produce of this branch of
revenue is reduced in the provinces of Caraccas to
from 6 to 8000 hard dollars a year.
Stamped Paper.
By a royal ordinance of the 28th December, 1638,
stamped paper was established' in the Spanish posses
sions in America, on the same footing as in the mother
country. All agreements, public acts, and judicial
proceedings have from that time been required to be
on stamped paper. The quality of this paper is infa
mous ; scarcely better than common drafting paper.
It is sent every year from Spain ready stamped, with
an inscription at the head, designating the two years
it is to be in force ; for after that it is null and void.
It is replaced by other paper, which the mother coun
try takes care to send in advance. When war, or
other occurrences prevent receiving in due time new
stamps, the governments prolong the validity of those,
which would otherwise be of no effect.
There are four sorts of stamped paper, or, rather,
four stamps of different prices. On the highest is
written the deeds, titles, permissions and pardons
granted by the viceroys, presidents, audiences, courts
of accounts, governors, captains-general, and all other
ministers of justice. But if the instrument cannot be
contained in a single sheet, the rest is written on stamps
of the third quality. The highest stamps cost six
hard dollars the sheet.
Stamped paper of the second class is used for all
sorts of contracts, wills, and transactions before nota-
VOL. III. - I)

26
ries. The first sheet only is required to be of the full
price; the others may be of the third. Each sheet of
the second class of stamped paper costs one hard dol
lar and a half.
Stamped paper of the third quality is applied to eve
ry thing done in course of law before the viceroys,
chancellors, audiences, and all other judges or tribu
nals. But, for copies, it is necessary that the first
sheet be on a stamp of the second class; the rest may
be on common paper. The price of a sheet of stamp
ed paper of the third quality is half a dollar.
Paper of the fourth class is destined to official dis
patches, and writings presented by paupers or indians.
Each sheet of this costs the sixteenth of a hard dollar.
The annual receipts from stamped paper in the in-
tendancy of Caraccas amount to from 20 to 25,000
hard dollars. It was formerly much more. A proof
that the passion for litigation begins to decrease.
Estrays.
These are those personal things which are either
strayed or lost, the real proprietor of which is un
known. Whoever finds them is obliged to surrender
them to the solicitor of the exchequer, who is bound
to keep them for a year, after which they belong to
the king. But even after the expiration of this pe
riod, the owner is admitted to make his claim. If
the court declares it to be well founded, he is restor
ed to possession on paying costs of keeping, mainte
nance and suit. Estrays almost always consist of
animals or run away slaves, taken up by the armed
power of the country. It seems that, among the

27
•Spaniards, the master takes good care of his property,
or that what he loses, is lost as well to the revenue, as
the proprietor, for this species of resource amounts to
only from 3 to 400 hard dollars a year.
Fifth of the Mines.
In the provinces of Caraccas there is not one mine
of gold or silver fit to be worked ; there is but one of
copper, from which the part that ought to be drawn
is never received. Its product is to the exchequer
so trifling that there are years in which it does not ex
ceed 40 hard dollars. Hospital Money,
Is the reserve which is made from the pay of sol
diers when they are in the hospital. It in general
amounts to from 4 to 5000 hard dollars per annum.
Salt Works.
All salt proceeding Jrom the salt works situated on
the eastern coast of Caraccas pays to the king one
hard dollar for every quintal introduced into the pro
vince of Venezuela. The annual amount reaches
from 13 to 14,000 hard dollars.
Restitutions.
The Spanish confessors make a restitution of duties
defrauded from the king, an essential condition of ab-

28
solution.* For this head, there is in the treasury, a
register devoted solely to the entry of sums restored.
It is true that, if we compare what is restored with the
amount of frauds committed, we shall perceive that
this mode is not very efficacious ; for, of more than
400,000 hard dollars of which the revenue is defraud
ed every year, not more than 500 are restored. I
ought, however, to the praise of Spanish consciences,
to acknowledge, that there is not a year in which the
Easter confessions do not, among private persons, in
duce exemplary restitutions. The confessor himself is
most frequently the channel through which the stolen
goods return to their lawful master. The name of the
penitent, and the circumstances of the theft, rest in si
lence. It is left to him that receive?, to divine.

Confiscations.
The king receives from all goods confiscated on ac
count of illicit trade, the duties which the commodity
wouldhavepaidon importation or exportation. Thear-
ticle forfeited is then divided between the informer, if
* Were absolutions granted on no other condition than that of making
a. recompense, the Roman Catholic Church would be perhaps, in this
respect at least, more conducive to moral behaviour than any other sys
tem of established worship ; but when the absolution is accorded without
any compensation for the offence, and the mere confession deemed of
efficacy to obtain forgiveness and purification from sin, there does not,
perhaps, exist a system so destructive of every moral duty as that of the
Romish church. Let it impress, as much as it will on the mind of the peni
tent the necessity of absolution, but let it annex to it, amends for injuries
offered and crimes committed ; then, perhaps, even on earth half the wi^
of Heaven will be fulfilled. But when pardon is granted on the word
of confession alone, I fear we neither create in the sinner the emotions
of a contrite heart, nor rectify the feelings we propose to amend.

any, the intendant, the council of the Indies, the cap
tors and the king. Royal Tithes,
Are the entire amount of the tithes of Guiana and
Cumana, the whole of which is paid into the treasury
of the king. The bishops, whose, tithes are received
by his majesty, are called bishops of the treasury ; such
is that of Guiana. These tithes amount to from 20
to 25,000 hard dollars a year.
The Corso.
' This is denominated the duty which is paid on en
tering and clearing from the sea ports. Its produce
is applied to the support of vessels employed in pre
venting contraband trade. It ordinarily yields 150,000
hard dollars per annum.
Guarapos and Game Cocks.
Guarapo is an intoxicating liquor made from the
fermentation of coarse' sugar and water. It is in ge
neral use throughout Terra Firma. The Indians and
negroes prefer it to the best wine. Those who sell it
must have, from the farmer of the tax, a license, for
which they pay.
Cock-fights, so much in vogue among the Spanish,
form also a branch of the public revenue. The exclu
sive privilege of the pit, destined for this entertain
ment, is rented on account of the king. In each town
there is but one. All persons are prohibited from

3a
fighting cocks in any other place than that which is
appointed for the purpose by the farmer. The pro
ceeds from farming the guarapos and cock-fights, are
for the maintenance of the hospital of Saint Lazarus
at Caraccas. Fines and Amercements.
These are the penalties imposed by the courts of
justice. Notwithstanding the multitude of suits, very
few penalties are seen to increase the royal treasury.
Vacant Successions.
In our colonies, successions to persons who die in
testate, and without any known relations, were much
more frequent than among the Spaniards, who, esta
blished in Americafrom father to son, have always on
the spot one to whom the law decrees the property that
is left. On the other hand, the inhibition of settling in
the Spanish dominions, imposed on strangers, contri
butes to render vacant inheritances very rare. If, by
chance, one should fall in, it is always of very little im
portance, and can proceed only from some European
whom death has surprised in the short abode he intend
ed to make in America. Ecclesiastical Mesadas.
Under this denomination is understood, the amount
of the first month which the rectors pay after their
nomination. A valuation is made of what the living

31
produces, arid the solicitor of the exchequer receives
from the clergyman the twelfth part of the estimate.
The bishops also pay this duty, the total of which the
king reserves for the service of Spain.
Demi-Ecclesiastical Annates,
Are the six months' proceeds which the canons and
prebendaries pay out of the revenuesof their benefices.
This duty is likewise one of those, the amount of which
is destined to be remitted to Spain, in the same man
ner as that which follows.
Major and Minor Vacancies.
The treasury receives the rents of vacantbishopricks
and canonries, until the new dignitary is in good and
lawful possession. These funds serve to pay mis
sionaries, to aid the widows of officers who have no
claim to pensions, and other objects of piety ; the
surplus is remitted to Spain. Bulls.
It would by no means have entered into my plan to
mention the bull of the holy crusade, was it not a con
siderably important branch of the revenue of the state.
The varieties of its price, according to the person who
buys it, and the object to which it is applied, force
me to even give its history, which, however, I shall
abridge as much as possible.
The kings of Spain, at all periods favoured by the
popes, obtainedfrom them, in the timeofthe crusades,

32
extraordinary dispensations for those Spaniards who
devoted themselves to the extermination of the infi
dels. The bulls which contained these dispensations
were rated and distributed by a Spanish commissary.
Their proceeds were intended to contribute towards
the charges of the expedition. The folly of driving
people to heaven by force of arms, underwent^ at
length, the fate of all other follies : reason has caused
it to disappear. The bulls, however, have continued
to arrive from Rome, and continue to be sold in Spain.
The blessings they afford are considered too precious,
and the revenue the exchequer draws from them, too
useful, to be renounced.
It is true that time, which alters or renders perfect
every thing, has caused the popes to give to these bulls,
virtues which they did not at first possess, and a di
vision analogous to the purposes for which they are
designed. A ccording to the original terms of the bull,
no one could enjoy its benefits, if he was not actually
in arms against the infidels, or did not maintain a
substitute in his place. But, for a certain sum, a
man might stay at home, and receive all die advanta
ges of the bull. At this day, four kinds of bulls are
acknowledged : the general bull for the living, the
bull for eating milk, the bull for the dead, and the
bull of composition. General Bull for the living.
The first, which lasts for two years, ought to be
taken by every Spanish christian, or resident within
the Spanish domains. The benefits of this bull are
general. They extend to the particular objects of the

33
other three kinds, though in a manner less direct ;
but its virtues are so pre-eminent, that I cannot ex
cuse myself from enumerating some.
Every person who has this bull, may be absolved,
by any priest whatsoever, of all, even concealed crimes.
Obstinate and confirmed heresy is the only excep
tion ; an offence, however, that cannot be even suspect
ed, because he who should be tainted with it, would
set but little value on absolution.
The possessors of this bull, their domestics, and
relations, have, during the time the churches are shut
up, a right to hear mass, receive the sacraments,
and be buried in holy ground.
With this bull the priest may say mass, and the
lay person hear it, one hour before day, and one
after twelve. There are, however, some authors
who insist that this point cannot be granted, but by
the commissary-general of the crusade.
Every confessor may release him who has this bull
from all kinds of vows, excepting those of chastity,
becoming a priest, monk or religious, and that of ma
king a voyage to the holy land.
Blasphemies against the deity are no more able to
resist the power of this bull, than a spot of oil upon
linen can resist soap.
By means of this bull are gained, in America, the
indulgences which visiting the churches* obtained
in Rome.
* The Romish faith accorded peculiar indulgences to those persons
who performed successive devotions in certain churches ; this they
term " stations" and "fain ses stations" is to discharge this act of de
votion. T.
Vol. III. e

34
One single day of fasting, and a few prayers, are
worth to the possessor of this bull fifteen times fif
teen forties, or 9000 of the penances imposed upon
him. <
On fast days the lay person may eat of every thing,
meat excepted, provided he has the bull. It even
allows of meat, if the least weakness of constitution,
or any other slight indisposition, should occasion any
apprehension for the health. Since the 1st of Janua
ry, 1804, it dispenses with fasting on fridays, and for
almost the whole of lent.
Whoever takes, and pays for, two bulls for the
living, obtains double the advantages of one.
Bull for eating milk and eggs, or de Laitage.
All the faithful, excepting ecclesiastics, from
whom the church has a right to expect greater exac
titude in the observance of her laws, have permission
by the general bull for the living, to eat milk and eggs
during lent. It was necessary then, in order to ex
empt them from the prohibition of these articles dur
ing that period, to establish a special bull. This is
the exact and only purpose of the bull de laitage. All
ecclesiastics, under sixty years of age, ought to pur
chase it, independent of that of the living, if they
wish not to provoke the wrath of heaven, by trans
gressing the laws of the church respecting eggs and
milk. Bulls for the Dead.
The bull for the dead is a species of ticket for ad
mission into paradise. It enables to clear the devour-

35
ing flame of purgatory, and conducts directly to the
abodes of the blessed. But one of these bulls serves
for only one soul. Therefore, the instant a Span
iard expires, his relations send to the treasury to buy
a bull for the dead, on which is written the name of
the deceased. When the family of the departed is so
poor as to be unable to pay for the bull, that is to say,
when they are reduced to the most frightful misery,
two or three of its members detach themselves, and
go a begging through the streets to obtain the means
of making the purchase. If their zeal is not crown
ed with success, they shed tears and utter shrieks of
lamentation, expressive of less regret for the death
of their relation, than pain for their inability to fur
nish his soul with this essential passport.
The virtue of this bull is not confined to dispensing
with the obligation of going into purgatory ; but ex
tends to extricating the soul, which, like the asbes
tos is whitening in its flames. It has the faculty
even to designate the spirit it wishes to liberate. It
is enough to write upon the bull the name of the per
son it animated in this lower world, and that very
moment the gates , of paradise are opened for him.
One bull must always be taken for each soul ; they
may, however, take as many as they please, provi
ded they do but pay. With piety and money it
would be easy to empty purgatory, which, indeed,
would not long remain unpeopled, because death,
whose harvests never cease, would at every instant
renew its inhabitants.

36
Bulls of Composition.*
The bull of composition is without doubt that
whose effects are the most sensible, the nearest, and
most remarkable. It has the inconceivable virtue of
transmitting to the withholder of another's goods, the
absolute property in all he has been able to steal with
out the connuzance of the law. For its validity they
require only one condition, which is, that the expect
ation of the bull did not induce the theft. Modesty
has done well to add, that of not knowing the person
to whom the stolen goods belong : but from the ca
ses specified for its application, it appears that this
last condition is illusive ; for, in a volume, on the
virtue of bulls, printed at Toledo, in 1758, by order
of the commissary-general of the holy crusade, we
find that the bull of composition befriends those who
hold property they ought to return to the church, or
employ in works of piety, or which they have not le
gally acquired by the prayers of which it was the
price. It aids those debtors who cannot discover
their creditors, or when the conditions of the loan
are oppressive; it assists the heir who retains the"
whole of an inheritance loaded with legacies, were
it in favour of a hospital. If a demand has not been
made within a year, the bull of composition de
crees to its possessor a moiety of the debt ; but he
ought to pay the residue. It bestows the entire right
on those who do not know the owner of that which
they have obtained unjustly. Thus a watch, a dia-
* " Composition," in Spanish, signifies an agreement, or accommo
dation of a dispute.

37
mond, a purse full of gold, stolen in the midst of a
, crowd, becomes the property of the pick-pocket who
has filched it ; in fine, it quiets the remorse of con
science of the merchant who has enriched himself
by false yards, false measures, and false weights.
The bull of composition assures to him the absolute
property in whatever he obtams by modes that
ought to have conducted him to. the gallows.
The party himself values the article which he is
desirous of acquiring by means of the bull of compo
sition, and has to purchase as many bulls as are ne
cessary to make their price, which is fixed, equiva
lent to six per cent of the capital he wishes to retain.
Only fifty bulls a year can, however, be taken by one
person. If the amount of what they cost does not
complete the six per cent, of that which is withheld,
recourse must be had to the most illustrious commis
sary-general of the holy crusade. He may extend the
permission as much as he pleases, and even reduce
the duty.
No bull has any virtue till after paid for, and
the name and surname of the person on whose ac
count it is issued, is written at full length in the
blank which is left in the printed form.
The bulls of the holy crusade are in Spanish, upon
a sheet of very common paper in demi-gothic letters
and wretchedly printed.
Every two years a new bull of the crusade is pub
lished with great pomp and solemnity at Caraccas.
The ceremony is performed on Saint John's day ; in
the other churches on that of Saint Michael.
The bulls are at first placed in the church of the

38
nuns of the conception. All the clergy, constituted
authorities, and people come in triumph to seek them,
in order to remove and place them in the cathedral
upon a table magnificently decorated. Grand mass
is then performed, after which there follows a sermon
entirely devoted to set forth the infinite blessings of the
bull. At this festival, the commissary-general of the
holy crusade, who is usually a canon, occupies the first
place. It has been so long transmitted to him, that under
the perplexity of deciding whether he ought to relin-
quishit to the bishop, ithasbeenfoundmore convenient
to advise the prelate not to assist at the celebration.
Mass being finished, all the faithful approach the ta
ble on which the bulls are laid, that each may ob
tain one proportioned to his abilities, and to his rank ;
for the price of the bulls varies according to the opu
lence and situation of those by whom they are taken.
They are nevertheless, notwithstanding the differ
ence of price, of equal virtue, provided there has been
no fraud. He who takes a bull of a price inferior to
that which his fortune or rank order him to procure,
enjoys none of the advantages attached to it.
You here have the latest duty imposed on the bull
of the crusade ; " the price is a little raised," says the
commissary- general of the crusade in his mandate,
dated at Madrid on the 14th of September 1801, " but
" it is on account of the new expenses of government,
" and of the necessity of extinguishing the royal cer-
" tificates which the scarcity of money in a time of
" war has compelled the king to issue."

39
General Bull for the Living. — First class.
Viceroys are to pay fifteen hard dollars for this bull,
their wives the same. Second class.
Five hard dollars are paid by arch-bishops, bish
ops, inquisitors, abbots, priors, canons of cathedral
or collegiate churches, dukes, marquises, counts,
viscounts, lords, noblemen, esquires, captains-gen
eral, lieutenants-general, field-marshals, brigadiers,
colonels, though they have only the rank, presidents,
councillors, magistrates, officers of the revenue and
exchequer, though only honorary, superior officers
of justice, secretaries and reporters of the royal audi
ences, knights of the several military orders, secre
taries of the king, if but titular, royal officers, gov
ernors, chief magistrates, and other officers of forts
and citadels, gentlemen possessing fortunes of 12,000
hard dollars, inferior magistrates and justices of vil
lages, having a capital of 1200 hard dollars. The
wives of those above specified are subject to the same
tax as their husbands. Third class.
Every capitalist of 6000 hard dollars pays one and
a half for a bull of this sort.
Fourth class.
All other persons, whatever may be their rank and
profession pay 2 1-2 real of eight to the hard dollar.

40
Bullde Laitage. — First class.
Patriarchs, primates, arch-bishops, bishops, and
abbots are taxed for the bull de laitage at six hard
dollars each. Second class.
Canons, dignitaries of cathedrals, and inquisitors,
pay 3 hard dollars. Third class.
Prebendaries of cathedrals, and rectors of parishes,
one hard dollar and a half.
Fourth class.
All other secular priests give for this bull three
reals of eight to the hard dollar.
Bull of Composition.
Every one, without discrimination, pays 2 1-2
hard dollars for each bull of composition.
Bull for the Dead. — First class.
All those persons comprehended within the three
first classes of the bull for the living, pay for this bull
six reals of eight to the hard dollar.

4i
Second class.
Those of the fourth class of the bull for the living,
pay two reals for the bull for the dead.
Exclusive sale ofTobaceo.
Of all the taxes received throughout the extent of
the intendancy of Caraccas, the most productive and
most recent is that of tobacco. Prior to 1777, to
bacco, as we have observed in chapter viii, like
every other commodity, might have been cultivated
and sold by any one. It no sooner made a respecta
ble appearance in agriculture and commerce, than it
was destined to increase the public revenue. There was
given, however, to the provinces dependent on Ca
raccas this alternative ; either to submit to the mo
nopoly of tobacco, such as had for a long time existed
in Mexico and Peru, or to pay to the king a contri
bution, equal to 12 hard dollars the quintal, on all to
bacco raised and prepared for sale.
We cannot but admire an option which few gov
ernments would have offered, nor refrain from admi
ring the other parts of the edict of the 24th of June,
1777, all of which tended to throw this fiscal innova
tion on the charge of preparations for a war, which
appeared near at hand, and upon the necessity of
augmenting the expense of government and defence,
in proportion as the provinces increased in population
and wealth. On their parts, from the inhabitants a
single murmur was never heard to escape. So that
we may safely say, never was a tax demanded with
Vol. III. i

42
more ingenuity, nor consented to with greater re
signation. All the difficulties which arose, were oc
casioned rather from the miscalculation of the inhabi
tants, than their resistance, and from the severity of
the agents of the treasury, than the rigour of the mo
narch, as it is easy, from the whole of what took place,
to evince.
The commissioner charged to carry this ordinance
into effect, was Mr. Avalos, chief intendant of Ca
raccas. It Avas not till the beginning of 1779, that
he engaged in the undertaking. His first informations
induced him to imagine that the provinces Avould pre
fer a personal tax to the establishment of the exclu
sive sale of tobacco. Having embraced this opinion,
he assessed upon the different cities, country towns,
. and villages, a duty the total of which amounted to
159,084 hard dollars : of this sum Caraccas was rated
at 11,470; Victoria, 2851; laGuira, 862; Tulme-
ro, 3550; Maracaibo, ,2930 ; Valencia, 3114 ; Coro,
2233; Porto Cavello, 1031; Barquisemeto, 5927;
Carora, 3412 ; Goanara, 2693 ; St. Philip, 3402,
Sec. There was one thing remarkable in this tax, that
it did not seem necessarily to follow the progressive
cultivation of tobacco. The silence on this point in
dicated, that it was even to be regarded as a compo
sition, by means of which the use and trade of tobac
co, in all the provinces throughout the extent of the
intendancy of Caraccas, ought to be exempted from
all ulterior duties, from every restraint and formality
of law. In this the intendant did not fulfil the intent
of the edict, which was to reserve to the royal treasu-

43
ry twelve hard dollars for every quintal of tobacco
that should be gathered. But this inadvertence, er
ror, or omission of the intendant, operated altogether
in favour of the inhabitants, who, for this annual sum
might even have demanded the entire immunity of
tobacco. This advantage was not perceived. The common
council of Caraccas, and after them, all those of the
different provinces, beheld this imposition under
the hideous aspect of a tribute, which assimilated
Spaniards to Indians, or of a poll-tax that confounded
all in the class of plebeians. Of two sides, they chose
the worst. They sacrificed every thing to vanity,
nothing to interest ; all to anger, nothing to reason.
They haughtily preferred the exclusive sale of tobac
co to a contribution which they viewed as the seal of
slavery and dishonour.
The intendant judged of the resolutions of the other
common councils 'by that which the common coun
cil of Caraccas took and sent to him on the 26th of
April, 1779, and he judged well. Without uselessly
wasting his time in waiting for them, he the very
next morning adopted decisive measures for estab
lishing the monopoly of tobacco.
The plantations were instantly suspended. All
those who had tobacco received an order to carry it
to the warehouses of the king, to be delivered in at a
very moderate price. The sale and trade of tobacco,
prohibited under very severe penalties, were concen
trated in the estancos,* or tobacco factories. They
* "Kstanco'' signifies a place appointed for the sale of a monopolized
article.

44
selected as situations for tobacco plantations, places
where it appeared most easy to prevent illicit trade ;
and no one was allowed to cultivate it, without an ex
press licence from the administration, and under the
condition ofsubinittingtothe inspection of its clerks.
A swarm of guards covered the soil of these provin
ces, as heretofore the locusts covered the surface of
Egypt. The resource which the free cultivation of
tobacco offered was annihilated. The unfortunates
who had till then lived on its produce, were reduced
to the most frightful misery. The indigent part of
the population in the cities, who the easy manufac
turing and unlaborious sale of tobacco supported,
were forced to divide themselves, according to their
age and sex, between the shameful exercise of vice
and the humiliating pursuit of mendicity. A result
so fatal would naturally, and, in fact, did excite the
greatest clamour. It was generally perceived that
the opportunity had been suffered to escape. They
endeavoured to make it return. They addressed the
king, whom they found disposed to reconcile the wants
of the state Avith the convenience of the people. A
royal ordinance of the 3 1st of October, 1792, abolish
ed the exclusive sale of tobacco in the provinces of
the intendancy of Caraccas, " provided the inhabi-
(l tants should pay, by way of contribution, the same
sum as the administration of tobacco then produced."
This condition differed from that of the edict of the
24th of June, 1 777, which ordered the impost in com
pensation of the exclusive sale, to be levied at only
the rate of three hard dollars the quarter of a hun
dred, or twelve on the quintal ; it should have follow-

45
ed the progressive culture of tobacco, although the
intendant Avalos had considered it as nearly fixed :
whereas the condition of the 31st of October, 1792,
determined invariably the amount of the new impo
sition at that which the exclusive sale then afforded.
This order of the king furnished matter for many
debates, many pamphlets, and very little elucidation.
It was strongly urged not to quit the position in which
they then were. On the 16th of January, 1793, the
intendant, Don Estevan de Leon, officially communi
cated to the common council of Caraccas the last
edict, inviting them, at the same time, immediately
to commission some persons to ascertain what the
exclusive sale of tobacco produced, in order to col
lect from the inhabitants a like sum to be paid into
the royal coffers by the quarter, half year, or year.
He mentioned also, that it appeared to him equitable
to take for this valuation the annual amount on an
average of the last five years, from 1738 to 1792.
The 19th of the same month, the common coun
cil of Caraccas returned for ansAver what they ought
to have replied on the 26th of April, 1779, that, this
being an affair common to all the other cities and
towns Avithin the jurisdiction of the intendancy of Ca
raccas, they would invite them to nominate deputies
who might concur with the common council of Ca
raccas in adopting one uniform resolution.
Almost all the common councils sent, on this im i-
tation, their delegates. Some demanded information
to elucidate the subject of their deliberations. The
Avhole, however, formed but one voice for the aboli
tion of the exclusive sale of tobacco, differing only in
the mode by Avhich the duty Avas to be replaced,

46
The 'common council of Varinas alone, vdted, on
the 3d of April, 1793, for continuing the exclusive
sale of tobacco. They maintained that, in its princi
ple, this establishment had all the characteristics of
oppression, but that it was, at that epoch, so melio
rated as to constitute the felicity of the province of
Varinas ; that its suppression would be the ruin of
the cultivation and inhabitants of the district, because
the advances which the administration made for the
culture of tobacco, were its only nerve and support ;
that to this encouragement general misery could not
but succeed ; therefore the cabildo of Varinas thought
itself excused from concurring in an act Avhich it did
not approve.
It is then true, that the same measure will never
suit every individual. Where then is the law, which
can unite the suffrages of a Avhole people, when that
which has for its object breaking the chains of mo
nopoly and giving liberty to industry and commerce,
meets with opposers. Happily, for the repose of
the understanding, the explication of this extravagant
wish of the common council of Varinas is found in a
most methodical, particular and instructive memorial
dated at Caraccas the 7th of October, 1794, and sign
ed by La Torre, Sans and Escalon, delegates from
the common councils of Valencia and Tocuyo, from
which it appears that the members of the cabildo of
Varinas voted for the continuance of the administra
tion of tobacco, less on account of the advantages
which the province would reap from it, than of the
personal emoluments which they themselves would
derive. Infamous and sordid men, may your names
pass down to posterity with every epithet of contempt !

47
The deputies of the other common councils reas
sembled at Caraccas. A struggle was maintained
betAveen them and the intendant, in which a great
deal of paper AAras employed, and by far too much
time. They at first demanded the abolition of the exclu
sive sale, in order that every one might recover the
liberty of cultivating tobacco, and that its trade and
consumption might be liberated from the circle of
fiscal exaction. The reasons Avith which they sup
ported these pretensions were decisive. They would
not, however, admit as the rate of impost to be re
placed, the amount of what the exclusive sale had,
on an average from 1788 to 1792, annually produced,
but on that which it had yielded from the era of its
establishment, and for the payment of this sum they
consented to a duty of twelve hard dollars per quintal,
to be collected in the same manner as the other taxes.
The intendant objected, that the quota of the sum
to be imposed, in substitution of the produce of the
exclusive sale of tobacco, could not be more judi
ciously settled than on the average year from 1788 to
1792, which did not exceed 428,000 hard dollars ;
whilst to follow literally the royal order of the 31st of
October 1792, it ought to be on Avhat the sale afford
ed that very year, Avhich would be 494,654 hard dol
lars, instead of 428,000. But he insisted that the
new impost ought to increase every year in propor
tion to the cultivation of tobacco. This was not cor
rect ; for the order of the king runs, that they shall
pay a sum equivalent to that which the administra
tion of tobacco, now produces : la misma cantidad
que aora produce la menciorada renta.

48
As to the twelve hard dollars per quintal, which
they proposed to lay on tobacco, in order to make up
the sum required, the intendant found this mode in
adequate, from the great facility every one would
have of defrauding the revenue. He submitted an
addition to this duty, of a tax of five per cent on the
exports and imports of every thing entered at the
maritime custom houses, to cover the deficit, in
Case there should be any. '
On one side and the other reams of paper were
Avritten, and the difficulties remained the same, A
fifteen years existence of the exclusive sale of tobac
co, has made its advantages too Avell understood to be
able to shake it off by the same means, which they
might have availed themselves of before it Avas estab
lished. Every reasoning, every hypothesis, every
opinion Avould be inefficacious against the evidence
of the accounts of the exchequer. Not being able to
convince it, they determined to render it odious.
The common council of Caraccas asserted that the
administration adulterated in the preparation of to
bacco. In the beginning of December, 1794, the
syndic-general, Don Louis Lopez Mendez, filed an in
formation for the bad quality of the tobacco sold at
the factories. TAventy-six witnesses were heard, ev
ery one of Avhom affirmed that the tobacco of the ad
ministration was very bad, and prejudicial to the
health. The Avar, they said, obliged them to leave mat
ters in the state in which they then were. But the
peace of Amiens, which has terminated it, has im
pressed on them no new direction. In the mean

49
time, tobacco is cultivated in Terra Firma, by those.
individuals alone who have a licence from the direc
tor of the system or his overseers, and only within
the extent designated by the administration. The
tobacco is delivered to the king by the cultivators,
and they are paid, according to its quality, at the pri
ces contained in chapter vii, article Tobacco. The
administration sells it in the factories ; that is to say ;
Tobacco in the stalk, without discrimination of quality, as
well that which has cost eleven hard dollars the quintal, as
that for which it has paid but three, at the rate of (per
quintal) 50 hard dollars.
The juice of tobacco moo et urao 100
of chimoo 200
Tobacco in Snuff, which is imported from
the Havanna, 300
Rapee, 200
I doubt whether, in fiscal history, there is to be found
an impost which has made such rapid progress as the
exclusive sale of tobacco in the provinces of Carac
cas. In the eight last months of 1779, the year of
its establishment, it yielded but 77,139 hard dollars
nett; in 1781, 154,235 1-2; in 1782, 300,319; in
1788, 368,922 ; in 1791, 405,103 ; in 1793, 526,353 ;
and in 1802, 724,430.
These sums do not proceed exactly from that tobacco
alone which is consumed in the provinces within the di
rection of Caraccas, whose district is the same as that
of the intendant, but from the whole of what is gathered
in the plantations of the administration. Although the
consumption of tobacco among the Spaniards is very
great, for there is not one Avho does not smoke, it an.
Vol. III. c

50
nually leaves a surplus, which the administration sells
to strangers Avith whom it deals. Tobacco is paid for
dry and black goods, at the rate of from twenty to
twenty-two hard dollars the quintal, of the best quality.
Before the Avar, terminated by the treaty of Amiens,
the Spanish administration sent to Amsterdam, all the
surplus tobacco which remained after satisfying the
consumption of the provinces. It Avas there sold on
account of the king, and the proceeds remitted to
Spain. Every thing announces that the same mode
will be re-adopted, so soon as the sales subsisting at
this time (1804) under contract, are fulfilled, unless
Avar should compel their renewal.
The whole amount arising from tobacco consumed
in the provinces, or exported, ought to be transmitted
to Spain, and paid into the treasury of the mother
country. But as the product of the local taxes cannot
entirely cover the expenses, the administration of to
bacco makes good the deficiency, and the surplus is
sent to Spain.
That the provinces may not be divested of coin,
they do not remit it in specie. They give it in por
tions of 15, 20, 30 and 50,000 hard dollars to Spa
niards settled in the provinces, Avho furnish their bills
of exchange on Cadiz at six or eight months, and give
security in Caraccas for their payment. With this
money they buy goods,rand send them to Cadiz where
they are sold. Out of their produce the bills of ex
change are paid. The profit or loss of the specula
tion falls on the drawer.

51
Result.
It is very rare that the sum total of the local duties
are adequate to the discharge of the interior expenses.
But it is particularly since 1796 that the imposts es
tablished in the provinces of Caraccas have left a very
heavy deficit. There have even been years in which
the whole proceeds of tobacpo have not been sufficient
to settle the balance between the expenditures and
receipts. In 1801, the intendancy of Caraccas Avas
obliged to borroAV from the bank of Santa-Fe, the sum
of 200,000 hard dollars, which was sent in gold, and
by land. Yet the equilibrium is at this moment esta
blished by the aid of from 100 to 150,000 hard dollars,
which the tobacco-chest affords. The duties, the re
ceipts of which are the most languishing, are those of
the custom-house. The custom-house of La Guira
alone used to collect annually from 6 to 700,000 hard
dollars a year ; it now does not receive a third. What
is the cause of this ? The diminution of territorial
productions. I think this chapter cannot be better concluded than
by a statement of the receipts and expenditures of the
provinces. It does not comprise the sums arising
from tobacco, because they are administered sepa
rately, and have their OAvn peculiar bank and appro
priation.

52

Statement of the Receipts and Expenses in the
whole District oj the Intendancy of Caraccas.

Years.

Nett receipts
of all the

Hard Dollars.

1793

13121881-4

17^4

1561931

1795

1443056

1?".)6

1389804

1797

1140788

Expenses of every
kind.
Hard Dollars.
1303583 3-8
16399001549874 1049247
1886363

Balance.

In favour.
Hd.DoT.

340565

Against.
'Hard Dol-
1'1365 1-8
77969 106817
745475

Note. In this account are not included the receipts
from bulls, which annually produce 26,000 hard dol
lars, nor those from the exclusive sale of tobacco,
which amount, deducting all charges, to 700,000 hard
dollars a year.

CHAPTER X.

Description of the Towns.

Government of Venezuela — Caraccas — Its prerogatives — Climate — Me
teorology — Situation — Waters — Streets — Public Squares — Houses —
Public Edifices — Bishops' Palace — Cathedral — Churches — Convents
— Religious Customs — Religious Dresses of the Women — Penitential
Dresses — Festivals — Our Lady <f Copar Cobana — Our Lady of Sole-
dad — Theatre — Tennis Court — Inhabitants — White Europeans — Wo
men — Domestic Slaves — Emancipated Citizens — University — Police-
Beggars — Communications wi h the Interior — With Spain — Mer
chants — La Guira — Porto Cavello — Valencia — Maracay — Tulmero —
Victoria — Coro — Corora — Barquisemeto — Tocuyo — Goarara — Araura
— Calabozo — Saint John the Baptist of Pao — Saint Louis de Cura —
Saint Sebastian de los Reyes — Saint Philip — Nirgoa — San Carlos —
The Government of Cumana — Cumana — Cumanacoa — Cariaco — Bar
celona — Conception del Pao — Island of Margaretta — The Govern
ment of Maracaibo — Maracaibo — Merida — Truxillo — The Govern
ment of Varinas — Varinas — Saint Jaime — San Fernando of Apura.
XT seems to me, that in order to satisfy, as much as
I can, the curiosity of the reader on provinces hither
to as much unknoAvn to the political Avorld, as those
parts of China which are the most interdicted to stran
gers, it is proper that I should add to the general knoAAr-
ledge contained in the preceding chapters, some par
ticular ideas, which might serve to unfold AA'hat I have
been able but to sketch of the manners, political insti
tutions, situation and importance of the towns.
The uniformity of character and customs does not
allow of observing very sensible differences between
the habits of one town and those of another. To ena
ble to judge what the secondary towns must be, it

54
would suffice, perhaps, to describe the capital, from
whence the tone, fashion and every alteration proceeds.
Yet there are shades formed by the difference of situa
tion and production which it is my duty to remark.
This description shall be made by governments,
that the reader may be able to understand their frame
and importance. The honour of priority being on all
accounts due to the province of Venezuela, we shall
commence with that, and with the capital of those im
mense countries. Government of Venezuela. — Caraccas.
This toAvn, situated in 10 degrees 31 minutes of
north latitude, and in 69 degrees 3 minutes of longi
tude west from the meridian of Paris, was founded
by Diego Losada, in 1567; forty-seven years after
Cumana, thirty-nine after Coro, thirty-three after Bar
celona, and fifteen after Barquisemeto.
Its prerogatives.
It is the capital, not only of the province of Vene
zuela, but also of that immense extent of territory
occupied by the governments of Maracaibo, Varinas,
Guiana, Cumana, and the island of Margaretta,
since it is the seat as well of the captain-generalship,
the civil and military authority of which extends over
all the provinces, as of the royal audience, the inten
dancy, and of the consulate, whose limits are the
same as those of the captain-general.

55
Its climate.
The climate of Caraccas by no means corresponds
with its latitude. For, instead of the insupportable
heats, which it Avould seem ought to reign in the
proximity of the equator, Ave, on the contrary, there
enjoy an almost perennial spring. It owes this advan
tage to its elevation which is four hundred and sixty
toises above the level of the sea.
Not a day, however, elapses Avithout the sun's en
deavouring to urge those rights which he exercises
on all regions placed under the same latitude ; but the
topographical situation of Caraccas enables her to dis
pute them with advantage. These transitions, from
the warmth of the torrid, to the cool freshness of the
temperate zones, produce a variety of indispositions,
of which the most common are colds and influenzas,
which by the Spaniards are denominated catarros.
Its meteorology.
State of Farenheit's thermometer at Caraccas.
In the Winter.
Generally at 6 in the morning, 58
at 2 in the afternoon, 73
at 10 at night, 68
the maximum, 76
the minimum, 52

56

In the Summer.

Generally at 6 in the morning,

72

at 2 in the afternoon,

79

at 10 at night,

75

the maximum,

85

the minimum,

69

Moisture, according to the hygrometer ofDuluc^
Generally, 47
the maximum, 58
the minimum, 37
Changes of the atmosphere.*
The mercury which, in the most southern parts of
Europe rises,from the variations of the atmosphere, as
much as eleven lines of the Paris inch, does not, in the
eastern part of Terra Firma, rise more than two lines.
In Caraccas, at all seasons of the }rear, four small
atmospheric changes are observed every 24 hours,
two in the day, and two in the night.
Blue of the sky, according to the cyanometer of
Seaussure.
Generally, 18
Oxygen and nitrogen gaz.
Of a hundred parts twenty-eight are oxygen and
sixty-two nitrogen. * " Marees atmosphtriques."

57
The maximum of the first is 29
The minimum 27 1-2
Magnetic variation.
On the 27th of September, 1799, 4 degrees, 38
minutes, 45 seconds. Inclination of the Pole.
Generally, 43 52-100
Oscillations of the pendulum.
In fifteen minutes, twelve hundred and seventy vi
brations. Its situation.
The city of Caraccas is erected in a valley, which has
an east and west direction, for about four leagues, and
between the mountains of that vast chain which
coasts the sea from Coro to Cumana. It is as in a ba
sin of this chain ; for it has mountains of an equal
heighth to the north and to the south* It is placed
with its back to the former, and at a little distance
from the latter.
The ground occupied by the city is two thousand
paces square. It is as nature formed it. Art has done
nothing to level the soil, or diminish its irregularities.
There are therefore but few parts where one is not
obliged either to rise or descend. The fall is invariably
Vol. III. h

58
from the north to the south. It is seventy-five toises
from the gate of Pastora on the north, to the river
Guira, which bounds the city on the south.
Its Waters.
It enjoys the streams of four small rivers. The
first, which is called Guira, without entering into the
city, bounds entirely the southern part. Though it
be not considerable enough to receive the appellation
of a river, it is yet sufficiently so to merit one more
respectable than that of a brook.
The second, which bears the name of Anauco,
bathes the eastern part of the city. The point in
which it approaches nearest is La Candelaria, where
they have erected a handsome bridge which facili
tates the communication with the valley of Chacao.
The third is the Caroata. It runs over rocks and in
a bed formed by steep banks on each side. Its course is,
from north to south, on the whole eastern part of the
town. It even separates itfromthe quarter of St. John.
The tAvo parts of the city are united by a stone bridge
constructed with tolerable solidity, but the regularity
of which by no means approaches that of the bridge
of Candelaria.
The fourth is named Catucho. The city is in
debted to it for the Avater of an infinity of public and
private fountains which flow but at the expense of
this river. Yet the inhabitants of Caraccas, insensi
ble of its kindness, suffer it to run in the same bed
which time has holloAved out, and in the midst of de
formities the rains have occasioned ; for the five

59
bridges of communication they have thrown across it,
are attributable rather to necessity, demanding even
more, than to a spirit of ornament, which would re
quire, that the hand of man should repair the ravages
of time, whose disagreeable impressions this river
carries throughout the whole length of the city it tra
verses. These four rivers, after administering to all the
domestic uses of the town, unite themselves in one
bed, then flowing through the valley of Chacao, cover
ed with fruit, provisions and articles of commerce,
at length confounding their waters with those of the
Tuy, discharge themselves, under that name, into
the ocean twelve leagues east of cape Codera.
Its Streets.
The streets of Caraccas, like those of all modern
cities, are on a straight line, about twenty feet wide,
paved, intersecting at the four cardinal points, and
at the distance of about three hundred feet one from
the other. This is the only regularity, the only sym
metry observable in this large city, which is, in oth
er respects well built. Its Public Squares,
There are but three squares which deserve that ap
pellation, and even they are not without their defor
mities. The grand square, named Plapa Mayor,
that ought to be the most regular, is covered with
barracks built on the east and south quarters, which

60
are let out to merchants on account of the city, and
for the miserable sum derived from rent, the eye is
deprived of a view that nothing can recompense.—
This square occupies the same space as one of those
portions of the town, denominated Quadras, that is to
say, about three hundred feet square. It is well pav
ed, and there is held the market for every kind of pro
vision. Vegetables, fruits, meat, salted provisions,
fish, poultry, game, bread, parrots, monkeys, lazy
slaves, birds, every thing whatsoever, is there sold. —
The ' cathedral, situated on the eastern part of the
square, has, like it, no kind of symmetrical propor
tion. This square has, on each side, two entrances.
The second square is that of Candelaria, surround
ed by a tolerably regular road and iron paling, On
masonry of unequal height. The square, though not
paved, has an argillaceous soil, mixed with sand,
which is as good as the best pavement ; and on the
whole, presents an agreeable object. It is not at all
indebted to the buildings widi which it is environed.
The church of Candelaria alone affords it any orna
ment. Although there is not a perfect geometrical
harmony between them, the church has a facade
which relieves the view, and adds much to the ap
pearance of the square.
The third is that of St. Paul ; its only regularity
is its square shape, and its only ornament, a foun
tain in the middle. The church of St. Paul is on its
south-east corner, with which it has no other corres
pondence than that of forming a part of its square. 
This square is neither paved nor level.

61
The other squares are ; 1st. That of the Trinity,
which has not even the fonn of one ; with the surface
so uneven, that the eye recognizes in it only a spot,
destined rather to transmit to posterity the negligence,
than good taste of the citizens. 2d. That of St. Hya
cinth, in which is the convent of the Dominicans. —
It is bordered on the west by the pavement of one
street and crossed by another, which do not allow us
even to suppose it was ever intended to make it a
square. 3d. That of St. Lazarus, which is a kind of inclo-
sure in front of the church of the same name, situated
to the south-east of the city. It has the merit of being
tolerably neat, but so far removed from the centre
of the city, that it does not seem to make a part of it.
4th. The square of Pastora, with the ruins sur
rounding it, and the church itself, for the ornament
of which it ought to have been completed, offers
nothing but the melancholy aspect of monuments
abandoned to the voracity of time.
5th. That of St. John is spacious, but irregular,
unpaved, and only bordered on the west by a roiv of
meanly constructed houses. It is here that the horse
militia are exercised. Its Houses.
The houses of individuals are good and Avell built.
In the interior there are many which are storied and of
a very handsome appearance. Some are of brick ;
but the major part of masonry in frame work, nearly
after the manner of the Romans, and as, even at this

62
day, is practised for building in marshes, the sea,
&c. according to the mode published by Mr. Tardif,
in 1757.
They construct, of boards five feet long and three
broad, a sort of caisson without a bottom, which is
made the mould of the front of the wall they intend
to erect. The place on which they build, serves for
the bottom of this caisson, supported by a scaffold,
Avhich is removed at every form that is added to the
wall. In this form they place and beat up, at eve
ry layer, a mortar, named in the country, tapia. —
There are two kinds of it ; the first to Avhich they
give the pompous appellation of tapia royal, is com
posed of river-sand and lime. With this they often in
termix flint or small pebbles. The second is of sand
and earth, with a very small portion of lime. From
the combination of ingredients it is easily perceived
which will endure the longest. By means of the pes
tle, however, both one and the other acquires a con
sistency, which, for a length of time, braves the in
clemency of seasons, and injury of years. These
houses, when once rough-cast and whitewashed,
look quite as well as if built of cut stone. The roofs
are sharp, or with two eves. The carpenter's work
Avel! put together, very elegant, and of excellent wood,
which the country furnishes in abundance. The cov
ering of curved tiles.
The houses of the principal persons in the city
are, in general, neatly and even richly furnished. We
behold in them beautiful glasses ;, at the windows
and over the inside doors, elegant curtains of crimson
damask ; chairs and sophas made of Avood, the seats

63
of which, covered with leather or damask, are stuff
ed with hair, and adorned with gothic work, but
overloaded with gilding ; bedsteads, with deep
head-boards, showing nothing but gold, covered by
superb damask counterpanes, and a number of down
pilloAvs infine muslincases, trimmed with lace. There
is seldom, it is true, more than one bed of this mag
nificence in each house, which is in general the nup
tial couch, and afterwards serves only as a bed of
state. The eye wanders also over tables with gilded feet ;
chests of drawers, on which the gilder has exhausted
all the resources of his art ; brilliant lustres, suspend
ed in the principal apartments ; cornices, which seem
to have been dipped in gold ; and rich carpets, cover
ing at least all that part of the room Avhere the seats
of honour are placed ; for the parlour, furniture is dis
posed in such a manner that the sopha, which consti
tutes the most essential article of household attire,
is situated at one end with the chairs arranged on the
right and left, and opposite the principal bed of the
house placed at the other extremity of the room, in a
chamber, the door of Avhich is open, unless it be fix
ed in an alcove equally open, and by the side of the
seats of honour.
These sorts of apartments, always exceedingly
neat, and very handsomely ornamented, are, as it
Avere, interdicted to the inhabitants of the house. —
They are opened, with scarce any exception, only in
honour of those who come to fulfil the tender duties
of friendship, or the irksome ceremonies of etiquette.

64

Its Public Buildings.

The city of Caraccas possesses no other public
edifices than those which are dedicated to religion.
The captain- general, royal audience, intendant, and
all the tribunals, occupy rented houses. The very
hospital of the troops is in a private house. The
contadoria, or treasury, is the only building which be
longs to the king, and its construction is very far
from announcing the majesty of its master.
This is not the case Avith the barracks. They are
new, handsome, elegantly built, and situated on a
spot from whence the view strikes on the toAvn. —
They are storied, and with a double yard. Tavo
thousand men may be commodiously lodged within
them. They are occupied by the troops of the line
alone. The militia have their barracks, that is, a
house which serves for that purpose, in the opposite
part of the city.
It is a pity that the ground has not been levelled,
for tAvo or three hundred paces round the new bar
racks, and that they have not been surrounded by a
wall of two feet coped with iron railing. This opera
tion, by no means costly, Avould procure to the city a
delightful walk, and to the troops a most commo
dious place for their exercise and manoeuvres. By
adding 12 or 15,000 hard dollars, to the 24,000 ex
pended on this building, which serves to adorn no
thing, and AA'hich its environs disfigure, they would
have given it an aspect that would have doubled both
its beauty and utility.

65

The Archbishopric.
Caraccas is the seat of the archbishopric of Vene->
2uela, the diocese of which is of a very considerable
extent. It is bounded on the north by the sea, from
the river Unara, quite to the district of Coro ; on the
east by the province of Cumana ; on the south by the
Oronoque ; and on the west by the bishopric of Me-
rida. I have already said that it was erected into an
archbishopric in 1803.
The annual revenue of the archbishop depends on
the abundance of the harvests; and the price of the
articles on which the tithes are collected. We have
seen that they are divided between the archbishop,
the chapter, the king, and ministers of religion. The
fourth going tb the prelate, amounted, one year with
another, antecedent to the war terminated bv the
treaty of Amiens, to 60,000 hard dollars. The de
clension of cultivation will prevent, for a long time,
the episcopal revenues from amounting to an equal
sum. The archbishop does not enjoy the whole of
even the fourth of the tithes. The king reserves to
himself the disposition of the third of this fourth,
upon which he assigns pensions.
The seat of this archbishopric Avas established at
Coro, in 1532, because it is from thence, as has been
said, that the province of Venezuela began to be
peopled with Europeans; Its translation to Caraccas,
in 1636, without being a very important part of his
tory, was effected in a manner so singular, as not to
be passed over in silence.
Vol. III. t

66
To the natural aridity of the environs of Coro,
Avhich allows the earth to produce but few fruits,
and scarcely any provisions, there chanced to be add
ed a drought, such as had never before been expe*
;ienced. The scarcity became extreme. Provisions
entirely failed, and famine commenced its ravages.
The prelate, Boxorques, as much, no doubt, to fly
from a land, to Avhich providence denied her favours,
as to withdraw from fasts the church did not com
mand, left Coro, and fixed his residence, in 1613, at
Caraccas. Scarcely had he arrived, when he inclined
the governor to support, on his part, the request
which he made to the king, of transferring the cathe
dral froih Coro to Caraccas, as his predecessor, Al-
cega had solicited. He found, in the transmigration
of Abraham from the sterile region of Chaldea to the
fertile land of Canaan, motives sufficient to justify
this change of residence, which circumstances ren
dered far more necessarj' and pressing than that of
the patriarch.
The bishop felt so sure of success, that he wrote,
on the 4th of June, 1613, to the chapter at Coro,
directing them to come immediately to Caraccas,
Avith the slaves, ornaments, &c. belonging to the ca
thedral. The dean, seduced by the bishop, was in
favour of the measure, but the chanter and treasurer
were opposed to it. So soon as the common council
of Coro were, informed of it, they presented them
selves to the chapter, to protest against every such
proceeding. They notified to it the edict of the 19th
of May, 1589, by which the king prohibited the go-
vernor from consenting to this translation. They

67
communicated the whole to the king, who refused
the petition of the prelate.
In 1635, the bishop Agurto dela Mata, instructed
by experience, took better his measures for consum
mating the work of translating the cathedral from
Coro to Caraccas. Being already on the spot of his
new residence, he did nothing more than write to
the chapter to repair to Caraccas.* The dean, without
loss of time, came, under pretext of a licence for a
a vacation from ecclesiastical affairs. The chanter
and treasurer staid a little longer, in order to find
some opportunity of removing, without the know
ledge of the inhabitants of Coro, whatever apper
tained to the church. They succeeded, and arrived
in the beginning of 1636.
They instantly Avrote an account of it to the king,
who would not have approved of this translation had
it been requested of him ; but, being once effected,
there remained no other act of sovereignty for him
to exercise than tiiat of approving the measure, and
he did approve of it the 16th of November, 1636.
The holy father, who could not but wish, in the
West- Indies, for that which the king of Spain wish
ed, confirmed, without hesitating, the translation
of the episcopal seat of Venezuela ; and, from that
period, the mother church of the province has been
fixed at Caraccas, and served by ministers, the ad
vanced age of some, the plumpness of others, and
the virtues of all of whom prove that they have, in
fact, met with a place equally adapted to the health
of the soul, as the preservation of the body.

68
The inhabitants of Coro appealed to the audience
of St. Domingo, where they were cast. They made
another appeal, with the same inefficacy, to the coun
cil of the Indies. Their endeavours even contribut
ed to cause the issuing, on the 20th of June, 1693, a
royal ordinance, confirming definitively the transla
tion, which that of the 16th of NoArember, 1636, had
only provisionally sanctioned. The Cathedral.
The cadiedral church has no right to be described,
but from the rank which it occupies in the hierarchy
of places of public worship. One is astonished to see
that a toAvn so populous as Caraccas, Avhere the chris
tian religion is so honoured, does not possess a cathe
dral more correspondent to the importance of the bi
shopric, and the grandeur of the city. It is not that
the interior is not decorated with beautiful tapestry
and superb gilding, that the habits of the priests and
holy vessels do not announce the supremacy of the
church to which they belong ; but its construction,
style of architecture, dimensions and distribution,
have nothing august, commanding, or regular.
It is about two hundred and fifty feet in length,
by seventy-five in breadth : low, supported on the in
side by tAventy-four pillars in four rows running
lengthwise. The two centre rows from the nave,
twenty-five feet wide, and the two others divide the
aisles, at the distance of twelve feet and a half each;
so that the nave alone has the Avidth of the two aisles,
which are on the right and left of each side. The high

69
altar, instead of being according to the Romish
church, is placed against the wall. The choir occu
pies the moiety of the nave, and the distribution of
this church is such, that it does not allow more than
four hundred persons to see the priests who celebrate
mass, at which soever altar they officiate. The ex
terior OAves nothing either to the taste or ability of the
artificer. The steeple alone, without having receiv
ed any embellishment from art, has at least the mer
it of a boldness, that the cathedral is very far from
possessing. The only clock in Caraccas, is in this
steeple ; it strikes the quarters of the hour, and di
vides, with tolerable exactitude, the time.
The humble architecture of the principal place of
worship in Caraccas, is owing to a cause which the
honour of the inhabitants demands that I should re
late. The episcopal seat having been transferred
from Coro to Caraccas, in 1636, there was, necessari
ly, before that time, no cathedral in this town ; and
when they began to execute the plan of a superb
church, a severe earthquake, coming on upon the
11th of June, 1641, at three-quarters past eight in
the morning, and Avhich caused infinite desolation
in the city, was regarded as the advice of providence
to render the edifice better calculated to resist these
sorts of catastrophes, than to captivate the admiration
of virtuosi. They, from that moment, no more
thought of, or rather, totally renounced magnificence,
in order to bestoAV on it solidity alone. But nature,
having made no other aberration of this kind at Ca
raccas, they have resumed the project of building
an elegant cathedral.

70
Churches and Convents.
In Caraccas there are five parish churches ; the
Cathedral, St. Rosalie, St. Paul, la Candelaria, or
Candlemas, and Alta Gracia; three monasteries of
friars ; the Franciscans or Cordeliers, the Domini-
, cans, and those of la Mercy ; one house of preach
ers ; one hospital of Capuchins ; two nunneries, one
of the Conception, the other of the Carmelites ; one
house of Educandas, or for the education of young
women ; three churches ; St. Maurice, the Trinity,
and le Divina Pastora, which the Spaniards call Er-
mitas, literally hermitages, because they are not pa
rish churches, and belong neither to convents, nor
to hospitals. These sorts of places of worship, al
ways owe their existence and support to the pious
liberality of the faithful in the quarters where they are
placed. Each of them has a fraternity which regu
lates the expenditures and ceremonies, and collects
the alms. To each are attached an almoner, and
many assistant priests. There are two hospitals, one
appropriated to men, the other to women; lastly,
there is a hospital for lepers, and a church in the gift
of the academy.
The churches of Caraccas, are in general well
built. That Avhich surpasses all the others is the
parochial church of Alta Gracia ; whose structure
would do honour to the first cities in France. The
right that virtue and decencyhas to public esteem,
and admiration, renders it a duty in me to make
known, that the free men of colour in the vicinage
of this church, have, with the aid of a feAv contribu-

71
tions from the whites, constructed and adorned it
at their own expense. That, of Candelaria owes its
erection and solidity to the Islanders of the Canaries,
resident in that quarter.
After these two churches, architecture requires
that I mention those of three convents of friars,
which are built on the same plan, only that the in
teriors of the church of the Franciscans, and those of
la Mercy, are executed with a little more care. —
¦ They have this peculiarity, each before the principal
gate of the church, and on a line with the street, has
a yard surrounded by a wall, in front of the church-
door, which is raised so high as to conceal it from
view. The reason given to me for this, was, the ob
ligation decency laid them under not to expose to the
irreverence of passengers, either the sanctuary, or the
celebration of its mysteries. That of St. Philip of
Neri, or of the preachers, which has the dignity of an
ordinary chapel, is about to be replaced by a large
church, which is to be actually built from the produce
of the liberality of a lady of Caraccas.
All the churches are very neat, but loaded with
gilding from the bottom of the altar to the ceiling.
Those authors, who, like Robertson, have so much
cried up their riches, assuredly have not formed this
idea from those of Caraccas, unless they have taken
every thing that is gilded for massy gold ; for without
that, it is impossible to account for their error. The
churches have every thing that is proper for decency
of Avorship ; but there is neither profusion nor pomp.
The linen, the lace, the tapestry, the habits of the
holy yirgins and fathers, when they walk in proces-

72
sion, or when they are exhibited On the octaves of
their festivals, and the ornaments of their ministers,
must necessarily have cost a great deal of money ;
but, so soon as these articles are made up, they cease
to represent any effective value, and can no longer*
be regarded as riches. Gold, silver, and diamonds
alone possess an intrinsic value ; and these are very
far from being abundant. Of this we may judge
from the frequent removals of some large silver chan
deliers, owned by the cathedral, and which are lent
to the other churches when they celebrate any great
festival. Religious Customs.
The people of Caraccas, like the whole Spanish na
tion, are proud of being christians, and in this they
are right ; but they deceive themselves, in imagin
ing they cannot be so, without mixing the same
pride in the practice of religion. The humility of
the creature is, Avithout doubt, far more agreeable to
the Deity, than his ostentation. Charity, or the love
of God and our neighbour, is that which constitutes
the christian and citizen. But I forget that I am on
ly an historian, and not a theologist ; an observer,
and not a reformer. Let him who Will, treat on these
inexhaustible matters ; for my part, I return to the
path which conducts to my end.
The Spaniards are exceedingly assiduous in the offi
ces of religion, that is to say, in masses, days of duty,
sermons, and processions ; for, one would scarce
ly believe that they do not rank vespers among the

ber of religion* exercises, as is done in France, and
even hi Spain. , '
The mew go to church in nearly the^ame dress as
we do. They rriust> however, be in a coat, greatcoat,-
or Covered With a cloak. Neither rank nor colour
dispenses with one of these three dresses.
Religious Habits of the Women.
, The habits of the Avomen, rich or poor, especially
of the whites, ought most rigorously to' be black. —
The dress c0nsist&O"a petticoat and veil of black.-*—
Slaves alone are bound to have a white veil. '
This religious custom had no doiibt for its object,
by imposing on the sex, the obligation of a veil, to
banish from the temple of the divinity improper
luxury, seductive coquetry, impure desires, wanton
looks ; and by establishing a uniformity of dress,
and of colour, to remind the faithful of the equality
which subsists in the presence of God, and to hinder
riches, birth, and rank from profaning the sanctity
of the place by distinctions always afflicting to "those,
who join indigence to an obscure descent. But this
wise institution, like all those which come from the
hand of man, in passing through the course of a few
ages, has, like manners, become corrupted, and has
preserved nothing of its original purity but the colour,
which remains black.
The dress which, at its first institution, was re
quired to be the same for all women, and of a stuff
exceedingly cheap, is become the most studied and
expensive. The veils of gauze which the AA'omen
Vol. III. k

74
wear, show, to the eye desirous of such representa
tions, the freshness of every feature. This habili-*
ment, purely religious, since its chief use is for divine
offices, made of silk or velvet enriched with the^.
most elegant blonds, often costs from four to eight
hundred hard dollars. Those who blush at publish
ing their poverty by garments less rich, give them
selves up to all sorts of privations to rival others. —
The most impatient prefer to this slow and some
times impracticable mode of economy, means more
expeditious, but less honest. Hoav often does not
this raiment of modesty and basrii.;iness become the
price of criminal condescension. This habit, in
some degree the livery of providence, is not, howe
ver, so rigourous as to be without its exceptions.
Penitential Dresses.
Many ladies, to divert the vengeance of heaven,
Avith which they think themselves menaced, whether
in dangerous sicknesses or other occasions, make
vows to assist at religious ceremonies, during a time
proportioned to the imminence of the danger, or
importance of the request, in a dress emblematic of the
power they have called to their aid ; so that, if they
have invoked our lady of la Merci, they wear a habit,
with some little difference, of that order, at least
of the same colour and stuff. Those who owe the fa
vour solicited to our lady of the Seven Sorrows, wear
a black dress With a heart of red stuff "on the left side.
The gratitude that is due to our lady of mount Cartnel,
is testified by a violet habit with a large medal on the
left side. When St. Francis is addressed, the habit

75
of his order is borne, the colour of which, in Spanish
America, is blue, &c. &c.
Those who have no other means of procuring
the garments of the church peculiar to their sex, are
obliged to go to those masses which are said before
day, and are called missas de madrugada. They are
celebrated at those hours only, for the convenience
and spiritual advantage of those, who have not
clothes sufficiently decent to enter a church in the
day. Festivals.
The Spaniards know not of any other festivals than
those which are found in the Romish calendar. They
are so multiplied at Caraccas, that there are very few
days in the year on which they do not celebrate some
saint, or some virgin, in one of the churches that
are situated there. What multiplies them to
infinity, is, that every festival is preceded by a new
vaine, or a succession of nine days, consecrated to
prayer alone ; and followed by an octave, or succes
sion of eight days, during which the faithful of the
quarter, and even of the rest of the city, to their
prayers join public amusements, such as fire-works,
concerts, balls, &c. but the pleasures of these festi
vals are never extended to the balls. Feasts which,
even according to their etymology, ought to be the
soul of festivals, and in fact are so among other peo
ple, are, in a manner, unknown to the Spaniards.
This nation is sedate, even in the delirium of plea
sure.'

7<*
The most brilliant acts of these festivals,; are the.
processions of the saint, who is CelebratiecL They
always take place in the afternoon. The saint, as
large as life, is richly dressed. He is carried on a tablet
very handsomely decorated, and followed; or preced
ed by some other saint of the same church, less>
sumptuously adorned., A number of flags. and crosses
open the march. The men walk in two lines;, Each of
the principal persons bas in his hand a wax taper;*
then come the music, the clergy, the civil authorj&
ties, and lastly, the women, environed with a barrier
of bayonets. The train is always very numerous.-^
The frames of all the window*) in the streets through*,
which the procession n>oves, are ornamented with
hangings floating in the air, which give to the whole
quarter an air of, festivity that exhilarates. The;
windows themselves are adorned with women, who
crowd to them from all parts of the city, to enjoy thisj
agreeable exhibition.
The principal^, and almost exclusive devotion of
the Spaniards, is to the holy virgin. They have her
in aU the churches, under different appellations, each;
of which has been established in a manner more or,
less miraculous ; of these there are two, sufficiently
remarkable for the singularity of their inauguration,
to require that I should partake with tradition in that
caore of preserving the memory of them. ,,v >
Our Lady of Copa Cobana.
The first is our lady of Copa Cobana. An Indian,
tradition says, walking in the streets of Caraccas,

37
pulled off his hat; he sawfaftoutof it a half-real,
which is nearly of the size of our half-livres. Rejoic
ed at this good luck, he runs as fast as he- is able,
to the first tavern, and. lays it out in brandy. He
sallies forth, and going* to seat himself at the corner
of a street, where he has- occasion 'to pull off his*hat
again, out drops another half-real. More astonished
than at first, 'Tie nevertheless spends it in brandy. A
^foment after, he, for the third time, takes off his
hat, and another, or the same demi-real falls on the
ground. He picks it up, examines it, and observes
on it the figure of a virgin. He deposits this pre
cious piece in a scapalaryf which he hangs on his
neck and under his shirt. A short time after, he as
sassinates a man, He is arrested, imprisoned, and
condemned to be hanged. The executioner places
the cord round his neck ; it breaks. He puts on
one more strong ; it breaks in the same manner.-*-*
The Indian then declares that this miracle was
Worked by virtue of our lady of Copa Cobana. He
desires them to take off his scapulary, and they find
in it the < half-real, which was now groWn as big as a
dollar^ and the figure of the virgin mournful and in &
sweat. *
The Indian requested that they would remove her
to the church of St. Paul, and that they would have
recourse to her for every thing they wished to obtain
from heaven. This was ^granted, and the Indian
hanged. The common council, or municipality of
Caraccas, ordained, that they should address to this
virgin those prayers for rain, which drought might
render necessary. ' In fact? whenever the rains do

78
not come at the desired time, they go in procession to
seek our lady of Copa Cobana, at St. Paul's, and car
ry her to the cathedral, where she remains two days,
in high festival. They carry her back with the same
solemnity to St. Paul's. The archbishop, the chap
ter, all the vicars, priests, monks of all the convents,
the captain-general, royal audience, and common
council, assist at these processions. Without at
tacking the foundation of this miracle, I ought to
say, that the tradition is not in all points exact ; for
this virgin, which ought to be found on a dollar,
is represented by a little wooden figure, seven or
eight inches long, covered with gold and jewels, andj
carried in a shrine. Hoav can that which was silver,
be of wood? and a medal become a statue? There
is some reason for all this, which a number of old
women must know, though I have been unable to ex
plain. Our Lady of Soledad.
The second origin who finds herself in Caraccas
by a miracle, is our Lady of Soledad. A rich female
of Caraccas, possessing estates on the coast, between^
Porto-Cavello and Laguira, requested from Spain, a
model of our Lady of Soledad, who is worshipped at
Madrid in a chapel dedicated to her. One day walk
ing on the shore of the sea, she saw on the beach a
chest on which she beheld her address. Astonished
at this adventure, she caused the chest to be carried
to her residence. They opened it, and a superb sta
tue of our Lady of Soledad struck the eyes of all the

79
assistants. They prostrated themselves, cried out a
miracle, and no longer addressed either vows or
prayers, to any but this virgin. A few days after, the
vessel, in which the virgin requested from Spain
ought to have come, arrived at the port of La guira.
The captain waited on the lady, put into her hand
the letter of advice, then melting into tears, declared
that having encountered on his*passage a dreadful
storm, they were obliged, in order to ease the vessel,
to cast into the sea whatever came first to hand, and
that, unfortunately, the chest in which the virgin of
Soledad was, had made a part of the jettison. They
compared dates, and verified that the Virgin of Sole
dad was found on the beach on the very day of the
storm. They cried aneAv, a miracle ! The news
spread in all parts, and the credit of our Lady of So
ledad was everlastingly established. The lady of Ca
raccas at her death, bequeathed her to the convent
of Franciscans, where she is prayed to and invoked
in all those difficulties, from whence it is thought
they cannot be extricated but by her intercession.
Theatre.
The only public amusement at Caraccas is the
theatre, which they enjoy only on festivals. The price
of admission, being only a real, about 60 centimes,
sufficiently indicates the excellence of the actors, as
well as the beauty and convenience of the place. All
the pieces, in themselves most wretched, are, more
over, miserably performed. The declamation of this
theatre, by no means deserving the ear of Thespis,,

60
is a species of monotonous stammering, very liketh*
tone in which an infant of ten years old recites a bad
ly studied 4esson. No grace, no action, no inflection
of voice, not a single naturah gesture ; in a word, no-
tliing of that which constitutes the actor of a common
theatre. The performers of Caraccas may be com
pared to those merry-andrews who run from fair to
fair, living rather on the produdfc of compassion, than
by the pleasure they afford., i *. r ^
There will be no one, who,* after this picture,
would not believe, that such an .exhibition mus,t be
deserted, or at least frequented by that part of the
people which has neither taste nor education. It is
my duty to destroy this error, and to announce that
rich and poor, old and young, nobles and plebeians/
the governing and governed, all most assiduously at
tend this theatre. The only problem which I have
been unable to solve, in all my observations at Carac
cas, is the indifference of the. inhabitants of this city,
who in other respects are possessed of taste and very
considerable information, on so essential a point of
public amusement.
The blame of an equal negligence falls immediate
ly on the local authorities, to whose superintendance
and attention is entrusted the care of public orna
ments, and the recreation^of the people. The city of
Caraccas is sufficiently important, as well from its
population as its commerce, to have a theatre that
might adorn the city, and the actors of which should
not be mere automata. >;, .
The theatre deserves so much the more to fix the
attentioji of the magistrate as it makes a very impor-

81
tant article of public instruction. It only narrows the
ideas, enslaves the mind, debases the soul, continues
Or creates pusillanimity, Avhen the performance is in
a garret by men Avithout talents, the tongues of whom
seem rather to obey the laws of mechanism than the
impulse of sentiment.
The stage is dangerous, when the pieces repre
sented are obscene and immoral ; when the intrigue
is gross ; virtue turned into derision ; parental au
thority ridiculed ; the laws scoffed at, and baseness
rendered triumphant. It is then that it is only the
school of vice and corruption.
The stage, to be really useful, ought to admit of
no other pieces than those in Avhich cunning, disho
nesty, seduction, have but an ephemeral success ;
in Avhich stupid pride, foolish vanity, hateful false
hood, always terminate by yielding the honours of
approbation to modesty and candour; where true
courage, loyalty, and benevolence are placed in the
rank of the first of virtues ; where filial respect and
parental tenderness captivate public admiration;
where labour and industry are reverenced, Avhere
calumny inspires horror, and slander contempt, &c.
But, however discreetly theatrical pieces may be
combined, the fruit which ought to be reaped from
them, depends as much on the manner in Avhich
they are represented, as the nature of the composition.
The best piece coldly delivered, and without any
observation of the rules prescribed by art, makes no
more impression on the spectators, than vespers, or
the psalm singing of lukewarm christians.
Vol. III. t.

82
It is necessary that the actor should be affected
with his part to play it with success. His soul ought
to be filled with the sentiments of the piece, in order
to communicate them to the beholder ; for it is impos
sible to make others feel, what we do not feel our
selves. Without ease and correctness of gesture, with
out just inflections of voice, without clearness of pro
nunciation, it is more agreeable and more useful to
read a piece than see it represented.
A theatre established on the principles I have de
scribed, is a real school for manners, where the heart
is formed by acquiring a love of virtue and horror at
vice ; a court for the national language, where every
one learns to fix his ideas on the true acceptation of
words ; a model for oratory, where all those who are
destined to the bar or the church may acquire the
talent of moving the passions, and opening the way
to the heart, by the irresistible power of eloquence.
With these relations, a good theatre is one of the
most useful institutions a city can adopt. It is, for
youth, an object of amusement and instruction ; for
old age, of recreation, and, according as the magis
tracy gave it a prudent direction, it might contri
bute to reconcile to law, the respect, and to pub
lic authority, the obedience, which are their due.
Inhabitants of Caraccas ! should these cursory re
flections ever reach you, receive them as a tribute of
gratitude for the air you permitted me to breathe
among you.

83
Tennis Court.
Since I am describing the public amusements of
Caraccas, I ought to speak of the three tennis courts,
in which they play with the hand and the racket. One
is situated at the southern extremity of the city, near
the river Guira ; the second, at the eastern part, not
far from the Catucho ; the third, also to the east, a
quarter of a league from the town.
The Biscayans have introduced this game, and
have abandoned it to the people of the country, who
observe most exactly its rules; and who, without
displaying an address so admirable as that of the Bis
cayans themselves, play it nevertheless well enough
to divert the amateurs, who assist at their parties.
Very few whites amuse themselves with tennis, and
it is in general played with a racket.
A few billiard tables, in bad condition, and which
scarce any person frequents, constitute, in some de
gree, the complement of amusements of Caraccas.
We should deceive ourselves however, if we
should infer from this penury of amusements, that the
Spaniards are not gamesters ; the passion of gam
bling reigns among them more than with us. They
are even rash in their play. Neither loss nor gain ob
tain from them any emotion of impatience or of plea
sure. The sensations of good or bad fortune, are con
centrated in their souls. To speak properly, it is on
ly at play that they appear to set no value on money.
Those who game deep have had, until 1800, the po
lice for their enemy. They ivere obliged to elude its
vigilance, by frequently changing the place of their

84
meeting, and admitting into the secret, those alone
who were of the party. But for these three or four
years, it has been only the poor who have been watch
ed, imprisoned, and condemned in penalties by the
police on account of gaming. Those above the com
mon rank have a tacit permission to reciprocally ruin
themselves at play, without the magistrates taking
offence at it.
If there were at Caraccas, public Avalks, lyceums,
cabinets of literature, coffee-houses, this, no doubt,
would be the time to make them known. But, to
the shame of this great city, I am obliged to announce,
that there is not known in it any of these objects, cha
racteristic of the progress of civilization. Every Spa
niard lives in his house, as in a prison. He never stirs
out, but to go to church, or discharge the duties of
his station. He does not seek ever to soften the ri
gours of his retreat by games of pastime ; for he
loves only that play which ruins, not the play
which amuses. Inhabitants.
The city of Caraccas contains, according to the
parish certificates of 1802, thirty-one thousand, tAVO
hundred and thirty-four souls ; but according to the
remark made on these returns, in Chap. III. there
are from forty-one to forty-two thousand persons. —
This population is divided between whites, slaves,
freed-persons, and a very few Indians. The first form
nearly the fourth of the whole ; the slaves, a third ;
the Indians, a twentieth, ard the freed-persons, the
rest.

85
Among the whites, there are six Of the Castilian
nobility : three marquises, and three counts. They
all pretend to be noble ; nearly one third is recogni
zed as such, without any inquiry. To speak cor
rectly, no Avhite Spaniard is a commoner, but AA'hen
he is poor.
All the whites are either planters, merchants, mili
tary men, priests, monks, or employed in the ad
ministration of justice or finance. A white Spa
niard, especially a Creole, how poor soever he may
be, would think himself disgraced, to owe his sub
sistence to the sweat of his brow, or the hardness of
his hands. He suffers hunger, thirst, the intempe
rance of weather, with a stoicism so admirable, as to
give him not a single thought for any thing, but fa
tigue. Nothing, according to him, degrades a man
so much as labour. He believes that it is impossi
ble to preserve one's dignity, and do honour to one's
ancestors, except with a pen in the hand, a sword by
the side, or a breviary under the eyes. Chap. III.
contains every information that can be desired re
specting the Creoles, and it is sufficient to refer the
reader to it. White Europeans.
The Europeans who are in this city, the seat of
all the authorities, constitute at least two very differ
ent classes.
The first comprehends those who come from Spain
with offices. The abuse they in general commit
with these fruits of their long solicitations, contri-

86
butes not a little to the murmurs of the Creoles, who
regard as an injustice, every employment bestowed
on any others than themselves. The luxury of these
officers vying Avith that of the Creoles, who want
poAvers to maintain the contest, presents, frequently
enough, the picture in the fable, of the ox and the
frog. If the attack was confined to acquired know
ledge, the field of battle would no doubt remain with
the Creoles ; for, in general, those sent from Eu
rope find in America, people better instructed than
themselves. The Creoles, as I have already said,
have excellent natural abilities. They are fond of
the sciences, and are capable of great application. —
We see among them profound theologians, and
eminent counsel. If we do not also see persons
well skilled in political economy, it is, because what
ever is not in the canon or civil law, is banished
from their schools.
The second class of Europeans who go to Carac
cas, is composed of those whom industry, or the de
sire of making a fortune draws thither. The prov
ince of Catalonia, and that of Biscay are those which
furnish the most. They have each an almost equal
degree of industry ; But the Biscayan, without fa
tiguing himself so much, knoivs better how to direct
his. He is more enterprising in trade, more assidu
ous in agriculture than the Catalonian, who surpas
ses him, perhaps, in labour, but has not such enlarg
ed views, or ideas so expanded. The first is never
terrified by the magnitude or the danger of a specu
lation. He calculates much on chance, and the re
putation of success. The second acts with greater

87
caution. He undertakes only what is easy, and what
he judges proportioned to his strength and his means.
Cultivation never, or very rarely enters into his pro
jects of fortune. His spirit is purely mercantile. —
They both distinguish themselves among the other
citizens, by the good faith of their transactions, and
the punctuality of their payments.
The Spaniards from the Canary Islands, whom
want, rather than ambition, forces to leave their na
tive soil, to establish themselves at Caraccas, carry
there the same industry as the Catalonians and the
Biscayans. Their genius assimilates them more to
the latter than the first. In consequence, the one and
the others are useful citizens, as are all those, who
seek to gain their livelihood by honest ways, and
make it their pride to prove, by example,' that man
is born for labour.
Women.
The city of Caraccas is adorned with a sex, charm
ing, mild, tender and seductive. We there see few
blondes; but, with hair of the blackness of jet, the
women have the white of alabaster. Their eyes,
large and finely shaped, speak, in an expressive man
ner, that language which is of all countries, without
being of all ages. The carnation of their lips is de
lightfully softened by the whiteness of their skins,
and concurs to form that ensemble, Avhich we denom
inate beauty. It is a pity that their stature does not
correspond with their shape. We see few above the
middle size, many below. It Avould be losing time

V

88
to search for pretty feet. As they pass a great pof-
tion of their lives at their windows, one would say,
that nature had wished to embellish only that part of
their bodies, which they expose to view. Their at
tire is rather elegant. They feel a kind of vanity on
being taken for French ; but, whatever resemblance
there may be in the dress, there is too little in the
gait, the step, and grace> to permit the illusion to
subsist. The city of Caraccas has done very little for the
education of the men, nothing for that of the avo-
men. No school is appropriated to the girls. They
learn, therefore, only what their parents teach
them ; which is limited to a number of prayers,
to reading badly, and spelling Avorse. None but a
young man, inspired by love, can decypher their
scrawls. They have neither dancing, drawing, nor
even music masters. All that they learn, is reduced
to playing by rote, a few tunes on the guittar and
forte-piano. There are very feAv who have the first
ideas of music. In spite of this defect of education,
the women of Caraccas know pretty well hoAV to
unite social manners with decent behaviour, and the
art of coquetry with the modesty of their sex.
This picture suits only those ladies whose hus
bands or relations enjoy a decent fortune, or exer
cise lucrative employments ; for that portion of the
fair sex, Avhom fate condemns to procure their liveli
hood, knoAv scarcely any other means of support,
than that of provoking the passions, to gain some
thing by satisfying them. More than two hundred
unfortunates pass the day, covered with rags, in the

89
recesses of ruins, which they take care to keep shut,
and, never go out, but at night, to draw from vice
the gross subsistence of the morrow. Their dress is
a Avhite petticoat and veil, with a paste-board hat,
covered with silk, to Avhich is attached a tuft of tin
sel and artificial floAvers. The same dress often
serves alternately, and on the same night, two or
three of these immoral beings, whom idleness retains
in this vicious life. This mode is in general accom
panied, or at least always followed, by that of beg
ging for charity. The last becomes the only one, so
soon as old age and infirmity no longer permit them
to depend on the produce of licentiousness.
Domestic Slaves.
The class of domestic slaves in Caraccas is con
siderable. A man thinks himself rich, only in pro
portion to the number of slaves in his house. It is
necessary that he should have about him four times
as many servants as their work requires ; without
which, a littleness is manifested that announces a pov
erty, all hide as well as they can. A white woman, of
moderate fortune, goes to mass on church days with
two female negroes or mulattoes in her suite, though
she does not possess in other property an equivalent
capital. Those who are notoriously rich, are fol
lowed by four or five servant women, and there re
main as many more for each white of the same
house, who goes to another church. There are fa
milies in Caraccas, with twelve and fifteen female
servants, exclusive of the footmen in the service
Vol. III. m

90
of the men. The most effectual mode of lessening
the injury which this species of luxury does to the
labourers of the country, would be to impose, on
each superfluous domestic, a tax heavy enough to
reduccthe number. If vanity should prefer to pay
rather than to give up, the product, employed in
some pilblic establishment, would compensate socie
ty, for the loss of their labour.
Freed-persons.
It is probable that there is not in the whole West-
Indies, a city where there are so many freed-persons
or descendants from them, in proportion to the other
classes, as in Caraccas.
They there exercise all those handicrafts the
whites despise. Every one who"is a carpenter, joiner,
cabinet-maker, mason, blacksmith, locksmith, tailor,
shoemaker, goldsmith, &c. is or was a freed- man.
They excel in none of these trades, because, learn
ing them mechanically, they constantly offend a-
gainst their principles. Besides, indolence, which is
in their nature, extinguishes in them that emulation,
to which the arts owe all their progress. Yet the
carpenter's and mason's work is tolerably regular ;
but cabinet-making is still in its infancy. All these
artisans, depressed by an indifference, that seems
more peculiar to their race, but generally to the soil
they inhabit, and the nation to which they are asso
ciated, work but very little, and, what appears in
some degree contradictory, is, that they work much
cheaper than European artificers. They exist but by

91
means of the greatest sobriety, and in the midst of
all sorts of privations. In general, overloaded with
children, they live heaped together in miserable
shells, where they have for their whole bed nothing
but an ox-hide, and for sustenance, only the provi
sions of the country. The exceptions are very rare.
In this state of poverty, no kind of work can be re
quired, but they instantly demand an advance. The
smith never has either iron or coal. The carpenter
never has wood, even for a table. They must have
money to buy some. AH have always the wants of a
family, which he who orders their work must satisfy.
Thus you begin by tying yourself to the workman
you employ, and making yourself dependent upon
him. It is no longer possible to threaten his sloth with
applying to another, with whom, besides, the very
same inconvenierice would take place. The only re
source then, is that of pressing and superintending
the work, and, in spite of all these attentions, there
are always indispositions, journeys, festivals, which
exhaust the patience of the most phlegmatic. One is
then, very badly, or most assuredly, very slowly
served. It is easy to perceive that this torpor in the trades
people arises only from their aversion to labour. In
truth, the major part never recollect that they have a
trade, till they are pressed by hunger. The reigning
passion of this class of men is to pass their lives in
religious exercises. They form exclusively corps of
the various fraternities. There are few churches
which have not one or more, all composed of free-
people of colour. Each has its uniform, which dif-

92
fers from the others only in colour. It is a kind of
robe closed like the habit of a monk, the colour of
which varies, according to the brotherhood it belongs
to. Some are of blue, red, black, &c. The frater
nities assist at processions and burials. The mem
bers march in order, preceded by their banner. They
gain by this nothing but the pleasure of being seen in
a habit they believe commanding ; they have one
however, on which they lavish peculiar care ; it is
that of Alta Gracia. Every free man of colour, makes
a sort of ostentatious display of this dress, and of the
neatness and riches of this church. All the bearers
of rosaries, who traverse the streets from night-fall
till after nine o'clock, are composed solely of freed
persons. There is no example of an)r of these perr
sons having thought of cultivating the earth.
University.
The education of all the youth of Caraccas, and
of all the archbishopric is entirely settled in a college
and university, united. The establishment of the col
lege preceded by more than 60 years that of the uni
versity. They owe it to the piety and to the atten
tion of the bishop, Anthony Gonzales d'Acunna, who
died in 1682. At present, they teach in it nothing
but latin, and lecture only on philosophy and theo
logy- The increase of the city of Caraccas, gave rise to
the idea of affording to the means of instruction a
greater latitude, and different directions. They de
manded the foundation of a university, which the

93
pope accorded," on the 19th of August, 1722, and
Philip II. confirmed. The installation was perform
ed on the 11th of August, 1725. They digested the
statutes which were approved by the king, the 4th of
May, 1727.
Since that era, and under these titles, the city of
Caraccas possesses its university, to which, as I have
just remarked, is united the college.
This double establishment has a school for reading
and writing.
Three latin schools, in each of Avhich they lecture
on rhetoric.
Two professors of philosophy, one of whom is a
secular priest, or layman, the other a dominican.
Four professors of theology : tAvo for the scholastic,
one for the moral, and another for the positive or ex
planatory. This last must always be a dominican.
One professor of the civil law.
One professor of the canon law.
One professor of physic.
The university and the college of Caraccas have a
capital of 47,748 hard dollars, 6 1-2 reals, placed at
interest, producing annually, 2387 hard dollars, 3 1-2
reals. It is with this sum that they pay the tAvelve
professors. They solicited of the king, in 1804, an
addition, which probably will be granted.
All the degrees of batchelor, licentiate, and doctor,
are received at the universty. The first is conferred
by the rector ; the two others by the chancellor, who
is at the same time a canon, Avith the title of master
of the school.

94
The oath of every degree is to maintain die imma
culate conception, to neither teach nor practise regi
cide or tyrannicide, and to defend the doctrine of St.
Thomas. They reckoned in the university-college of Carac
cas in 1804, sixty -four boarders, and two hundred
oppidansj divided as follows :
In the loAver classes, comprehending rhetoric 202
In philosophy - - - - 140
In theology - 36
In the canon and civil law - - -55
In physic - - - - \V
At the school for singing by note - - 22
Total - - - - - 466
It is this nursery that furnishes the church with
ministers, the bench with magistrates, and the pub
lic with protectors. Police.
The Spaniards are, of all people known, those who
do the least to establish a police for public tranquillity.
The sobriety which is natural to them, and still
more their phlegmatic character, render quarrels and
tumults very rare. Hence there is never any noise
in the streets of Caraccas. Every body there is si
lent, dull, grave. Three or four thousand persons
go out of church without making any more noise
than a tortoise walking on sand. So many French,
restrained, by the silence divine offices enjoin, would
endeavour, whilst quitting the church, to obtain
some compensation. Then, women and children
would make by their chattering a noise, that would be

95
heard a long way. Four times as many Spaniards do
not make the buzzing of a wasp.
But if the magistrate has nothing to fear from bois
terous offences, he would fall very short, if his vigi
lance was to be on that account less active. Assassi
nations, thefts, frauds, treacheries, demand of him,
steps, investigations, measures capable of putting to
the proof the most ardent zeal, and baffling the most
penetrating sagacity.
The Spaniard is not more exempt, perhaps he is
less than any other, of that vindictive spirit, so much
the more dangerous, as it seeks to strike only in the
dark, and of that rancour which covers itself with the
veil of friendship, the better to create an opportuni
ty to gratify itself. He, who from his rank in socie
ty, can revenge himself only by his own hands, mani
fests very little or no anger, when he receives an of
fence ; but from that moment he watches an oppor
tunity, which he scarcely ever lets escape, of plung
ing a dagger in the heart of his new enemy, safe in
flying for refuge to some privileged church, in or
der that the ecclesiastical tribunal might undertake to
present, as an unfortunate accident, the most preme
ditated murder, and as a pardonable action, an act
the most deserving of death.
They, in peculiar, reproach the Spaniards of An
dalusia, with this criminal disposition. I have been
assured at Caraccas, that these wicked transactions
have taken place only since 1778, the epoch in which
the liberty of trading with the provinces of Venezue
la, exclusively granted to the company of Guipus-
coa, was extended to almost all the ports of Spain,

96
and drew to Caraccas a number of Spaniards from all
the provinces, particularly of Andalusia.
It is a fact, that almost all the assassinations which
take place in Caraccas, are committed by Europe
ans. Those with which the Creoles may be accused,
are as rare as the thefts that may be imputed to the
first. The whites, or pretended whites of the coun
try, whom idleness, and all the vices it engenders,
keep in sottishness and the most abject condition, and
the freed-men, who find it too irksome to live by
their labour, are the only persons that can be re
proached with all the thefts committed in Caraccas.
False measures, false weights, adulteration of com
modities and provisions, are also common offences,
because these are regarded less as acts of roguery,
than as proofs of an address of which they are vain.
This is what ought, no doubt, to occupy the most
vigilant police. Many other objects ought equally
to partake of its care, such as the supplying the city
with necessaries, a duty, that so far from constituting
the eulogium of the magistrates charged with it, ac
cuses, on the contray, their negligence. Would one
believe, that the city of Caraccas, the capital of pro
vinces, that might furnish horned cattle to all the for
eign possessions of America, wants herself, many days
in the year butcher's meat ? That the residence of a
captain-general, the seat of an archbishop, of a roy
al audience, of the principal courts of appeal, a popu
lation of more than forty thousand souls, in fine, a
garrison of two thousand men should experience
scarcity in the midst of abundance ?

97
If filth does not accumulate in the streets, the fre*
quency of rain is to be thanked, not the care of the
police ; for they are never cleaned, except in honour
of some procession. Those through which none passes
are covered with a grass known by the name of
dog grass, the panicum dactyhim of LmttEetis.
Mendicity is, in all the countries of the world,
Within the cognizance of the police, yet it seems
absolutely estranged from that of Caraccas. The
streets are full of poor of both sexes, who have for
their Avhole subsistence but the produce of alms, and
who prefer this mode to that of labour. Religion,
very badly interpreted on this subject, forbids, among
the Spaniards, all inquiry into the ability which age
and health gives the mendicant to procure a liveli
hood, in some other manner than that of holding out
the hand. They believe, or at least they act as if
they believed, that the recommendation of the Evan
gelist to bestoW charity, is an invitation to demand it.
As soon as this opinion is entertained, it is under
the protection, instead of being under the guard of
the police. At every hour of the day, the houses are
assailed by beggars. The impotent and the robust,
the old and the young, the blind and those with their
eyes, have all an equal-right to charity. It is refused
or given according to the ability to bestow, not ac
cording to the degree of necessity of him who asks.
The stranger has at first a great deal of trouble to
reconcile this blind spirit of charity among the Spa
niards, with the disgusting picture which offers itself
at night, of the poorlying down in the streets, along the
Vol. III. w

98
Walls of the churches, the palace of the archbishop,
&c. without any security from the dew, so very dan
gerous in the torrid zone, nor from any other inclem
ency of the weather. But, when this is well exam
ined, we perceive that this disorder, arises on the
contrary, from an excess of piety. Those who are
taken for unfortunates, are only beggars whom ine
briating liquors prevent from choosing a better
asylum, and who avoid the beds of the hospitals,
because the gates closed at an early hour, deprive
them of those precious moments, in which they con
sume in taffia, .the receipts of the day. The police
knows of these abuses, without being able, under
pain of impiety, to repress them. The livery of pro
vidence, that covers the mendicant, exempts him
from all rule, frees him from every censure, and ren
ders him inviolable.
To judge properly of the number of beggars who
wander in the streets, it is necessary only to know,
that the archbishop makes a general charitable do
nation every Saturday, of a half shilling, or the six
teenth part of a hard dollar, and that he dispenses at
each of these pious works, the sum of seventy-five
or seventy-six hard dollars ; which makes at least
two hundred beggars. And iirthis list are not includ
ed the bashful indigents, who surpass this number,
and among whom the worthy prelate, Don Francis
d'Ibarra, a Creole of Caraccas, secretly distributes
his revenues.
Would not a police well administered, judiciously
select those, who beg because they cannot gain a
livelihood, and would it not provide for their subsist-

99
ence in houses appropriated to that purpose ? Would
it not assign to the others a labour proportioned to
their strength, which might procure them mainte
nance and something to spare? Do they believe
that obliging men to ivork, is a deed less agreeable to
the Deity, than that of protecting them in the bosom
of idleness, where they lead a life full of vices which,
at times, offend against good manners, religion, and
public order ? All these abuses Avould disappear, no
doubt, by the execution of municipal laws. May
God grant, that the prejudices of custom may give
place to reason, and that, Caraccas may at last enjoy
the benefits of a wise administration, on which de
pend the safety, peace and happiness of the citizens !
The police of Caraccas is in a number of hands,
perhaps in too many ; for public superintendance re
quires a central point, where should terminate all
complaints, all informations which communicate to
the enlightened magistrate the conduct of every in
dividual subject to his inspection. By this means,
he is rarely deceived by unfaithful relations, by lying
reports. Besides having the cleAv to the intrigues of
all suspected persons, he incessantly directs his care
and vigilance towards whatever threatens the public
tranquillity. In this point of view, the justice of
which is proved by our large cities, the common
counsel, composed of twenty members, aided by the
magistrates of the wards, who are commissaries of
the police, spread through the city, would be more
than sufficient to manage the springs of the police.-^—
But, the presence of the authorities, who wish to par
ticipate in the prerogatives of command, has caused

100
a division of all matters of police between the
government, the lieutenant of the governor, and a
member of the audience, who, under the title of
judge of the province, exercises, during three months^
the duties of the police, in affairs that demand no re
moval. It follows from thence, that the common
council is stripped of its natural jurisdiction, except
in those cases requiring pains and trouble, which the
other authorities consider as beneath them.
Communications with the Interior.
Caraccas, the centre of all the political, judicial, fis
cal, military, commercial and religious affairs of its
dependencies, is naturally also that of all the interior
communications. The vast extent of the country,
and the smallness of its population, make the location
of roads a measure of government, and the fact does
not, in the least, contradict the circumstance. They
are almost every where traced out, and nothing
more. The sloughs and inundations of the rivers,
over which there are neither bridges nor ferry-boats,
render the roads impassable in the rainy seasons ; and
in no time of the year are they convenient. They
count the distance by days and not by leagues ; but
from my own experience, I calculate that every
day's journey is ten leagues, each of two thousand
geometrical paces.
The orders, which the government sends to many
of the interior towns, arrive by express, in the same
manner as all the accounts they render, or the com
plaints they prefer to it. There leave regularly and

Ifll
periodically, posts from the capital only for Maracai
bo, Porto Cavello, Santa Fe, Cumana, and Guiana.
All the towns lying on the road to these five princi
pal places, enjoy the advantages of the mail.
The post for Maracaibo leaves Caraccas every
Thursday, at six o'clock in the evening. It carries
the letters for Victoria!, Tulmero, Maracay, Valen
cia, St. Philip, Porto Cavello and Coro. It takes
twenty days to go from Caraccas to Maracaibo. It
comes from Maracaibo to Caraccas only every fort
night, but from Porto Cavello it arrives at Caraccas
every Tuesday.
The sixth and the twenty-second of every month,
a mail sets off from Caraccas for Santa Fe. It car
ries the correspondence of San Carlos, Guanara,
Araura, Tocuyo, Barquesimeto, Varinas, Merida,
Carthagena, St. Martha and Peru. It arrives, or
ought to arrive, at Caraccas, the fourth and the twen
tieth of every month. Its ordinary passage from Ca
raccas to Santa Fe is forty-tivo days.
The post from Cumana and Guiana, arrives at Ca
raccas once a month. It is earlier or later according
to the state of, the roads and the rivers. The letters
of Guiana go directly from Barcelona by one carrier,
and those of Cumana and Margaretta, by another. —
The last arrive at their destination in twelve days,
those of Guiana at theirs in thirty.
With Spain.
The official correspondence from Spain, arrives at
Caraccas every month. A king's packet-boat sails,

102
within the three first days of every month, from Co-
runna, touches at the Canaries, to leave the letters for
the islands, then calls at the Havanna, and deposits,
as it passes Porto- Rico, the mails destined as well
for that island, as those for the government of Ca
raccas. These last are instantly sent by one of the lit
tle vessels devoted to this kind of service.
In time of war, the packet from Spain, instead of
touching at Porto-Rico, deposits at Cumana the let
ters for Caraccas and its dependencies, carries to
Carthagena those for the kingdom of Santa Fe, and
always ends at the Havanna, from whence the depar
ture for Spain is generally periodical. The answers
from Caraccas, even those which are official, are
sent to Spain by the merchant vessels dispatched
from Laguira to Cadiz. Merchants.
The chapter on commerce, containing all the de
tails Avhich the reader can reasonably desire, respect
ing that carried on in Caraccas, his conscience and
mine require only that I should refer him to it ; but,
he has a right to demand of me the names of the
wholesale merchants who trade largely, as well on
their own account, as on commission ; and, it is to
discharge this debt, that I here place the list.
Abazolo. (Don Bruno-Ignacio)
Aguerrebera. (Don Pedro- Ignacio)
Alzualde. (Don Geronimo)
Arambura. (Don Franaisco)
Argos. (Don Jose-Joaquin de)

1-03
Arrizurieta. (Don Antonio)
Baraciarte. (Don Martin)
Barrera. (Don Miquel- Antonio)
Bolet. (Don Jayme)
Borges. (Don Thomas)
Carvallo. (Don Antonio)
Cortegoso. (Don Jose- Antonio)
Dias Flores. (Don Antonio)
Echenique. (Don Juan-Jose)
Eduardo. Don Juan)
Eduardo. (Don Pedro)
Emazabel. (Don Joaquin)
Etchezuria. (Don Manuel)
Etchezuria. (Don Pablo)
Etchezuria. (Don Pedro)
Fornes. (Don Juan)
Garay. (Don Jose)
Garcia Jove. (Don Doaquin)
Garcia. (Don Jose Manuel)
Godavy Codina. (Don Jose)
Gonzales. (Don Salvador)
Galguera. (Don Juan- Vicente)
Herrera. (Don Juan-Pascual)
Itturalde. (Don Juan-Francisco)
Itturalde. (Don Juan-Bantista)
Key Munos. (Don Fernando)
Landesta. (Don Jose)
Larrain. (Don Juan-Bernardo)
Linares. (Don Vicente)
Lizarraga. (Don Manuel-de)
Llamosas. (Don Jose-de-Las)
Lopes Mendez. (Don Isidora- Antonio)

104
Marti. (Don Mariano)
Martines-de- Abia. (Don Felix)
Mayora. (Don Simon)
Olivert. (Don Juan)
Orea. (Don Telesforo)
Quintero. (Don Isidoro)
Ramirez. (Don Prosper©)
Romero. (Don Antonio-Jose)
Savinon. (Don Nicolas)
Segura. (Don Joaquin)
Ugarte. (Don Juan Ignacio)
Ugarte. (Don Simon)
Villa-Santa. (Don Felipe)
Zubieta. (Don Juan-Antonio)
Zulueta. (Don Francisco)
Laguira.
If the port of Caravalleda had not been abandoned
by its inhabitants, on the motives already related in
Chap. II. Laguira Avould never have been any thing
more than the abode of a few fishermen, or shipping-
place of some plantation. The difficulty of acquir
ing a population for Caravalleda, induced the thought
of choosing another place to serve as a port for Ca
raccas, and the preference was given to the spot
which Laguira occupies at this day. Navigation has
not gained by this exchange ; for the sea there is far
more heavy and inconvenient than in any other port.
(See what I have already said on this head, page 159,
of the first volume.)
The city, or, according to the Spaniards who re
fuse the name of town to all those places where there

105
is no common council, the town of Laguira is so set
in among very lofty mountains, that the stones which
fall from their tops, frequently occasion it serious
damage. It has no visual horizon, except what the
sea forms on the north. This easily explains the
cause of those great heats which are experienced
there during nine months of the year. The thermome
ter of Reaumur commonly rises from twenty-five to
twenty-eight degrees. A year never elapses with
out the months of July, August and September being-
marked by putrid and malignant fevers, followed by
death, who, in preference, reaps his harvest from the
newly arrived Europeans.
The order and division of the town of Laguira par
take of the inequalities and wretchedness of the place
where it is situated. The streets are narrow, badly
paved, not on a line, and the houses meanly built.
There is nothing regular or curious, but the batte
ries which defend it. The government has sought to
make it only a military post, and its commerce only
a shipping-place for the capital. Very few mer
chants reside there. All the business is done at Ca-
saccas. Every merchant goes to Laguira to receive
the cargo addressed to him from Europe, or that
which he buys. In either one case or the other, all
the articles received on commission, or bought, are
sent to Caraccas to be sold. There remains at La
guira only what the port consumes. All commodi
ties are purchased as well as sold at Caraccas, and
are sent to Laguira only to be embarked.
Vol. III. ' 9

106
The road betAveen these two towns is steep and
cut strait doAvn from one to the other, but good in
dry Aveather. It becomes laborious in rain. —
They reckon from Laguira to Caraccas five short
leagues, which mules loaded perform in five hours ;
under the saddle they do it, without going out of
their step, in three hours and a half. In going from
Laguira, one ascends, according to them easure taken
by Mr. Humboldt, about six hundred and forty toises,
and from thence the distance is two hundred and thir
ty-four to arrive at Caraccas. It is but seldom that
the traveller crosses the whole mountain in one stage.
At the elevation of five hundred and sixty-six toises,
he finds an inn, which the Spaniards call Venta,
where he rests the beast he is mounted on, whilst he
rests himself.
The Avater drank at Laguira, comes from a little
river, or rather rivulet, the source of which is on
the mountain, at the distance of two leagues from the
sea. This water, not very agreeable to the taste, be
cause it is always warm, contracts in passing over
beds of sarsaparilla, an anti-venereal virtue, that is
not altogether lost.
The town of Laguira is governed by a command
ant of the place, who is at the same time lieutenant
of justice, that is to say, he is invested with the right
of judging, in the first instance, on all civil affairs,
under an appeal to the royal audience. His princi
pal duty is to give an account every day to the cap
tain-general, of the transactions in the road. He can
not give leave to any stranger to go to Caraccas with
out first having the permission of the captain-gene-

107
ral, which is accorded easily enough, provided the
motives alleged by the new comer appear reasonable.
The ordinary garrison of the place is a company
detached from the regiment of Caraccas. In time of
war it is reinforced by other troops of the line, and
the militia of Caraccas.
The population of Laguira is six thousand per
sons, of whom three thousand are in the gun boats,
seven hundred and eleven form the garrison, or are
in the guarda costas or gallies. Their almoner dis
charges, Avith respect to them, all clerical functions.
The town has only one parochial church served by
a rector. ,
Porto Cavello.
The port of Borburata, situated a league to the
west of Porto Cavello, was a long time in the exclu
sive possession of the maritime intercourse with the
part of the province of Venezuela, which is at this
day maintained with Porto Cavello ; not that the first
part has any pretensions to rival this ; for it is
neither commodious for shipping, nor convenient for
the province.
Chance having led, at the commencement of the
conquest, some vessels to Borburata, the first con
querors made a port of it, and the governor Ville-
gas, in 1549, sent there, as a germ for the population
of the city, twenty-four men, of whom four were
nominated aldermen, and two magistrates, as the
constituent parts of the common council.
Foreign vessels, which the contraband trade at
tached to these latitudes, interested in making their

108
discharges on this coast clandestinely, and in avoid
ing the frequented ports, chose for their operations,
the spot where at this day is Porto- Cavello. Some
fishermen soon constructed there a few huts, to which
the Dutch smugglers added some others. This port
thus remained for a long time occupied by people of
this sort, who made it rather a dependency of Cura-
coa, than of the Spanish government.
So soon as they perceived the consequence, by no
means flattering to the public tranquillity or Spanish
sovereignty, this hamlet assumed, they endeavour
ed to substitute for it, a more legal village. Arms
were employed three or four times, but they expe
rienced such a resistance, that they renounced the at
tempt, and Porto- Cavello became, from this state of
independence, the resort of every thing the interior
towns contained, that was villainous, and could escape
the arm of justice. Such, nearly, was Porto-Cavel-
lo when the company of Guipuscoa opened its cor
respondence with these provinces.
One of the first cares of this company was, to profit
of the excellence of the road of Porto-Cavello, and to
establish there one of its principal factories. Its ma
ritime force furnished the means. Instantly that
mass of men, without decency and without law, be
gan to live under social regulations, and by the pro
gressive admixture of Europeans, permitted no more
than the vestiges of its original corruption to be dis
covered. Yet the space of nearly a century has not
been able to exempt Porto-Cavello from affording an
asylum to persons of both sexes from the interior of
the provinces, whom bad conduct or turbulence conr

109
pel to fly from their families or the police they dis
turb. Curacoa furnishes also its contingent in per
sons of colour, slaves or free.
The company constructed a superb pier, ninety-
two feet long and twelve wide, for the accommoda
tion of its vessels, and some forts for their defence.
An edifice larger than handsome, more solid than ele
gant, became its factory, and is so still in spite of the
extinction of its privileges. The system it adopted,
of not employing in its vessels, nor in its counting-
houses, any but persons from its own province, must
necessarily have led a great number of Biscayans in
to all the places where it made any establishments. —
It is not, therefore, surprising to find at Porto-Cavel
lo, the class of Europeans composed in a great mea
sure of Biscayans, who are as much remarked for
decency of manners and industry, as for the singulari
ty of their language.
The city, properly so called, is situated so near
the sea, that it occupies many spots very lately un
der water, and which have been raised by encroach
ments above the level of the ocean. It appears, from
the circumference of the city, that those who traced
it out, did not think it would soon increase so much,
as to require for the accommodation of its inhabitants,
double the space they had at first assigned to it.
The original town is surrounded by the sea, except
for about a hundred toises on the west, where they
have contrived a canal, that affords a communication
to the southern with the northern part of the sea, and
consequently makes the city an island, from whence
there is no going out, but over a bridge, at the end of

110
which is placed the main guard, and a gate that they
shut ever}* evening.
Those who feel themselves too much confined
within the inclosure of the town, would naturally
seek to fix themselves without ; and as the nature of
the ground left no power of choice, they placed them
selves on the only point of land which the water did
not cover, on the west of the city. The houses clan
destinely erected against ordinances, that prohibit
any species of building, within a certain distance of
fortified places, were subjected to none of the rules
of genius, because they were merely tolerated, and
regarded as being bound to disappear at the voice of
necessity, or the caprice of the commander of the
tOAvn. It proceeds from hence that the first street
formed, which they call the street of Heringa, is
neither on a line, nor of any regular width. The num
ber of houses built by the side of one another, was
not long in becoming sufficiently considerable to give
offence to the commandant of the place. He repre
sented to his superiors, that this kind of little bo
rough, Avhose importance would soon rival that of
Porto-Cavello, might injure, by its proximity the
defence of the city; and that its position Avas such,
that the fort at the entrance of the harbour, could not
use its guns without destroying the houses, the pro
prietors of which would not fail to demand payment
from the king, should the presence of an enemy
oblige the fort to induce involuntary but inevitable
damage. An order was issued to the inhabitants to
abandon the spot ; but, on an offer they made, of
running all risks in the event of an attack, without

Ill
even pretending to any indemnity for the destruction
Occasioned by a defence, they obtained permission to
retain their houses, and even to erect others ; so
that what was till then only tolerated, became a con
ditional right.
From that period, they have built with more con
fidence, more solidity, and more order. The neiv
streets have been laid out on a line; the public
squares, places for markets, &c. regulated, and this
quarter, considered as an extension of the city, is be
come the residence of merchants and tradesmen.
The whole population of Porto-Cavello, is about
seven thousand five hundred persons, of whom not
one, excepting the military and officers in the admi
nistration, boasts of his nobility.
The general occupation of the whites is, commerce
and navigation. Their principal and almost only
connexions are with the ports of the same continent,
and the neighbouring colonies; for although the
port has been open since 1798, to the trade with the
mother country, they, nevertheless make very little
use of this permission. Four or five ships carry eve
ry thing that arrives annually from Spain, and what
ever they send there ; whilst more than sixty vessels
of different sizes, are employed in the coasting trade.
Curacoa enters into this commerce for at least one
third, and Jamaica for another. If we are to judge
from the entries at the custom-house, those connex
ions are of very little importance, because the ladings
are of small value and the ostensible returns still less.
But specie is clandestinely embarked at Curacoa and
Jamaica, in dry goods that, before they shoAV them-

112
selves in the port, are landed on the coast, or disi
charged even in port, according to the information
they obtain, or the opportunity they can get.
Porto-Cavello is the deposit of all the eastern part
of the province of Venezuela. Its stores furnish to
the jurisdictions of Valencia, San Carlos, Barquiseme-
to, St. Philip, and one part of the Vales of Aragoa,
all the merchandise consumed within them. It is
also at Porto-Cavello, that a great portion of the arti
cles cultivated within those districts arrives. Twen
ty Europeans, more or less substantial, more or less
enterprising, carry on the commerce of Porto-Cavel
lo. Those of whom I have any peculiar knowledge
to induce me to mention their names, are,
Amat. (Don Christovale)
Burgos. (Don Bernardo)
Delgada. (Don Jose)
Herrera. (Don Jose)
Herrera. (Don Pedro)
Hillas. (Don Gaspar)
Itturundo. (Don Manuel)
Villa-Santas. (Don)
This same port, the best in all Terra-Firma, as
has been already said in Chap. II. presents to own
ers of privateers the easiest means of repairing their
old, and of building new vessels. This advantage
renders it the point to which all the vessels of the
neighbouring ports resort to be repaired. The port
of Laguira which receives so great a number of them,
has only Porto-Cavello for refitting, calking, building.
Porto-Cavello, to render it the first port in Ameri
ca, wants only a little more salubrity. It is not ex-

113
actly that the air there, is less pure than elsewhere,
or that the sea-breeze does not regularly moderate
the excessive heat of the latitude. The proof of this
is, that the crews of the vessels in the road, who do
not communicate with the shore, are never infected
with the malignant complaints, Avhich those in the
town cannot escape.
One would at first imagine, on beholding the coun
try, that a sort of marshes covered with mangeneels
and formed by the sea on the east side of the city,
exhale pestilential miasma, which occasion insalubri
ty. But this is not so : for it is observed, that the
houses already built, and which they continue to
build, on lots taken from these very marshes, are
more healthy than those at a greater distance.
It is not the same, even on the south part of the
city, where an argillaceous flat of considerable ex- ,
tent receives all the rain water, without any other
means of its escaping than by evaporation, and drain
ing, which can be scarcely any, through a soil of
clay. In this state of stagnation the water soon cor
rupts ; it becomes green and fetid, and the first rains,
after an interval of drought, occasion pestilential exha
lations to arise, capable of affecting the most robust
constitution, and corrupting the most healthy body.
Those who inhabit this quarter of the toAvn, are in a
peculiar degree the victims of this treacherous neigh
bourhood. This fatal cause acts still more directly
and destructively on Europeans not seasoned to the
climate. Vol. III.

114
In 1793, a Spanish fleet, commanded by lieutenant-
general Ariztizabal, anchored at Porto-Cavello, and
remained there from July to December. It lost the
third of its crews. It would have lost much more
without the care and skill of Doct. Don Gasper de Ju-
liac, physician of the king at Porto-Cavello. In fact,
he possesses talents so distinguished, that Terra-Fir-
ma, and the neighbouring islands consult him in all
serious cases.
In 1802, the French ships, the Tourville and Zele,
the corvette Utile, and schooner Adelaide, were
sent on an expedition from St. Domingo to Porto-
Cavello. They arrived on the 5th of July. As soon
as their crews touched the earth they were attacked
with the disorder of the country, and in the space of
twenty-four hours, there died of officers and seamen,
one hundred and sixty-one persons. That is, from '
the Tourville, a hundred and six ; the Zele, thirty-
three ; the corvette Utile, ten ; and from the schoon
er Adelaide, tAvelve. A longer stay exposing these
vessels to the certain loss of the rest of their men,
they Avere ordered away without having accomplish
ed the object of their mission. It was observed, that
the Zele, whose captain was more difficult in permit
ting his crew to visit the city, preserved herself many
days from the contagion, and did not begin to be in
fected till after her communication Avith the shore
Avas established. It ought not, hoAvever, to be con
cealed, that the opportunities for intemperance af
forded by the town, has a great share in the malignity
with which it is reproached. The epidemic disor
der a. Porto-Cavello, as in all the countries placed

115
within the tropics, on a level with the sea, and on the
coast, is known by the name of the Yellow Fever,
against Avhich, Medicine has hurled so many manifes
toes, without deranging its progress, or moderating
its fury.
Reason and humanity prescribe, however, to the
Spanish government to remove these pools of stag
nant water which harbour at Porto Cavello the germs
of this pest, by giving to the water a Aoav, that the
situation renders easy and cheap. Filling up the
parts most holloAV, and drains well directed to
wards the sea or the river, which is not far off, could
soon accomplish this object. I have frequently heard
it said on the spot, and by persons of intelligence, that
20,000 hard dollars, not wasted, would render Porto
Cavello as healthy as any other port of Terra Firma.
The water drank at Porto Cavello, comes from a
l'iver that falls into the sea at a quarter of a league to
the west. It is conducted into the city by canals
maintained with more care than success, and distri
buted to the public in cisterns, placed at convenient
distances. This Avater is good in dry Aveather ; but
in heavy rains, it is loaded with earthy particles, and
the use of it then is neither wholesome nor agreeable.
This inconvenience is remedied by means of filtering
stones. The misfortune is, that these articles of
luxury not being Avithin the reach of every one, the
stomach of the poor remains exposed to all its delete
rious consequences.
The city, considered as a fortified place, is princi
pally under the orders of a military commander. He
exercises almost every authority. He punishes capi-

116
tally, and has also, in the first instance, the adminis
tration of civil justice, under a right of appeal to the
royal audience.
The inhabitants have solicited the establishment of
a common council. They have been able to attain,
for the present, only a single magistrate renewable
every year. It might even be said that since the year
1800, when this civil officer was established, there
has resulted from it more inconveniences than advan
tages, because the part of the jurisdiction which the
law gives him, being rooted in the authority that the
pommandant has always exercised on it, the difficulty
of extracting it occasions every instant, contests fol
lowed by quarrels always fatal to the general harmo
ny. It is not in the places of worship that religion shines
at Porto Cavello. There is but one single parish-
church, situated near the harbour, and not one mon
astery. They have, however, undertaken, at the
southern extremity of the city, the construction of a
church Avhich the Avhole mass of generosity and alms
has permitted to rise no more than breast high. No
sooner Avas it perceived that want of money was about
to condemn this beginning edifice never to be more
than a monument pfthelukewarmness of the faithful
of Porto Cavello, than the ministers of the church
adopted a mode the efficaciousness of Avhich has not
answered the attempt.
They agreed to impose, in future, no other penance,
than the obligation of carrying to the foot of the work,
stones, the number and weight of which should be
regulated according to the heinousness of the sin.-—

117
But whether they never offend the Deity at Porto Ca
vello, or that the sinner thinks himself pardoned by
the mere confession of his faults, or that the penance
was too public for the sins they vrished to conceal,
the truth is, that they have gained by this measure
only a few dozen stones carried by old negroes and
old women, who were very soon tired of such an ex
ercise. I have however seen young women carry stones for
the projected church, some in the hopes of fixing the
affections of inconstant husbands, others to obtain an
offspring all the virtue of marriage could not procure.
They carried also to find lost goods. Unfortunately
not one of these prayers were granted. Nothing more
was wanted to prove that God, in refusing to this spot
the power of miracles, declared it unAvorthy to pos
sess one of his temples. Project and execution, all
was abandoned. Grass and briars now cover both
the work began, and the materials ready to be em
ployed in it.
There are at Porto Cavello two hospitals, one for
the troops, the other for private persons ; the first is
known by the name of the military hospital, the other
by that of the hospital of charity.
The garrison consists in peace, of a company of the
regiment of Caraccas. In time of Avar they reinforce
it Avith troops of the line and militia, and, at all times
there is a body of three or four hundred galley-slaves
who are employed in public works.
The administration is composed of a treasurer, a
cashier, and a number of clerks, a store-keeper, a

118
searcher, supervisor, and about thirty revenue officers,
to prevent smuggling.
Porto Cavello is thirty leagues from Caraccas by
the way of Laguira, and forty-eight by Valencia,
Maracay, Tulmero, Victoria and San Pedro.
The thermometer of Reaumur rises in the month
of August to 26 degrees, and in January to 18
and 19.
Its latitude is 10 degrees, 20 minutes north.
Its longitude 70 degrees 30 minutes west from the
meridian of Paris. Valencia.
The city of Valencia was founded in 1555 under
the government of Villacinda. The object of the
conqueror in founding it, was to establish a port more
near to Caraccas to facilitate the conquest of this
country, which Faxardo had with good reason so
much extolled. The order was to lay out the city
on the bank of lake Tacarigoa, noAV of Valencia ;
but Alonzo Dias Moreno, who Avas charged with the
execution of it, judged, like a man of sense, the un-
wholesomeness of the borders of the lake, to, be a
law for removing the city to a greater distance. He
chose a spot half a league ivest from the lake in a
beautiful plain whose fertility and pureness of air,
seemed to invite man to make it his abode. It is
there that the city was placed under the name of the
king's Valencia. It is in 10 degrees 9 minutes north
latitude, and 70 degrees 45 minutes west longitude,

119
from the meridian of Paris. Reaumur's thermometer
is generally betAveen 16 and 23 degrees.
Its population, according to the ecclesiastical veri
fications of 1801, is six thousand five hundred and
forty-eight souls ; but from other information more
accurate, it consists of more than eight thousand per
sons ; and if one were to j udge from the space it oc
cupies, double would be allowed. Every one there
is a Creole, and the issue of very ancient families,
excepting some from the Canaries, and a very feAV
Biscayans. The streets are wide, and for the most
part paved. The houses are built like those in Ca
raccas, but not Avith stone.
There is but one parish church, served by two vi
cars and a vestry man. It is tolerably well built, and
in the eastern part of a beautiful square, from which it
receives, and to which it gives in its turn, an embel
lishment, that constitutes the principal decoration of
the city.
At the extremity of the toAvn, they were building
in 1804, a church dedicated to our lady of laChande-
leur. The project belongs to the Canarians residing
at Valencia. The execution depends on their liberali
ty, and the alms of others of the faithful.
The Franciscans have a monastery, occupied by
eight monks, Avhose services are very useful to the
spiritual aid, for Avhich a single parish church Avould
hardly suffice. This monastery has long felt the mis
ery that the indolence of the inhabitants has caused,
during tAvo centuries to reign at Valencia : It is, per
haps, to its original poverty that it owes the glory of
being at this day Avithout a rival. Its church is
well built, exceedingly neat, and very elegant. The

120
monastery itself has obtained some repairs, which
announce that the times of its distress are passed.
It is not fifty years since the inhabitants of Valen
cia enjoyed the well merited reputation of being the
most lazy in the province. They feared lest labour,
the exclusive portion, according to them, of the hus
bandman, should make them forget the nobility they
had received from their ancestors. It never entered
into their ideas that a man could pretend to any re
spect but when stretched out in a hammock,or running
the streets with a sword by his side. Every other at
titude appeared ignoble, vile and contemptible. —
Want of every sort in vain conspired against this in
dolence. It obtained only lamentations and use
less invocations to providence. At length, their
inaction Avas such, that the commandant of the place
sent to Valencia was obliged, in order to secure the
subsistence of the town, to order every inhabitant to
plant, under very severe penalties, a certain quantity
of provisions. The infractions were actually punish
ed. By degrees they were familiarised with the idea,
that the labours of the field were an honour to man,
instead of a disgrace, and they betook themselves to
the cultivation of the products of the land.
Since this happy revolution, Valencia loses sensi
bly the melancholy appearance poverty gave it, to as
sume that Avhich ease affords. It is not that the pro
portion of what its inhabitants apply in commerce, yet
corresponds with their number, or the extent or good
ness of their lands; but the flight is taken ; prejudice
is destroyed; reason occupies its place; indolence no
more usurps the honours of virtue ; a just emulation

121
has introduced an activity which is making daily pro
gress. Every thing, therefore, induces the hope that
cultivation and commerce will be as much honoured
at Valencia by future generations, as they have been
neglected and despised by the past.
' Its situation gives it advantages over all the other
towns of Venezuela, of which it ought to be ashamed
not to have profited till iioav. Separated by only ten
leagues of good road from Porto Cavello, she enjoys
the facility of transporting thither her commodities at
a very little expense ; and after the completion of ano,
ther road already opened, which reduces the distance
to six leagues, the communication will be still less
expensive, and more short. But it is not for cultiva
tion only that the situation of Valencia is to be valu
ed; it is equally so for trade.
Every thing from the interior of the country ship
ped at Porto-Cavello goes through Valencia, as that
which is destined for Laguira passes through Carac
cas. The valleys of Aragoa ; the districts of Saint
Philip ; Saint Charles ; Saint John the Baptist of Pao ;
of Tocouyo; of Barquesimeto, and of the whole plain,
can get their produce and animals to Porto-Cavello in
no other way than by passing through Valencia, Why
then have not the citizens of this town, so favoured
by its situation, thought of forming an entrepot for
the articles destined for Porto-Cavello, and for the
merchandize required by the interior ? Would it not
be preferable to the inhabitant of the interior that the
focus of his exchanges should be more within his
reach? Does not he who saves his time, turn it to
Vol. III. q.

122
profit ? The commerce of Caraccas has no other base
than these motives. Laguira is but its shipping place,
as Porto Cavello is naturally that of Valencia. If
the limits of this description permitted me to give
more room to this subject, it would be easy to prove
that there are even more reasons in favour of Valen
cia, than of Caraccas. But it is sufficient no doubt to
have pointed out the principal ones, for others to pre
sent themselves to every imagination not altogether
stupid. The inhabitants of Valencia have open disposi
tions, but are more calculated for science than cultiva
tion. The city is so much the better furnished with neces
saries, as the country produces every sort of provi
sion and fruit in the greatest abundance, and of a most
exquisite flavour, and as its plains furnish its markets,
and at a very low price, with every kind of animal
they can consume. Maracay.
In the eastern part of the Lake of Valencia is a vil
lage called Maracay. I agree that, not having the
title either of city or of town, it ought not to appear in
this chapter; but it is in itself so interesting that I feel
a satisfaction in endeavouring to make my reader par
ticipate in the delightful sensations I experienced, in
1801, duringthe short stay I made there.
Maracay is situated in the famous valleys of Ara-
goa, of which I have so often had occasion to speak.
It is near enough to the lake to enjoy its advantages,

123
and sufficiently removed to have nothing to fear from
its malignant influence. Its sandy soil renders it
healthy, but hot. This village, which thirty years
ago, scarcely merited the appellation of a hamlet, pre
sents a view, which, enchants the traveller. Three-
fourths of its houses are built of stone, and with as
much elegance, as solidity. One peculiarity, which
will forever remain engraved in my memory, is, that
they all appear of the same date, and that a very late
one. The streets are not paved : this omission is per
ceived only when the sand, raised by the wind, forms
a Avhirl, that inconveniences the eye. A new house
of worship, large, and of most regular architecture,
serves as a parish church. There is, at Maracay, for
all the services of divine worship, but one vicar; and
for the whole civil authority, but one lieutenant of
justice. He is a judge of the police, and in theJQrst
instance. The inhabitants of this village, to the number of
eight thousand four hundred, have not less right, to
the admiration of the observer. Not one is infected
with the vanity of birth, nor the pride of distinction.
Industry, activity; in a word, employment, forms
the basis of their affections. A fortunate emulation
renders cultivation the reigning passion. The nu
merous plantations of cotton, indigo, coffee, corn, &c.
laid out with design, and maintained with care, attest
in a manner by no means equivocal, how laborious
these men are, and show the source of all their com
fort. It might well be doubted, whether the major
part are not Biscayans ; for they are, of all the Euro
pean Spaniards in Terra Firma, those who apply them-

124
selves most to cultivation. The lovely plantations
that one beholds with enthusiasm in the environs of
Maracay, extend themselves through all the vales of
Aragoa. Whether you enter it by Valencia, or
whether you arrive there by the mountains of San Pe
dro, which separate it from Caraccas, you fancy your
self transported, amidst another people, and into a
country, possessed by a nation, the most industrious,
and the most agricultural. Nothing is seen, in an ex
tent of fifteen leagues, from east to west, which these
valleys occupy, than colonial productions, most inge
niously watered ; water-mills, and elegant buildings,
for the purpose of fabricating and preparing those ve
ry products. What is still more remarkable, is, that
this great activity appears,' exclusively, attached to
this spot. The free persons, who in no other part do
sciiacely any thing, work in the valleys of Aragoa for
moderate Avages, so that the proprietor is obliged to
buy only the small number of slaves, necessary for the
maintenance of his household. Extraordinary la*
bours, such as clearing, planting, weeding, and har
vesting, is performed by free men, paid so much, by
the day. Tulmero.
Tulmero, situated alike in the Vales of Aragoa,
two leagues from Maracay, is also quite modern, well
built, and the residence of a number of planters ; but
it is peculiarly the abode of all the officers, factors, and
persons employed in the administration of the tobac
co, cultivated in its vicinage, on account of the king.

125
There is a handsome church, a vicar for the religious
department, and a lieutenant of justice for the civil.
Its population is eight thousand persons.
Victoria.
Six leagues east from Tulmero, and on the road
that leads to Caraccas, is the village of Victoria, found
ed by the missionaries, and which was composed sole
ly of Indians, until industry, having fixed her seat in
the valleys of Aragoa, dreAV thither a concourse of
laborious whites, one part of whom settled them
selves at Victoria. The village soon assumed another
shape. The lands in the environs were cultivated,
and their produce placed decent houses in the room
of Indian huts* The site of the village is still with
the same inequalities it received from nature, and
there is every appearance of its preserving them, for
some time yet to come ; for, in order to embellish it,
they are solely occupied in the construction of a
church, the beauty, and size of which, will dispute
the palm with the handsomest cathedrals in America.
Still its labours, to which the zeal and care of the go
vernor, Don Miquel de Adaraga have given activity,
have been suspended during the administration which
has substituted its own.
They reckon, at Victoria, seven thousand eight
hundred inhabitants, of all colours. The whites,
who form a part of them, have solicited the king to
bestOAv on their village,' the more pompous title of
city, of which the establishment of a common council
would be the consequence, as it Avasthe object. But

126
the opinion of the ministry, being, as we have said in
Chap. V. that these sorts of institutions are more pre
judicial, than useful to the royal authority, their request
has been neither granted, nor rejected. It has been
only eluded, by not being answered. In the mean
time, Victoria preserves the humble rank of a village,
under a lieutenant of justice, and a governor.
Although the inhabitants are more active, than in
many other parts of the province, they yet are not so
much so, as those of the rest of the vales of Aragoa.
What affords a most palpable proof of this, is, that the
inhabitants of Victoria are fond of play, to an excess,
and it is well known, that this passion allies itself with
difficulty to the real love of labour.
It is in this village, that the staff-officers of the mi
litia, of the valleys of Aragoa, reside.
In these same valleys, there are other villages to
which I dare not, here, assign any particular place, for
fear of offending the self-love of the cities, who would
undoubtedly be hurt to see in a chapter, consecrated
to cities alone, five villages, who have no other title to
renown, than industry. They must, however, give
me leave to say, that these villages are Cagoa, San-
Matteo, Mamou, (formerly Elconsejo) Escobar, and
Magdalena. The first has a population of five thous
and two hundred persons ; the second, of two thous
and eight hundred ; the third, of three thousand ; the
fourth, of five thousand four hundred ; and the fifth,
of two thousand seven hundred.
In 1786, there were, in the vales of Aragoa, one
hundred and eighty-six plantations; one thousand
six hundred and thirty houses.

127
10,982 Whites.
447 Exempted Indians.
3,378 Tributary Indians.
12,159 Persons of Colour.
3,882 Slaves.

30,795
At the time in which I write, (1804) this popula
tion amounts to near fifty thousand persons.
Coro.
Chance made Coro, after Cumana, the first esta
blishment of the Europeans, in this eastern part of
Terra Firma. Time, that places every thing in its
proper station, has made it take the rank which the
sterility of its soil assigns.
Jean Ampues sent, as has been mentioned in the
first chapter, by the audience of Saint Domingo to
Terra-Firma, to subject to law the trading Spaniard,
every step of Avhom was marked with some new
crime ; Jean Ampues, having no point fixed for his
disembarkation, had no inducement to contend with
the winds or the currents. He obeyed them, and
they carried him to Coro. He availed himself of the
good nature of the Indians he found there, in order to
build, at some distance from the port, a city which
every thing announced must needs be happy, under
the wise administration of its founder. But it had
the good fortune to be governed by him, for only the
first five years of its existence. Destiny had con
demned this town to serve as the resort of the fero-

128
cious robbers, which the contract made between
Charles the Fifth and the Welsers occasioned to pass
into those countries.
The' village of Coro had to blush, or to lament, at
being, during the space of eight years, the focus of
the desolators of a Country, then entirely in the hands
of nature, and the deposit of the fruits of their crimes.
The province having returned to the authority of the
Spanish monarch, the city of Coro continued to be
the seat of government. She enjoyed the prerogative
of the capital of Venezuela, until the fertility of the
valleys, in the middle of Avhich they had just erect
ed Caraccas, determined the governor to turn his
eyes from the aridity of Coro, to cast them on a
country, the multitude of Avhose rivers, and the thick
ness of whose forests, gave the most favourable omen
of the riches it would one day afford. Jean Pimentel,
governor of Venezuela, is the first who fixed his re
sidence at Caraccas. This was in 1576.
From that time there remained no other public au
thority of consideration, than the bishop and the
chapter, who did all they could to follow the governor.
But, being unable to quit Coro by legal means, they
accomplished it by flight, in the manner which has
been mentioned under the article Caraccas.
The city of Coro is in a dry plain, sandy, and with
out Avater : nothing is seen but prickly pears nickers,
and the thorny taper, infallible signs of the sterility of
the earth. Three leagues from the city are hills less
ungrateful, where they cultivate with success, but not
in abundance, all the commodities of the country.

129
In general, the inhabitants of Coro are, at the least,
as inclined as any Spaniards whomsoever, to a seden
tary and idle life. Many glory in descending from
the first conquerors, and believe they cannot, with
out corroding this genealogical tree, water it with
their svveat. This naturally indicates that there is in
this city more nobility than riches, and more indo
lence than labour.
The little commerce that is carried on, is in mules,
goats, hides, sheep-skins, cheese, &c. coming in a
great measure from the interior. The toivn of Caro-
ra is that Avhich furnishes the most. All these arti
cles are shipped at Coro for the neighbouring islands.
The connexion most pursued, is with Curacoa, from
whence they bring back dry goods, Avhich they se
crete from the vigilance of the guards, and apply to
the purpose of their corruption.
Ten thousand persons, of all colours, form the po
pulation of Coro. Few slaves are seen in this city,
because from a caprice, which is easier to admire than
explain, the Indians, who in all other places have a
peculiar affection for the blacks, at Coro have a most
decided aversion to them.
This antipathy was, in 1797, even very useful to
the public tranquillity. The negro slaves employed
in the labours of the field, wished to imitate the blacks
of St. Domingo. They gave themselves chiefs, un
der whom they committed some acts of robbery. The
Indians of Coro united themselves , with the whites,
and inarched against the rebels Avith a courage of
Avhich they did not seem capable. The revolt was
Vol. III. R

130
appeased almost as soon as began ; they hanged the
most conspicuous, and the residue returned to their
duty. The army of the rebels never amounted to
more than four hundred blacks.
All labour is performed at Coro, by the Indians,
for wages calculated on local wretchedness, that is to
say, very low. In truth, they live there with so
much parsimony, that they cannot go to ask a bit of
fire from, a neighbour, without carrying a piece of
wood of the same size as the brand they take away ;
and this exchange is not always exempt from diffi
culty. The city has not any aqueduct. The water they
drink comes half a league, on asses and in barrels,
two of which compose, a load, and are sold for a real
of eight to the hard dollar.
Heretofore the houses were well built. They can
not be now looked at without becoming melancholy.
They all bear the print of the ravages of time and
misery ; those of the Indians are still more pitiable.
The streets, although laid out on a line, are not pav
ed. The whole of the public edifices consecrated to
religion, consist of one parish-church, in former times
a Cathedral, which title the inhabitants of Coro still
preserve for it, though for more than a hundred and
sixty years it has had neither bishop nor chap
ter. It is served by two priests ; of one monastery
where the Franciscans have from seven to eight
monks ; and of a parish-church that has three chapels
of ease.
The civil authority is exercised by a common coun
cil. Since 1799, a military commander has beenes-

131
tablished there, who participates at the same time in
the judicial authority and capital jurisdiction ; his ap
pointment is two thousand hard dollars.
The city is in 10 degrees 8 minutes north latitude?
and 72 degrees 25 minutes longitude west from Paris,
one league from the sea, twenty-four west of Carac
cas, thirty-three north of Barquisimeto, and fifty-five
from Maracaibo.
Two leagues north of Coro, is an isthmus about a
league wide, which unites the peninsula of Paragoa-
na to the continent. It stretches from south-Avest to
north-east about twenty leagues, inhabited by In
dians and a very few Avhites, whom a taste for pasto
ral life has fixed on this spot, fit only for grazing. —
The beasts raised there are numerous, and are for the
most part, smuggled over to Curacoa, whose stalls are
almost always better provided than those of the prin
cipal cities of Terra-Firma that supplies it.
Carora- •
Thirty leagues south of Coro is the city of Carora.
Its situation is indebted to nature for a salubrious
air only ; for it very frequently wants the water that
the river Morera, on the banks of which it is situat
ed, in dry weather refuses. Its soil, parched and
covered with thorny plants, affords no other produc
tions than those which owe almost their whole exist
ence to the principle of heat. There is observed there
a species of wild cochineal, as fine as the mistica,
which they suffer to perish on the plant ; balsams, as
odoriferous as those of Arabia, and aromatic gums,

' 132
specifics for Avounds, and preservatives from cramps
and spasms. But it is not tOAvards these objects that
either the ambition or the industry of the inhabitants
of Carora is directed ; they have preferred covering
this ungrateful land with productive animals, such as
oxen, mules, horses, sheep, goats, &c. The attention
and activity they apply to make the most of these ar
ticles, form their real eulogy, and lead us to believe
that there are few cities, in the Spanish West- Indies,
where there is so much industry as in Carora.
The principal inhabitants live on the produce of
their flocks ; others gain a livelihood by working up
the raw materials they afford. The hides and skins
are tanned and dressed according to their quality. —
The numerous deer which they hunt continually, pay
likewise to the taAver the tribute of their skins. It
must, hoAvever, be confessed that these preparations
have not very complete success. Self-love, always
pardonable, when accompanied with the desire of do
ing well, throws the blame on the bad quality of the
tan, and the water they are obliged to use , but, it is
certain, that ignorance of the process makes a great
part. Yet the consumer has no great reproaches to
make the workman, because it is impossible to con
ceive how they can furnish these articles, Avhatever
may be their quality, for the moderate price at which
they are sold.
The hides and skins dressed at Carora, are, in a
great measure, employed in the city itself in boots,
shoes, saddles, bridles, and curriery. The surplus of
the local consumption is spread over the province, or
goes to Maracaibo, Carthagena, and the island of Cu-

133
ba. They make, also, at Carora, with a kind of fibre,
aloe disthica, very good hammocks, which constitute
an article of commerce.
All these labours occupy and maintain a popula
tion of six thousand two hundred persons, Avho, to a
barren soil, have been able to attach the comforts na
ture seems to have had the intention of removing
from them. <
The town is tolerably well built ; the streets large
and on a line ; the parish- church handsome and Avell
kept up ; it is aided by a chapel of ease, dedicated to
St. Denis, the Areopagite.
The administration of justice and police is in the
hands of a lieutenant-governor and the common coun
cil. The military have no authority.
Carora is in 10 degrees of north latitude, fifteen
leagues east of the lake of Maracaibo, twelve leagues
north of Tocuyo, twenty-eight north-Avest of Bar
quisimeto, and ninety leagues west of Caraccas.
Barquisimeto.
Barquisimeto, a city more ancient by fifteen years
than Caraccas, is situated in 9 degrees 45 minutes of
north latitude, on a level, whose elevation enables it
to enjoy the coolness of every breeze. The excessive
heat which is experienced there, thanks to this hap
py situation, becomes supportable. The thermome
ter of Reaumur rises to 28 and 29 degrees, whenever
the rays of the sun do not meet with something in
the atmosphere to temper their ardour. The most

134
constant and most equal wind that prevails at Barqui
simeto, is the north-east.
Each of the inhabitants finds in the plains, the val
leys, and sides of the hills its environs afford, means
to exercise, according to his taste, his industry and ap
plication. The plains, covered with excellent pas
turage, render easy the raising of every species of
marketable animal. Many of the citizens give the
preference to this kind of speculation, and find it an
swers well. They cultivate also the sugar cane, and
the very best of wheat.
The vales, from a freshness preserved by means of
flooding, produce cacao abundantly, and of a good
quality ; and the sides of the hills have lately been
employed in the culture of coffee, which requires, to
be exquisite, only a more careful preparation.
In considering only the immensity of the fertile
lands that may be watered, and remain uncultivated .
in the environs of Barquisimeto, one would be tempt
ed to accuse the indolence of the inhabitants ; but on
casting the eye over the plantations of every kind of
articles, and on the animals spread over the plains ;
on reflecting on the great difficulty of transporting its
commodities to the sea-ports, the nearest and most
frequented of which is at a distance of fifty leagues,
one cannot refrain from pronouncing an eulogy on the
citizens of Barquisimeto.
The bare aspect of the city, announces the ease of
eleven thousand three hundred persons who inhabit it.
The houses are well built ; the streets on a line and
wide enough for the air to circulate freely. The pa
rish-church is handsome and served by two priests.

135
A Christ is to be seen there, the object of the public
veneration, and the private devotion of the villages
twenty leagues around. There is, also, a monastery
of Franciscans, and a hospital badly attended.
A common council and lieutenant, discharge the
judicial duties and those of the police.
Barquisimeto is forty leagues west south-west of
Caraccas, a hundred and fifty leagues north north-east
of Santa Fe, and fifteen leagues of Tocuyo.
Tocuyo.
The city of Tocuyo is built in a valley formed by
two mountains. Its division and construction are
very regular. The streets on a line, and sufficiently
wide. A house of Avorship, very well built, serves as
the parish-church, on Avhich depends one chapel of
ease. The Franciscans have there one monastery,
and the Dominicans another. It is governed by a
common council. The sky is often overcast, and
the climate rather cold than hot. The air, however,
is wholesome. The quality of its lands accommodates itself, like
that of the soil of Barquisimeto, to every sort of pro
duction, and its inhabitants turn it to a still better ac
count. They are, at the same time, graziers, agri
culturists, artisans, and traders. Wheat, among the
other articles, the inhabitants of Tocuyo cultivate, is
esteemed the best in the province, and furnishes the
consumption of many towns of the interior. They
estimate from eight to ten thousand quintals, the flour
which is annually exported from Tocuyo to Barquisi-

136
meto, Guanara, St. Philip, and Caraccas. They fa
bricate from the wool of their sheep, coverlids, and
other cloths, which they send or carry as far as Ma
racaibo and Carthagena. They have also tanneries,
and taweries, and, like the inhabitants of Carora, work
up as many as they can of the raw materials, and sell
the rest.
Another species of commerce, exceedingly lucra
tive to the citizens of Tocuyo, is the sale of salt, which
they bring from the salt ponds of Coro. Their acti
vity maintains them in the exclusive vent of this arti
cle of the first necessity.
They reckon in the city of Tocuyo ten thousand
two hundred persons ; who are reproached with the
phrensy of suicide. A Creole of Tocuyo thinks noth
ing of cutting his throat, or hanging himself. Once
dissatisfied with life, it becomes insupportable. He
rids himself of it with the same composure, that an
overloaded man relieves himself of his burthen. This
system of cowardice, rather than of courage ; of ex
travagance, rather than philosophy ; has, as yet, found
partisans in this city alone.
Tocuyo is 90 leagues south-Avest of Caraccas, and
20 leagues north of Truxillo. Its latitude is 9 de
grees 35 minutes, north; and its longitude 72 de
grees 40 minutes, Avest of Paris.
Guanara.
The city of Guanara received from its founders, in
1593, the civil and religious institutions, which they
then gave to every village they established, that is to

137
say, a Common council and priest. It§ situation is a
sufficient eulogium, on those who chose it. First, a
river, that has given its name to the city, furnishes
also excellent Water to its inhabitants, floods their lands,
and waters their Cattle. Next, there is nothing to im
pede the Avind from circulating freely through the
town, and freshening the atmosphere.
If the situation of Guanara is considered Avith re
spect to the labours of the field, it will be seen that it
has, on the western part, the most fertile lands, fit for
. every kind of produce, and on the southern and eas
tern immense plains, whose pastures are evidently
destined by nature for the multiplication of cattle. —
It is, therefore, to this kind of speculation, that the
people of Guanara are principally inclined. Their
greatest riches is in cattle, the number of Avhich is in
finite. They sell quantities of oxen for the consump
tion of the province, and mules for its service. The
surplus they export by Coro, Porto-Cavello, or Gui
ana. Formerly they raised very good tobacco in the
valleys of Tucupio, Sipororo, and on the banks Of the
river Portuguese ; but since the establishment of the
exclusive sale of tobacco, the plantations have un
dergone the fate of all those Avhich have had the mis
fortune to find themselves without the limits of the
territory assigned by the administrators, for the cul
tivation of tobacco on account of the king.
The population of Guanara is twelve thousand three
hundred persons. The streets straight, wide, and form
ed by houses, which, without being sumptuous, are
of a tolerable construction. There is a hospital with
Vol. Ill, s

138
a very moderate revenue; but the parish church is
large, handsome, and superiorly adorned. It owes a
part of its splendor to the advantage which it has of
possessing our lady of Comoroto, whose virtues and
miracles demand, that I should give some details of
her vision, and the cause of the great concourse which
she attracts from all the provinces neighbouring to
Guanara. Local tradition has been the sole depository of the
circumstances relating to the appearance of our lady
of Comoroto, until the 3d of January, 1746, that Dr.
Don Carlos de Herera, superior vicar of the cathedral
of Caraccas, being at Guanara in the capacity of a vi
sitor, ordered a public inquiry to verify, in a positive
and irrefragable manner, the facts that tradition might
suffer to escape her memory, or the exactitude of
which she might impair. Behold what was the re
sult. In 1651, an inhabitant, named Jean Sanchez, went
from the city of Espiritu Santo, by a road which
crosses the dry savannas, to that of Tocuyo. A ca
cique stopped him to mention that a very handsome
Avoman had appeared to him in a ravine which he
pointed out, and that she had told him to go, with his
family, to find the whites, to have some water thrown
on his head, as the only means of opening the road to
Heaven. Sanchez, a little pressed for time, deferred
the examination of this affair till his return, which was
in eight days. The cacique was punctual in going at
that period, to the very spot, as much affected with'
what .the lady had told him as on the first day. The
magistrates were apprised that the whole of the Ca-

13»
cique's nation would go to the church to receive bap-'
tism. This was punctually executed, and in less
than an hour more than seven hundred souls were put
into the path of salvation.
After this solemn act, all the young girls and chil
dren of the baptized Indians, saw the lady in the ra
vine where she had made her first appearance. As it
was there that they went to draw water, and always
stayed a much longer time than was necessary, they
were often scolded and beaten by their parents. The
same fault, and the same chastisement was repeated
every day, until at last the children declared that a
woman appeared to them, under so beautiful a figure"
that they could not refrain from admiring ber.
No grown person could see her ; but on the report
of the children, they attributed to the waters of this
ravine most prodigious virtues. What at once car
ried their credit to its height was, that the bishop Die
go de Banos, having sent some of this water to Ma
drid in 1699, it arrived, after ten months, as fresh as if
it had but just been taken out of the ravine. The go
vernor, Don Nicolas Eugenio de Ponce, sent, at the
same time, some to his wife in the Canaries, which
arrived in like manner, with all the characteristics of
freshness. They who stand in need of it, go with a lighted
lamp and bathe themselves in this ravine. The wa
ter is sent every where. The very flints from this ra
vine are become relics, which they wear round the
neck. What is remarkable is, that they all had en
tire faith in these miracles, excepting the very cacique

140
who had informed Sanchez. He remained in a state
of the most unconquerable obduracy.
The eighth of September, 1652, says the inquest,
they were desirous of obliging the cacique to assist at
some divine offices, he refused, and withdrew to his
house at a distance of two leagues. He had no soon
er arrived, than the virgin appeared to him with a
splendor which gave at midnight as much light as the
sun at high noon. The cacique had scarcely seen her
when he said : " Oh madam, dost thou come here too ?
" Thou may^st as well return. lam no more disposed
" to obey thee. It is on thy account that I find myself
" in trouble. I wish to retire to the same woods, I
" repent to have left." The wife of the Indian said to
her husband, " dorCt insult a woman ; be not so bad
''hearted," He then caught up his bow and arrow
and would have shot at the virgin, but she approach- ,
ed so close as to prevent him. He endeavoured to
seize her ; she disappeared, and darkness was re-es
tablished. In the mean time the cacique felt some
thing in his hand, they kindled, the fire, and recogniz
ed it to be a figure of the virgin, Avhich he hid under
the thatch, on the roof of his cottage, and went into
the AVoods where he died from the bite of a snake.
A child of twelve years of age found this little fi
gure ; he tied it to the bag of relics which he wore
round his neck. But this event Avas no sooner known,
4han they came in procession to look for her. They
immediately erected for her a temple more worthy -of *
her dignity, Avhere all the faithful offer up to her the
continual homage of the most profound veneration.
She wants nothing to rival our lady of Loretto but

14)
the riches of Our Italian virgin, for she is quite as much
revered, and quite as potent.
Guanara is in 8 degrees 14 minutes of north lati
tude, and 72 degrees 15 minutes longitude AvCst from
Paris ; ninety-three leagues south south-west from
Caraccas, twenty-four leagues south-east from Trux-
iUo. Araura.
The city of Araura is one of the happy results of
the labours of the first Capuchin Andahisian missiona
ries, who had the courage to undertake in the; pro
vince of Venezuela, to make them renounce, by per
suasion alone, the idolatry and savage life of Indians,
which till then it had been thought impossible to sub
due but by force of arms. We have seen, in Chap.
VI. how much the Spanish sovereignty, and public
tranquillity is mdebted to these venerable ministers of
the God of peace. The only mode of avoiding re
petitions is to refer the reader to it.
The situation of Araura is beautiful, agreeable and
advantageous. Three rivers water its territory, and
multiply the sources of fertility, of which, indeed, the
inhabitants are very far from drawing all that is possi
ble. Their principal, and almost only occupation is,
raising of cattle. They cultivate nothing but cotton
and a little coffee. If it is wished to behold a labo
rious people, care must be taken how the steps are
directed towards Araura. The plan of the city is re
gular and pleasing enough. The streets are straight.
They have contrived a very handsome square. The

142
houses are well built, without there being any thing
remarkable except the church, which is superb.
Our lady de la Corteza, or of the Bark, occupies,
in the church of Araura, the first place. She enjoys
the public veneration not only of all the faithful of
Araura, but even that of all the villages in the neigh
bourhood. Her miraculous appearance was made in
1702, at a little distance from the city. The judicial
inquisition taken in 1757, states, that a mulatto wo
man, named Margaret, going from the city of Arau
ra to pay her devotion to our lady of Comoroto, had
on her way, some occasion to tie the beast she rode
to a tree. When she went to untie it she perceived
On the bark of the tree the image of a virgin ; she
raised it up with a knife and carried it away. Hav
ing arrived at the village of Acasigua, she put the lit
tle virgin in a corner of the room with a lighted can
dle, and began to pray to her. A Capuchin mis
sionary came to this same house and wished to know
the history of the new virgin : the girl told the whole.
Instantly the Capuchin with eagerness requested her
to make him a present of the virgin. He met with
some difficulties which it was impossible to remove,
but by giving in exchange a bag of relics, and tAvo
impressions of the holy virgin, one of Rosaria, the oth
er of the conception. On these conditions the barter
Avas made. The Capuchin carried away our lady of
the Bark. She was placed in the parish church of
Araura, where she has performed a number of mira
cles. She has not, however, either the celebrity, or
the poAver of our lady of Comoroto.

143
Calaboso.
Calaboso is a city of a late date, which was at first an
Indian village, but since augmented by the Spaniards,
who had fixed their abode there to be nearer at hand,
to watch and take care of their herds. The company
of Guipuscoa arrogates to itself in its memoirs, the
merit of having given to Calaboso the degree of in
crease, which it must needs have acquired to be in
scribed in the list of cities.
Its climate is excessively hot, although regularly
tempered by the breeze from the north-east. Its soil
is fit for little but to raise cattle, and it is only in that,
that it is employed. The pasturage is good, and its
horned beasts very numerous. Yet, for sometime,
whether that corruption of manners has made a pro
gress, or that the vigilance of the magistrate is re
laxed, this species of property has experienced the
alarming effects, of devastation and pillage. Bands of
robbers, enemies to labour, addicted to every vice,
continually traverse the immense plains, from the dis
trict of Calaboso to the banks of the Guarapicha, steal
as many oxen and mules as they can, and introduce
them clandestinely into Guiana and Trinidad. They
often, as I have had occasion to observe, even kill
them on the spot, only to obtain the skin and talloAv.
If prompt and vigorous measures are not taken, the
settlements at a distance from the cities, as they al
most all are, will soon be nothing more than deserts,
and posterity will know only from tradition, that they
snce held large herds.

144
The city of Calaboso is situated between two ri
vers ; one, the Guarico to the west ; the other, the
Orituco to the east ; but nearer the first than the se
cond. These two rivers, whose courses are from
north to south, unite their Avaters four or five leagues
below Calaboso ; then at the distance of about twen
ty leagues throAv themselves into the river Apura, and
go under this name to increase the Oronoko. When
a quantity of rain makes these two rivers overflow
their banks, a circumstance that happens annually,
the inhabitants of Calaboso find themselves very much
inconvenienced by the waters. Their journeys,
their labours, every thing is suspended. Their ani
mals retire to the heights, and remain there, until the
water having left the plain, they can return to their
pasture. The streets and houses of Calaboso form a vieAv
agreeable enough ; the church, without being hand
some, is decent.
In 1786, there were in Calaboso and the five villa
ges dependent on it, five hundred and forty-nine
houses, eleven hundred and eighty-six free Indians,
not tributary, three thousand one hundred and one
persons of colour, nine hundred and forty-three slaves,
a hundred and sixteen plantations and settlements^
eighteen hundred and seventy-two mules, twenty-six
thousand five hundred and fifty-two horses, sixty-se
ven thousand four hundred and sixty-seven oxen and
cows. At this time, 1804, the city has a population
of four thousand eight hundred persons. It is situ.
ated in 8 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, fifty -two

145
leagues south of Caraccas, and almost as much
north of the Oronoko.
St. John the Baptist of Pao.
This city is remarkable in having only the proprie
tors of cattle for its inhabitants. The pasturage is ex
cellent, the settlements numerous, and stocked with
mares, horses, mules and horned beasts. Besides the
emoluments arising from their sale, still further are
derived from the sale of a quantity of cheese made
there. Five thousand four hundred persons form the po
pulation of the city, which is pretty regularly con
structed. The parish church is to be praised, more
for its neatness than for its architecture. The heat
would be intolerable at St. John the Baptist of Pao, if
it Avere not tempered by the violence and frequency of
the north-east Avind. The place is very healthy. — -
They know scarcely any other complaints than such
as man is subject to on whatsoever part of the globe
he may be.
The river Pao runs to the east of the city. Its
course is from north to south. It formerly discharg
ed itself into the lake of Valencia ; but by one of those
revolutions which time frequently amuses itself in ef
fecting, this river has taken its present direction.
It is successively enlarged by the waters of several
other streams, with which, in its turn, increases the
river Apura, to empty itself, under that name, into
the Oronoko.
Vol. III. t

146
The new course which the river Pao has taken,
seems to be a bounty of Providence, who wished to
open a direct communication between Valencia and
the Oronoko, through an extent of a hundred leagues.
Art might with so much the more ease establish this
navigation, as it would have only to deepen the bed
of the Pao for the first ten or twelve leagues from its
source. The advantages which commerce would de
rive from it are incalculable, because, in time of war
especially, the province of Venezuela would preserve
with Guiana, in spite of the cruisers of the enemy,
every intercourse circumstances could require. It
does not require a very penetrating genius to perceive
that by this way, which the enemy could not impede,
the most prompt assistance could be sent to Guiana,
in case she should be threatened with an invasion.
The latitude of the city of Pao is 9 degrees 20 mi
nutes north. Its distance from Caraccas, to the south
west of which it lies, is 50 leagues.
St. Louis of Cura.
The city of St. Louis of Cura is placed in a valley
formed by mountains of the most grotesque appear
ance. Those on the south-west are crowned by rocks,
Avhich serve to prove to man the fragility of his ephe
meral existence, and the constant progress of ages. —
The valley is, however, fertile and covered with some
articles of produce ; but the greater part of its pro
perty is in cattle.
The temperature of the city is hot and dry. Its
soil, a reddish clay, and extremely muddy in rainy

147
weather. The water is not clear, though wholesome.
It has four thousand inhabitants, governed by a com
mon council. Its church, till now very little renoAvn-
ed, has acquired at this time a celebrity, that ages
will have some trouble to destroy. She owes it to
the miracles of our lady of the Valencians.
This virgin was found, about thirty years ago, in a
ravine of that name, by an old Indian, who carried her
to his hut, where he exposed her to the veneration of
the faithful. The virgin, by the simple glimmering
of a candle of bad tallow, and under a humble roof of
straw, was as generous in miracles as if she had been
beneath a gilded ceiling. The priest was no sooner
informed of this event, than he went to the old Indian's,
and requested the virgin, to place her in the church.
The Indian had infinite difficulty in consenting to di
vest himself of so precious an article, which constitut
ed the good fortune of his life. But at last the reasons
of the priest prevailed, and the virgin was carried in
procession to the church, Avhere she was placed in a
manner more worthy of herself.
The news was quickly spread throughout the pro
vince. They flocked from all parts. Alms began
to rain. The virgin acquired every day fresh jewels
in acknowledgment of the favours they owed her. —
Rewards increased the perquisites of the priest. In
short, every thing took the most brilliant turn, when
the jealousy or the piety of the vicar of St. Sebastian
de los Reyes, dispelled this flattering prospect.
He demanded, by a suit at law, that this virgin
should be restored to him,, because the ravine of the
Valencians, where she had been found, making a part

148
of his parish, it was incontestable that she belonged
to his church. The parson of St. Louis of Cura op
posed, in defence of his property, reasons still stronger
than those alleged, to deprive him of it. The cause
grew warm. Both parties were enraged. Every
means was employed to establish the right of each to
the virgin.
The bishop of Caraccas, embarrassed in de.ciding
this singular question, ordered that the virgin, who
had occasioned the Avhole dispute, should be carried
to Caraccas, and deposited in the palace, where he let
her sleep together with the process, till his death.
At length, in 1802, the bishop Don Francisco Ib
arra, a prelate endued with- every civil and religious
virtue, proposed to the parson of St. Sebastian de los
Reyes, who was not then thp same person, the dere
liction of the claims of his predecessor, and to consent
that the virgin should be sent back to the vicar of St.
Louis of Cura. The affair was terminated according
to the ever pacific desires of the venerable prelate.—
The process was put an end to, discord ceased, and
our lady of the Valencians returned in triumph to St.
Louis of Cura, after an absence of thirty years.
The city of St. Louis of Cura is in 9 degrees, 45
minutes of north latitude ; 22 leagues south-west of
Caraccas, and 8 leagues south-east of the lake of
Valencia, St. Sebastian de los Reyes.
The foundation of the city ef St. Sebastian de los
Reyes, is dated towards the end of the sixteenth cen-

149
tury. It has consequently had from its origin, a com
mon council, and a vicar. The soil of its jurisdic
tion, fit for many commodities, produces very little
but maize, because they plant scarcely any thing else.
Its pastures feed large herds, which the inhabitants
prefer to the products of the field.
This city, midlingly built, carries the marks of its
antiquity. Its situation is agreeable^ though its resi
dence is inconvenienced by the very great heats which
the continual and strong breeze from the north-east
is able but faintly to temper. The Avater is heavy,
but abundant. There is, besides the parish church,
an insignificant hospital. They reckon in the city
only three thousand five hundred persons.
St. Sebastian de los Reyes is in latitude 9 degrees,
54 minutes' north, 28 leagues south-quarter south
west of Caraccas. St. Philip.
A miserable village, that originally bore the name
of Cocorota, is become, at the expense of the popula
tion of Barquisimeto, and the Spaniards from the Ca
naries, who have fixed their abode there, as remarka
ble for the activity, as the industry of its inhabitants,
and is no longer known but under the name of St.
Philip. The soil is of a fertility rarely met with, wa
tered on the east by the river Yarani, and on the Avest
by the Arva, intersected by an infinity of rivulets and
ravines, and exposed alternately to violent rains and
excessive heats ; one beholds the incessant renova
tion qf every principle of fecundity. They cultivate

150
cacao, indigo, coffee, a little cotton, and still less su
gar. The richness of the soil has principally contri
buted to raise the city of St. Philip from its primitive
obscurity, and the company of Guipuscoa has com
pleted the work ; for, having chosen this spot for the
establishment of ware-houses, more within the reach
of the consumers in the interior, and appropriated for
the reception of the commodities received in payment,
it is natural, that of the great number of people which
it employs, a part should fix in places, where they will
have augmented the population in augmenting the
means of subsistence.
There are at St. Philip, six thousand eight hun
dred souls. The city is regularly built. The streets
are on a line and broad. The parish church handsome
and Avell maintained. The common council regu
lates the police, and administers justice. The atmos
phere hot and moist ; the town consequently not ve
ry healthy. Yet they assert, that venereal complaints
are those which most inconvenience the inhabitants.
This city is in 10 degrees 15 minutes of north lati
tude, fifty leagues west of Caraccas, fifteen north
west of Valencia, and seven north-west of Nirgua.

Nirg,

ua.

The city of Nirgua, erected on account of the
mines discovered in its soil, is, as has been seen, Chap.
I. one of the first founded in the province of Vene
zuela. Its environs are fertile ; but the air unwhole
some. Even the natives of the place are frequently at
tacked by acute disorders that terminate only in death.

151
There have never been many whites in it ; but,
there have been many less, since that the Sambos
of Nirgua, for services rendered to the royal authori
ty, have attained from the king the title, of his faith
ful and loyal subjects, the Sambos of the city of Nir
gua. The whites must necessarily abandon a place,
where this favour, exclusively accorded to the Sam
bos, promised them no longer any thing but mortifi
cation and discord. In fact, the whites have insensi
bly withdrawn themselves. They now count no more
than four or five families, who would deem them
selves exceedingly happy, if their colour enjoyed
there the same respect as that of black or copper.
All the offices of the common council are occupied
by Sambos. There is only the lieutenant-mayor of
the justicia-mayor, named by the governor of the pro
vince, that is white.
The city manifests every symptom of decline. —
The houses are almost all in ruins from age, without
one of its ravages being repaired by the hand of man.
Its population is three thousand two hundred persons.
But I owe to my reader some idea of the Sambo,
which I ought, perhaps, to have given him before.
The Sambo is the offspring of a negro man with an In
dian woman, or of an Indian man with a negro Avoman.
His colour is nearly that of a grif or cobb, the produce
of a mulatto and negro. The Sambo is well formed,
nervous, and able to endure fatigue ; but, all his
tastes, all his inclinations, all his faculties, are turned
to vice. The mere name of Sambo, signifies in the
country, a good for nothing, idler, drunkard, cheat,
thief, and even an assassin. Of ten crimes that are

152
committed, eight always appertain to this cursed class
of Sambos. Immorality is their characteristic. It is
not perceived, in the same degree, either in negroes,
mulattoes, or any other race, pure or mixed. A phe
nomenon, which struck me is, that the children of a
white man Avith an Indian woman, whose colour is a
pale Avhite, are all delicate, agreeable, good, docile ;
and so far from age destroying these qualities, it, on
the contrary, only renders them more striking.
The city of Nirgua, is in 10 degrees of north lati
tude, 71 degrees 10 minutes of longitude west, and
forty-eight leagues from Caraccas.
San Carlos.
It is to the first missionaries of Venezuela, that the
city of San Carlos OAves its existence, and to the acti
vity of its inhabitants, its growth and beauty. The
major part of its Avhite population is composed of
Spaniards from the Canaries ; and as they remove
themselves from their natal soil only to meliorate
their lot, they arrive Avith good dispositions to labour,
and courage to undertake whatever may be neces
sary to accomplish their end. Their example esta
blishes a species of emulation, that communicates it
self even to the Creoles, and from which the public
prosperity cannot but find its advantage. It is at least,
the only reason which reflection has furnished me, of
the ease that reigns at San Carlos. Live stock form
the grand mass of the riches of its inhabitants. Cattle,
horses, mules, are in great abundance. Cultivation,
Avithout being well pursued, is not neglected. Indi-

153
go and coffee are almost the only articles raised. —
The quality of the soil gives an exquisite flavour to
the fruits*, and particularly to the oranges, which are
celebrated throughout the whole province.
The city is large, handsome and well divided. —
They- reckon nine thousand five hundred inhabitants.
The parish church in its construction and neatness,
corresponds, with the industrious activity and piety
of its parishioners.
The heat experienced at San Carlos, is very great.
It would be excessive, if the violence of the north-east
wind did notdiminish the intenseness of the sun. San
Carlos is in 9 degrees 20 minutes of north latitude ;
60 degrees south-west of Caraccas, tAventy-eight
leagues south south -Avest of Valencia, and twenty
leagues from St. Philip.
Government of Cumana.
The government of Cumana is composed of two
provinces ; one properly called Cumana, and the
other Barcelona. It is not well known, how Bar
celona Avith its dependencies, has been able to obtain
the character of a province, having never had parti
cular governors. Since it has been conquered from
the Indians, it has constantly made a part of the go
vernment of Cumana. Behold the explanation Avhich
my researches have placed within my power to. give.
That which is at this day called the province of
Barcelona, made a part of the province of Venezue
la, and was found consequently to be comprised
Vol. Ill, u

154
within the grant made in 1528, to the Welsers ; but,
their views, always directed towards the south, did
not permit them to turn their attention to the eastern
parts of the province. It was even a long period after
the privilege was revoked, before the Spanish go
vernors could occupy themselves with conquering
the territory of Barcelona.
The first expedition, composed of one hundredSpa-
niards, and four hundred Indians, was entrusted, in
1579, by the governor Pimentel, to Garci Gonzales.
It was originally destined for the conquest of the
Quiriquires Indians on the borders of the Tuy. The
ravages Avhich the Cumanagotos committed more to
the east, determined him to commence by reducing
them. Their number, Courage, ferocity, and the ad
vantage of their position, placed victory on the side
of the Indians. The Spaniards were beaten, driv
en back, and pursued ; nothing was wanting to their
defeat. This enterprise, beset with difficulties and
dangers, was no longer coveted by any one. They
Avere obliged to impose it as a punishment on Chris
topher Cobos, condemned by the audience of St. Do
mingo, to aid at his own expense, in the subjugation
of Venezuela, as an expiation for the crime which his
father, governor of Cumana, had committed on the
person of Francis Faxardo, Avhomhehad, from jea
lousy, caused to be strangled in a prison, as has been
already mentioned in Chap. I.
Christopher Cobos, obtained from the governor,
Roxas, for a conquest that demanded a considerable
force,- only one hundred and seventy Spaniards, and
three hundred Indians from the coast. In the month

153
of March, 1685, he entered into the territories of the
Cumanagotos, who, elated with their former success,
gave him frequent battles, in which his valour and in
trepidity were put to full trial. Yet, by dint of en
gagements and victories, he remained sufficiently
master of the country, to found on the banks of the
river Salee, and at a little distance from its mouth, a
city to which he gave the name of his Saint.
So soon as he saw himself in possession of a coun
try, of which he had himself believed the conquest
impossible, with such feeble means, he thought of re
venging himself on the governor Roxas. He had va
rious conferences with the governor of Cumana, Ro-
drigo Nunez Lobo, from whence resulted the union
of the conquest of Cobos to the government of Cu
mana. The natural indolence of Roxas, put the seal
to this arrangement, in giving to the governor of Cu
mana time to render to the king an account of it, and
to receive his approbation of the measure, which was
the more certain, as it could be of very little impor
tance to the mother country, whether this part should
belong to the government of Cumana, or that of
Venezuela. It is thus, that the limits of Venezuela,
which till then were at Maracapana, were carried to
the river Unara, where they at this day still are. It is
presumable, that the government of Cumana, at
first gave to its neAv acquisition the tide of the
province of Cumanagotos, which it relinquished to
take the name of Barcelona, so soon as that city be
came its capital.
The government of Cumana is bounded on the
north and to the east by the sea, on the west by the

156
river XJnara, ©n the south by the river Oronoko, •ex
cept on those parts where the left bank ofthisxiver is
inhabited. The jurisdjctionof the governor of Guia
na extends to within cannon shot of the establish
ments situated to the north of the Oronoko.
From the «*er Unara to the city of Cumana, the
land is tolerably fertile. From the point of Araya,
for twenty to twenty-eight leagues more to the east,
the coast is dry, sandy, and ungrateful. The soil of
fers to man nothing but an inexhaustible mine of salt,
at once marine and mineral. That which borders on
the Oronoko, is good only for raising cattle, and it is
to lihat use they apply it. It is there that all the com
mons of the province are situated.
The residue is every where of a wonderful fertility.
The plains, the valleys, the hill sides announce, by
their verdure and kind pf productions, that nature has
there placed the most actiye principles of germination.
But the inheritance is so little disputed with the beasts
Of the field, that by an inexplicable singularity,
neither tigers, panthers, nor even apes, have any
dread of man. The most precious trees, the guia-
cum, anacardium, brazil, and campeachy wood, are
found down to the very coast of Paria itself. The
air -is peopled with birds the most rare and -charming.
The interior of the governmentof Cumana is occu
pied by mountains, some of which are of an extraor
dinary-elevation. The highest, that of Tumeriquiri,
is ninetiundred arid thirty five toises above the level
of the sea.
In this 'mountain is the cavern of Guacharo, famous
among the Indians. It is immense, and serves as a

151
habitation for millions of nocturnal birds (a new spe
cies of the vaprimulgus of Linnaeus) whose fat yields
the oil of Guacharo. Its site is majestic, and adorn
ed by the most brilliant vegetation. There issues
from ihe cavern a river of some magnitude, and with*
in is heard the mournful cry of the birds, which the
Indians attribute to the souls that are forced to enter
this cavern in order to go to the other world. But
they are enabled to obtain permission for it only when
their conduct in this life has been without reproach.
If it has been otherwise, 'they are retained for a short
er or longer time, according to the heinousness of
their offences. This dark, wretched, mournful abode
draws from them the mournings and plaintive cries
heard without.
The Indians have so little doubt of this fable, sup
ported by tradition, being a sacred truth commanding
the utmost respect, that immediately after the denth
of their parents or friends, they repair to the mouth
of the cavern to ascertain that their souls have met
with no impediment. If they think they have not
distinguished the voice of the deceased, they with
draw overjoyed, and celebrate the event by inebriety
and dances characteristic of their felicity; but if they
imagine they have heard the voice of the defunct,
they hasten to drown their grief in intoxicating liquors,
in the midst of dances, adapted from their nature, to
paint their despair.
So, whatever may be the lot of die departed soul,
his relations and friends give themselves up to the
same excesses; there is no difference, but in the cha
racter of the dance.

158
All the Indians of the government of Cumana and
Oronoko not converted to the faith, and even many of
those who appear to be so, have notwithstanding as
much respect for this opinion as their ancestors could
possibly have had. It appears that it is not, like so
many others of its kind, the child of imposture or fa
naticism ; for it is not accompanied with any religious
ceremony, the expense of which, would increase the
revenue of the inventor's benefice. The cavern itself
shows no vestige of superstition having at any time,
obtained there the least monument of the empire im
posture might have wished to exercise over credu
lity. This prejudice then is solely the effect of fear,
ever ingenious in creating phantoms, and in imagining
those things which flatter the illusion. Among the
Indians tAvo hundred leagues from the cavern to go
down into Guacharo, is synonimous with to die.
Mr. Humboldt has informed us, that in the moun
tains of the government of Cumana, especially in those
of Tumeriqueri, there is a layer about three toises
thick of limestone and argillaceous earth mixed with
a great portion of coal. Upon this stratum is often
found one of sandy earth, which appears modern. —
It is a mass of shells, quartz, and secondary limestone.
Respecting the formation of this sandy earth it is
easy to be deceived ; for at thirty toises deep these
strata appear to be of pure limestone ; but on exa
mining them attentively, quartz is discovered in the
mass, then the limestone base disappears by degrees,
till the quartz increases so much, that hardly any thing
else can be perceived.

159
The principal establishments of the dependencies
of Cumana are on the western coast, as Barcelona,
Piritu, Clarinas, &c. Twelve leagues to the south
west of Cumana is the Valley of Cumanacoa, where
the plantations of tobacco on account of the king are
situated. The soil is so congenial to this species of
production, that the tobacco cultivated there, obtains
in the country a marked preference over that raised
in every other part of Terra Firma. Connoisseurs
pay willingly for the segars of the tobacco of Cuma
nacoa, double the amount given for those made of
tobacco from any other quarter. In the environs of
Cumanacoa are the Indian villages of San-Fernando,
Arenas, and Aricagua, situated in a territory of ex
treme but useless fertility. More in the interior are
found the Valleys of Carepa, Guanaguana, Cocoyar,
&c. very fertile, but uncultivated.
The part which seems to have a disposition to re
vive, is the coast of the gulf of Paria, from the place
where the Guarapicha disembogues to the most nor
thern mouth of the Oronoko. We there see two vil
lages yet rising, Guiria and Guinima, inhabited by
Spaniards and French refugees from Trinidad, since
the English possessed themselves of it in 1797. The
progress which cultivation has made in this short in
terval, induces a presumption that this district will in
a few years, become the richest in the province. It
is true that the neighbourhood held by the British, of
fers to the cultivator on the coast of Paria, encourage
ments which he finds in no other part. He there pro
cures himself at a cheap rate, and often on credit, all
the iron Avork necessary for his establishments, and

160
he there selH in a moment, all his commodities with
out duties, and with hardly any expense of trans
portation, at prices far superior to those he could gain
in the Spanish ports. Will the government determine
to tolerate this clandestine intercourse, which, in fact,
can be considered as only trifling inconveniences, in
comparison to the advantages, which it secures to the
province, or will it adopt measures to prevent it ? It
is a problem which wisdom ought to solve. But it
seems to me that good policy advises to take no no
tice of it till the plantations on the borders of the gulf
of Paria shall be considerable enough to draw to them
the commerce of the mother country.
The whole territory of the government of Cuma
na, is intersected in every direction by rivulets,
brooks, and rivers equally applicable to the purposes
of flooding as to those of hydraulic machines and navi
gation. I have already said, that the rivers which
discharge themselves into the sea to the north, are the
Neveri and Mansanaries, both of small size and gen
tle current ; and that those Avhich disembogue to the
east and in the gulf of Paria, traverse a greater extent
of country. Some throw themselves into the Guara-
picha, which is itself navigable at twenty-five leagues
from the sea. These rivers are the Colorado, the
Guatatar, the Caripa, the Punceres, the Tiger, the
Guayuata, &c. others have their course to the south,
and, after having Avatered the province, empty them
selves into the Oronoko.
The productions of the government of Cumana,
might then be shipped, as may be convenient, to the
north by Barcelona and Cumana ; to the east by the .

161
gulf of Paria ; and to the south by the Oronoko. It
would be difficult for nature to do more than she has
done for this part of the world, which ought, far its
present situation to accuse the indolence of man, not
the care of providence. But what progress can she pro
mise herself with a population of twenty-four thousand
persons, of all ages, of all colours, and of both sexes,
scattered over an extent of such, magnitude? They
even reckon in this number, the Indians of the mis
sion of the Arragonese Capuchins, whose reduction is
still uncertain, and Avhose labours are an absolute nul
lity. These missions, which they callchaymes, are
spread through the mountains, where a number of sa
vage Indians exercise the Zealand patience of mis
sionaries. A million of cultivators, in the province of Cuma
na, would give to Spain as much produce as she
draws from all her other possessions ; for there is not
a country, that unites in the same degree as Cumana,
richness of soil, to the benefits of flooding, the conve^
nience of transporting its commodities, and the ad
vantages of situation to windward of all Terra-Firma.
Cumana.
The city of Cumana, the most ancient of all Terra-
Firma, was built, as has already been said, in 1520,
by Gonzalo'Qcampo, near a quarter of a league from
the sea, on a sandy and dry soil.
It is in 10 degrees 37 minutes, 37 seconds of north
latitude, and 66 degrees 30 minutes longitude Avest
Vol. III. *

162
from Paris. The thermometer of Reaumur, rises
generally in July, to 23 degrees in the day, and to 19
in the night. The maximum . . 27
The minimum . . 17
The elevation of the city above the level of the sea
is fifty-three feet. In July, the hygrometer of Duluc,
generally indicates 50 to 53 degrees of humidity.
The maximum . . 66
The minimum ... 46
According to the cyanometer of Saussure, there are
24 degrees of the blue of the sky, whilst at Caraccas
there are but 18, and in Europe generally 14.
The seat of government of the two provinces of
which it is composed, is at Cumana. The governor,
appointed for five years, is at the same time vice-
patron, and, in this capacity, nominates to all the va
cant benefices, and fills up all those offices of religious
, Avorship, whose appointments constitute a part of the
royal prerogatives. As sub-delegate of the intend
ant, he has the administration of the finances of his
department, he superintends the receipt of the
taxes, removes doubts, directs the ordinary expenses,
and receives the accounts of the officers of the ad
ministration ; but he is subordinate to the captain-
general as to all political relations with foreign colo
nies, and whatever concerns the military department.
He is, also, in the management of the finances, and
commercial regulations, under the orders of the. in
tendant. Yet a governor of Cumana, Don Vicinte Emparan,
a native of Biscay, took upon himself, during the

163
war from 1793 to 1801, to admit into the ports of his
government, neutral vessels, though he had orders to
exclude them. By this happy resistance, abundance
reigned' within his jurisdiction, during a time in
which the whole residue of Terra-Firma were in want.
of every thing, except dry goods furnished by the
English colonies. There is this besides, that the very
war which respect for the prohibitive laws wOuld
have rendered destructive to the provinces of Cuma
na and Barcelona, became, on the contrary, the occa
sion and means of a growth, that Avill there for ever
cause to be blessed, the name of the governor, who
had the courage to expose himself to the reproaches
of his king, for the sake of the welfare of the country
entrusted to his care. But his Catholic Majesty, al
ways just in his decisions, instead of blaming the
conduct of the governor Emparan, bestowed on him
the highest commendations. In the month of April,
1804, he obtained permission to retire, with the whole
of his appointments of governor of Cumana, and was
replaced by a brigadier of the king's troops,*Don Juan
Manuel de Cagigal. I have sufficiently known and
followed him during his exercise of the office of king's
lieutenant at Caraccas, to be able to prognosticate
that the inhabitants of the province of Cumana wilj-
have reason to applaud this choice.
To the north of the city of Cumana, is the gulf of
Cariaco, which I have slightly described in the chap
ter of chorography. The church of Divina-Pastora,
is the nearest public building to it.
The river Mansanares, which separates on the
south, the city from the suburbs occupied by the

164
Guayqueris Indians, encompasses the city on the
south and west. The water of this river is the only
water drank by the inhabitants of Cumana. It has
often the disadvantage of not being clear, but is sel
dom unwholesome.
Cumana enjoys a healthy air, though scarcely ever
cool. To reside there, one must be resigned to suf
fer continual heat. Yet the sea breeze is tolera
bly regular, and moderates, during a great part of
the day, the fervour of the sun, although it is oblig
ed, in order to arrive there, to surmount a hill, that
lies on the back of the toivn, and extends itself along
the whole of the eastern side of the city. A fort,
placed on this hill, constitutes the whole defence of
Cumana, which itself is garrisoned by only two hun
dred and thirty regulars, and one company of artillery.
Religious worship has at Cumana no more than a
single parish church, situated to the south-east of the
city, near a fort that they have demolished. The or
der of St. Dominick has but one monastery, and that
of St. Francis another. Both have a long time felt the
misery of the country. They noAV enjoy, by means
of charity, the happy results of the encouragement
agriculture has for the last twelve years received in
this province.
The number of inhabitants in Cumana of every
age and colour, is twenty-four thousand. It is now
four times as large as it Avas fifty years ago. It in
creases with so much the more rapidity, as the an
cient scite of the town affording no further convenient
room for neAv houses, they have been obliged for some
short time back, to build on the left bank of the fiver

165
Mansanares, to the west of the village of the Guay-
queris. These new houses are already sufficiently
numerous to form a village which communicates Avith
the city by a bridge ; and the inhabitants, in 1803,
erected a church for the more convenient discharge
of the duties of religion. The first street that was
laid out bears the name of Emparan. It is a tribute
which the inhabitants of Cumana pay to the governor,
who did every thing that he was able for their pros
perity. All the houses of Cumana are low and slightly built.
The frequent earthquakes they have experienced for
these ten years, have compelled them to sacrifice beau
ty and elegance to personal safety. The violent shocks
felt in the month of December, 1797, threAv down al
most all the edifices of stone, and rendered uninhabit
able those which Avere left standing. The earthquake
of November, 1799., caused a variation in the needle
of 45 degrees.
According to the judicious observations of- Mr.
Humboldt, Cumana is exposed to earthquakes from
its proximity to the gulf of Cariaco, as it appears to
have some communication with the volcanos of Cum-
mucuta, which throw out hydrogene gaz, sulphur, and
hot sulphureous water. It is observed that the earth
quakes take place only after rains, and that the caverns
of Cuchivano, at those periods, emit during the night
inflammable gaz, which is seen to shine for the height
of a hundred toises. It is probable that the decom
position of the water in burning marl that is full of
pyrites, and Avhich contains hydrogene particles, is
one of the principal causes of this phenomena. See
the article Earthquake, in Chap. II.

166
The population of Cumana is in a great measure'
composed of white Creoles, among whom very con
siderable natural abilities are remarked. They are
exceedingly attached to the soil that gave them birth.
They generally apply themselves solely to that species
of occupation which their birth or fortune has assign
ed them. Agriculture occupies some ; commerce, na
vigation, the fisheries furnish subsistence to a number
of others. The number of fish taken in the latitudes of
Cumana, allow of salting an astonishing quantity and
of making large shipments to Caraccas, and the other
cities of these provinces, and to export also to the
Windward- Islands, from Avhence they bring back in
return iron implements of husbandry, provisions, and
contraband goods. The cargoes are always of very
little value. They are contented with moderate pro
fits, which they increase by multiplying their voyages.
From funds of four or five thousand hard dollars,
Avhich in other places would appear insufficient for
any commercial enterprize, five or six families in Cu
mana can derive a maintenance. Activity and assi
duity form the whole expenditure, from whence the
ease which reigns there proceeds.
The Creoles who enter into the career of let
ters, distinguish themselves by their penetration,
judgment, and application. There is not seen exact
ly the same vivacity of spirit that is perceived in the
Creoles of Maracaibo, but those of Cumana are
compensated by a larger portion of good sense and
solidity. The retail trade and chandlery are carried on by
some Catalonians, and a few from the Canary Islands.

167
• Amidst the productions which Cumana adds to
commerce* cacao nuts, and the oil extracted from
them, deserve to be mentioned. Medicinal plants
might also figure among the commercial articles, if
the inhabitants had an exact knowledge of them, and
Avere not ignorant of the manner in which they ought
to be prepared. There is found in abundance in the
environs of Cumana, a species ©f bark, called by the
Spaniards tupsa. The calaguala, a plant, the root of
which is a great dissolvent, aperiative, and sudorific;
the pissipini, a sort of emetic ; the caranapira, a species
of sage ; the tuatua, a purgative more powerful than
jalap. There are also a variety of aromatics, which
perish on the same spot Avhere nature has produced
them. (See for the residue, the Chapter Commerce,
to learn what Cumana carries on, and under what kind
of regulation.) Names of the Merchants of Cumana.
Berrisbeytia. (Don Mauricio.)
Coll. (Don Augustin.)
Jotosans. (Don Joseph. )
Lerma. (Don Joseph.)
Cumanacoa.
Cumanacoa, although the Spaniards sound the pe-
nultima long, is a Basque, or Biscayan word, signify
ing what is from Cumana ; without doubt, because the
germ of the city of this name was drawn from the
city of Cumana, and because some of these emi
grants were Biscayans. It is situated fourteen leagues

168
south-east of Oumana, in the middle of a valley of
the same name ; its population is four thousand two
hundred persons; the air is wholesome, and the waters
possess a diuretic quality that is not often met with.
It wants only hands to enrich itself from the produc
tions which the goodness of the land would yield if it
was cultivated. The fruits have a flavour, a taste, and
a firmness, which they possess but in few other places.
The government gives to this city the name of San
Baltasar de los Arias ; but that of Cumanacoa has so
prevailed that it is known by no other appellation.
Cariaco.
This city, placed on the river of the same name,
bears in the official papers and tribunals that of San
Philippo de Austria. It has a population of only six
thousand five hundred persons, but every one em
ploys his time so Avell as to banish poverty from it. —
The production the most congenial to its soil, is cot
ton, the beauty of which surpasses that of all the cot
ton of Terra-Firma. This spot alone, furnishes an
nually more than three thousand quintals. They raise
also a little cacao, and a small quantity of sugar.
New-Barcelona.
This city, founded in 1634, by Don Juan Urpin, is
situated in a plain on the left bank of the river Neve-
ri, and at a league from its mouth. It has a popula
tion of fourteen thousand souls, a single parish church,
and a hospital for the Franciscans, who support the
missions of this part. It is neither handsomely nor

169
agreeably constructed. Its unpaved streets are ex.
tremely muddy in rainy weather, and, in dry sea
sons, covered with a dust, so light that the least
breath raises it in the air. The immense quantity of
hogs fed there, induce in the city a number of stink
ing and infectious sties, that corrupt the air, and fre
quently create diseases. The common council, whose
principal duty it is to watch over the health of the in
habitants, apathetically leave it exposed to all the ma
lignity of those pestilential miasma, in the dangers of
which it partakes itself. But I have learnt, that to
wards the close of the year 1803, the commandant
of the place, Mr. Cagigal, took very sensible mea
sures for removing from the town an infection that
cannot but poison its residence.
The city of Barcelona was originally peopled from
the inhabitants of St. Christopher of Cumanagoto, to
which it has been in some degree, substituted.
Cultivation is exceedingly neglected at Barcelona
and in its environs. The valleys best cultivated, are
those of Capirimal and Brigantin. There are others
equally fertile, which remain totally neglected, and
altogether do not yield above three thousand quintals
of cacao, and some little cotton. This part is almost
without slaves ; they reckon but two thousand, on an
extent of surface that would employ two hundred
thousand ; and the moiety of even these two thous
and are occupied in domestic services.
The excellent pasturage, that covers the immense
plains dependent on Barcelona, naturally induced the
Inhabitants to prefer open fields and common lands,
Vol. III. 7

170
in -which they for a long time found their account.- —
Besides the horned cattle they sold for the consump
tion of the country or for exportation, they killed a
prodigious quantity, the meat of which they salted,
and was always sold in the neighbouring islands and
at the Havanna, at a hundred per cent profit. The
tallow and hides formed also a very important object
of commerce. This resource has at the present day,
without being totally destroyed, very much diminish
ed. The robbers who, since 1801, with impunity
despoil the commons, hate reduced these provinces
to such a want of cattle, that they can scarce, obtain
enough for butcher's meat. I have already'spoken
of these disorders, as well in the chapter oh Com
merce, as under the article of Calaboso, in the present
chapter. The population of Barcelona is half of Avhites, half
of persons of colour. The last are here as useless to
agriculture as every Avhere else. Among the whites,
there is a portion of Catalonians, Avho are exclusively
engaged in commerce ; their speculations are directed
as Avell to prohibited as permitted articles. Their fre
quent expeditions to Trinidad, are composed on
their return, of nothing but contraband goods, of
which Barcelona becomes the entrepot, from whence
they are afterwards, either by land or by sea, distri
buted through the other provinces. They estimate
at four hundred thousand hard dollars, the specie an
nually exported from Barcelona for this [clandestine
commerce.

171
Names of the Merchants of Barcelona.
Goyheneche. ,(Don Martin) ,.-¦.-.
Hardindeguy. (Don Pedro-Joseph)
Macia. (Don Juan-de-Dios)
Salavary. (Don Martin)
Simonovis. (Don Geronimo)
Barcelona is in 10 degrees 10 nainutes of north lati
tude, ten leagues by sea from Cumana, but the roads
are so bad that by land it is reckoned twenty.
Conception del Pao.
The inhabitants of Trinidad, Margaretta, and Ca
raccas, proprietors of commons in the plains in the
vicinity of the Oronoko, # to the south of Barcelona,
fixed successively their abodes in the centre of their
properties, in order to be more at hand to superin
tend them. The number of houses were found in
1744, so considerable, as to honour this hamlet with
the title of village. They do not reckon, however,
more. than two thousand three hundred persons of
all descriptions, whom the fertility of the soil enables
to live in ease. They here enjoy good air, and drink
good water ; there are no other inconveniencies than
an excessive heat, and the inundations occasioned by
the long and heavy rains. Cultivation is here re
duced to the provisions of the country. The riches
of the inhabitants is entirely in animals, which they
export by the Guarapicha or by the Oronoko, to
Trinidad.

172
This village, become a town, is distinguished from,
St. John the Baptist of Pao, situated in the province
of Venezuela, by the tide of Conception of Pao. Al-
cedo, author of the Dictionary of America, reproaches
the geographer, Don Juan de la Cruz, with having
placed the city of Pao, to the south of Valencia, as if
there was but one single city of this name. This proves
that the geographer knew nothing of La Conception
del Pao, and that Alcedo was ignorant of the exist
ence of Pao of Venezuela.
The city of Conception del Pao is situated 45
leagues from Barcelona ; 55 from Cumana ; and near
28 leagues south-east of Caraccas.
Government of the Isle of Margaretta.
The island of Margaretta, situated in 10 degrees
56 minutes of north latitude, and between 66 and 67
degrees of longitude west from the meridian of Paris,
is famous for its, fishery for pearls, from whence it
has received its name. It is to the south of Terra
Firma, and is separated from it only by an arm of the
sea eight leagues wide. It was discovered by Colum
bus in 1498, and the right of soil ceded by Charles
V. in 1524, to Marceau Villalobos. It insensibly
was peopled sufficiently to excite the envy of the
Dutch, who in 1662 burnt the town, and destroyed
the fort built for its defence. So fatal a blow could
not fail of checking its prosperity. The nature of its
soil had condemned it to be for ever only a languish
ing establishment, Instead of vegetative earth, it is
covered with a sandy surface near a foot in thickness,.

173
mixed with hollow and rotten madrepores. Cultivation
holds out no hopes. The whole of what is there, is com
fined to a few plants of cotton, and some sugar canes
that do not produce enough for even the consump
tion of the island. But from its situation, it may well
excite the envy of every commercial and maritime
power, because, separated from Terra Firma by a
distance of only eight leagues, and to windward of all
her provinces, it might become, under a system of
free commerce, the general entrepot oi Cumana, Bar
celona, Caracca6, Laguira, and all the cities of the
interior. The island of Trinidad, much less favour
ably situated for the accomplishment of this object,
gives, notwithstanding, to the .Spanish contraband
trade, all the aid it requires, and disposes, by this
means, of an inconceivable quantity of merchandise.
It would have no other vent than that of Guiana, if
all the eastern part of Terra Firma found, in the island
of Margaretta, at hand, and without the expense of
navigation, what it is now obliged to buy at a greater
distance. To the advantages which the island of Margaretta
presents, it unites others not less important. We
have observed that it serves to form the channel that
separates it from Terra Firma. This channel is not
even navigable for the whole eight leagues of its
width. The island of Cocbe, situated in the middle,
leaves the navigator a very narrow passage tAvo
leagues from Margaretta, through which he must in
dispensably pass. Every vessel coming from wind
ward, or from Europe to Cumana, to Barcelona, and
even to Laguira, is obliged to run doAvn the south

174
side of Margaretta. ' Were this island in the power
of the enemies of i Spain, all the commerce with Eu
rope, all intercourse withthe neighbouring islands
would be so much the easier intercepted, as those
which endeavoured to avoid the channel, would be
taken by privateers, to whom Margaretta would serve
as an arsenal. An enterprising enemy would find al
so, in the situation of Margaretta, means of easily di
recting his expeditions against any part of Terra Fir
ma he might wish to invade.
For every reason already pointed out in Chapter
V. article " Armed Force," Spain ought to hold Mar
garetta, not on account of the direct advantages she
might hope from it, but from the disadvantages it
would occasion her by, passing under another sove
reignty. It is here that we behold the cause which
has erected this island into a separate government,
and which, in time of war, adopts all possible mea
sures to repel every aggression.
Throughout the whole coast of Margaretta, there
are but three ports. The first and principal one is
Pampatar, to the east south-east; the second, called
Pueblo de la Mar, is one league to leeward of the pre
ceding ; the third is on the north side, and therefore
called Pueblo del Norte, the village of the north. At
each of these ports there is a village, the most im
portant of which is Pampatar. It is there that all the
fortifications deemed requisite for the defence of the
island are placed.
The capital city is Assumption ; built almost in
the centre of the island. There are three other vil
lages which bear the names of the valleys where

175
they are situated ; that is to say, the Valleys of St..
John ; of Margaretta ; and de los Robles, or of Oaks.
The whole population of the island is fourteen thous
and persons, divided into five thousand five hundred
whites ; two thousand Indians ; and six thousand five
hundred slaves and freed persons. Cultivation being
there almost nothing, we cannot speak of the industry
of the inhabitants. Their principal riches are in the
pearl fisheries established in the island of Coche, in
the middle of the channel. They are carried on by
the Indians of Margaretta, who are obliged to trans
port themselves there and work in the fishery during
three months of the year, at the moderate wages of
one real each per day, and bread of Indian meal for
their only support. Five individuals of Margaretta
were charged in 1803 with these fisheries, which af
ford also a number of turtles, and an immense quan
tity of fish, which they salt, and sell throughout the
continent and neighbouring islands.
They fabricate at Margaretta those hammocks of
cotton, whose web is so much superior to the ham
mocks manufactured in any other place. They also
make cotton stockings of extreme fineness, but too
dear to be any thing more than objects of luxury and
whim. The island possesses so many parrots and
other curious birds, that not a vessel leaves the ports
of Margaretta without having a little cargo on board.
The poultry raised there, becomes also a resource for
the poor, who sell their foAvls and turkies to the foreign
islands. The vigilance against smuggling being less active
at Margaretta than elsewhere, they are enabled to

176
carry it on with greater facility ; but they avail them
selves of this advantage in hardly any thing but mules,
which they import from Terra Firma on their own
account, and as if for their own use, though they af
terwards clandestinely export them to foreign settle
ments. The island contains no other commercial house of
consequence than that of Mancyro, brothers. It was
in 1804, under the direction of the eldest, Don Fran*
cisce Mancyro. Government of Maracaibo.
Maracaibo, founded by the orders of the governors
of Venezuela, remained a longtime under their juris
diction. Then a new division of governors fixed one
at Merida, on whom Maracaibo depended. At
length Maracaibo became the capital, and gave to its
district the title of Province.
This government covers a very little extent from
east to west, but it stretches more than a hundred
leagues towards the south, where it is bounded by
the kingdorii of Santa Fe. The government of Rio
de la Hache, dependent on the government of Grena
da, bounds it on the west ; the sea on the north ; and
the province of Venezuela, according to its new cir
cumscription, on the east.
The soil of the province of Maracaibo is for a cer
tain distance, from the capital, ungrateful. All the
eastern bank of the lake is dry, unhealthy, and cover
ed with prickly pears, nickers, popes heads, and the
thorny taper, where productions for commerce can

177
never be raised, nor man be able to maintain him
self. On the west bank, the land does not begin to
be fertile but at more than twenty-five leagues to the
south of the city. All that lies to the south of the
lake may contend with the best lands of South Ame
rica. There wants, as in so many other parts, only
hands to render this province flourishing, and to fur
nish for annual exportation as many articles, as tAvo
thousand yessels of three hundred tons each could
load. Maracaibo.
The city of Maracaibo is situated on the left bank
of the lake of the same name, at six leagues from the
sea. Its location is sandy, and without the least spot
of vegetative earth.
Its climate is so much the more hot, as the breezes
there are faint, and far from regular, as the soil is not
watered by any kind of running stream, and rain is
not frequent. The heats are excessive, particularly
from the month of March to October; but the
months of August and July are insupportable. The air
breathed at this period, appears to have issued from
a furnace. The only meahs of preventing the effects
of this calcinating atmosphere is to bathe in the lake;
It is in bathing in these Waters, that the inhabitants of
Maracaibo, temper the ardor and acrimony of their
blood, inflamed by the action of the sun.
In spite of the extreme and almost continual heat
experienced at Maracaibo, it is a healthy residence.
There are no epidemic complaints. A man once
Vol. III. z

178
seasoned to the climate, preserves his health as well,
and better than in many other places, where the heats
are less intense, and the means of refreshing himself
more multiplied.
The trade-winds blow there in general from the com
mencement of March till June or July. The months
of August and September are calm, unless when they
are interrupted by the south wind, Avhich they deno-^
minate in the country, on account of its insalubrity,
the destroyer.* They remark that Avhen the breezes
are moderate, the year is rainy ; when violent, that
they are succeeded by droughts. Maracaibo is sub
ject to dreadful tempests. The thunder breaks with
the most frightful explosion ; the lightning frequent
ly strikes and consumes houses, ships, and every
thing by Avhich it is attracted or that it meets. They
do not however experience those furious hurricanes
which every year seem to threaten the very existence
of the Antilles. All terrifying and all destructive as
these tempests may be, one is there reduced to the
necessity of wishing for them, because, when they
fail, they are replaced, by earthquakes, which are still
more dreaded. The deluges of rain some of these
tempests produce, are so excessive, that they form a
torrent Avhich traverses the city of Maracaibo, with a
rapidity that is inconceivable, bearing along with it
trees, and causing, in proportion to its rise, desolation
to houses and every thing^it finds in its course. Happi
ly, these sorts of disasters are never of long duration.
The principal part of the city is on the shore of a
small gulf, one league in depth, which forms the lake
* Virason, literally the arrow.

179
towards the west. The other part is to the north, in
the celebrated neck of the lake, Avhich at this place is
three leagues wide, from whence it begins to ex
tend itself toAvards the south. They call Maracaibo
Point that Avhere the city begins ; that where the
gulf commences, Point Arieta, situated almost oppo
site Point St. Lucia.
There are at Maracaibo manyjiouses built of lime
and sand, and with a great deal of taste ; but what
ever measures the government may take, however
abundant building- Avood may be, however cheap tiles,
however frequent conflagrations, which often con
sume whole streets, more than two-thirds of the
inhabitants constantly adhere most obstinately to
the opinion that tiles render the houses destruc
tive to the persons who inhabit them, and con
tinue in the custom of covering the handsomest
houses with a kind of reed that grows on the borders
of the lake, called by the Spaniards, enea. This mix
ture of houses covered with tiles, and with reeds,
gives to the city the air of a village, is disagreeable
to the eye, and offers to the voracity of the flames,
food that keeps the city in constant danger.
Some give even a greater latitude to this idea, and
with the means of building houses capable of adorn
ing the city, they construct them, on the contrary, enf
tirely of reeds, thatch, &c. Of this last kind there are
even more than those of which I have already spoken.
As there are neither fountains, nor wells, nor river,
they drink no other water than that of the lake, which
in taste is not agreeable, but in quality, by no means
bad, except in the strong breezes of the months of

isa
March and April; They drive up against the current
the water of the sea, and render that of the lake sq
brackish as not to be drinkable. The poor can in this
case quench their thirst only with water which they
procure by making excavations in the earth ; but this
is badly tasted, and very far from wholesome. They
avoid this inconvenience by cisterns they have in
their houses, to collect the rain water. Those not
quite so affluent, have large jars destined for the
same puupose.
They reckon in Maracaibo, according to the re
turns made in 1801, tAventy-two thousand inhabitants ;
but the Spaniards, who at that epoch arrived from
the Spanish part of St. Domingo, from whence the
government of the Negro, Touissaint, had made
them fly, raised the population of Maracaibo to twen
ty-four thousand persons, divided into four classes «
the nobility, white planters, slaves, and freed-men.
The noble families are those who boast of having
descended from the first conquerors of the province,
or frpm some governors, or judge advocates,* mar
ried in the country, or even from any other officer ;
for the commission, for any office whatsoever, given
by the king, is, in Spanish America, an authentic
title of nobility. They reckon more than thirty of
these families. It is mournful to observe that they all
appear to have been forsaken by fortune ; the pro
perty which they did possess has, under legal pro-
* Auditeurs de guerre; in Geneva, auditeur is synonimous
almost to a sheriff. In France, they were a kind of justice of the
peace, Avith a final jurisdiction over causes not exceeding 25
Jivres.

181
cess, disappeared, or has. been destroyed by the Motiv
Ionian Indians before their reduction. There are
very few of these primitive houses that now enjoy
even an easy mediocrity. In almost all, they experi- '
ence so much misery, that the idea of the illustrious
origin of their family, is the most grateful support
with which they are fed ; for a Spaniard,, once reduced
to indigence, is so for life. The sjiame of labour and
love of indolence, makes him brave like a hero, all the
horrors of want.
The whites not noble are Europeans or Creoles.
This is the class that lives with the greatest comfort,
because it is the only one that labours, and applies
itself to agriculture, navigation, commerce, the fish
eries, &c.
The slaves are feAv ; of this, the non-introduction of
negroes into the province, is the principal, not to say
the only cause. They calculate that their number at
Maracaibo does not exceed five thousand.
The freed persons there are by no means numerous ;
they exercise all kinds of trades ; joiners, tailors, shoe
makers, carpenters, masons, and smiths.
The habit which the citizens of Maracaibo contract
from their infancy, of sailing on the lake, whether for
pleasure, fishing, or the transport of the articles its
southern borders produce, gives them at a very early
period, a taste for navigation. Soon finding in this
place no means of indulging in the practice of it, they
repair in crowds to Porto-Cavello, Laguira, and the
other ports, where a more active navigation serves at
the same time to give them employrhent, and gratify
their ambition. They perform Avith equal ability,

182
coasting, or longer voyages. In those intervals when
war suspends their commercial enterprises, they em
bark on board of privateers. But whatever line they
pursue, they never belie the reputation they possess
of being as good soldiers as sailors. The neighbour
hood of the lake, in the waters of which they exer
cise themselves in their early years, renders them as
excellent swimmers as expert divers.
Those who resist the attractions of the sea, settle
stock.plantations, or take care of those of their fathers.
Nothing better evinces their aptitude to this species of
occupation, than the immense number of beasts with
which the Savannas of Maracaibo are covered. The
principal ones are those of Jobo, Ancon, Palmares,
and Cannades. I ought to mention, that there is more
merit in raising cattle in the Savannas of Maracaibo,
than in any other place in these provinces, because
having neither rivers, nor ponds that never dry up,
drought occasions the death of many, in spite of the
precautions they take, in cases of this sort, to drive
them tOAvards those parts Avhere they can Avith conve
nience Avater them.
But that Avhich does more honour to the inhabitants
of Maracaibo, is their singularly lively wit, their ap
plication to literature, and the progress they make,
notwithstanding the Avretched state in which public
education at Maracaibo is. Whilst the Jesuits were
charged with the instruction of youth, their schools
produced individuals Avho spoke latin with an elegance
and fluency rarely met Avith ; possessing perfectly the
art of oratory, and masters of the rules of poetry;
writing their language in a stile as remarkable for its

183
purity as the boldness of its ideas, and the order and
perspicuity with which they were presented ; in a
word, endowed with every qualification that consti
tutes the man of letters. The expulsion of these
learned preceptors took from the youth of Maracaibo,
every means of instruction.
Notwithstanding the barrenness of resources which
education finds at Maracaibo, we there see young
persons so favoured by nature, that the least tincture
of principles at once developes in them, all the facul
ties, which in Europe do not manifest themselves un
til after long study, and the care of the best teachers.
What adds to the singularity of the phenomenon is,
that this excess of natural genius frequently becomes
prejudicial to the tranquillity of the families of Mara
caibo ; for it is enough for many of these young men
to know the conjugation and government of the
verbs, to be qualified to Avrite pieces, whose subtility
would appear to the knavish advocate, better than the
productions of the counsel who establishes his rea
sons on the principles of the civil law. Such suits as
should never have been instituted, or which the tri
bunals would instantly have decided, become inter
minable and ruinous, by the sophisms with Avhich
these scribblers envelope in darkness causes the most
simple and clear. This disease, very prevalent at
Maracaibo, is by no means a stranger in other Spa
nish territories. The penal laws which the legisla
ture has been forced to enact, to lessen the number of

184
these imps of chicane, whom they call pendolistas,*
literally prove that the evil is general enough.
In allowing that the inhabitants of Maracaibo have
activity, courage, and genius, we have nothing more
to say in their favour. They are reproached with
having very little regard to their word, and with think
ing themselves not bound by their signature until
after they have in vain endeavoured to release them-
selves from it by lavr. Their reputation in this re
spect is so well established, that all strangers whom bu
siness draAvs to Maracaibo, say it is much better to
form connexions of interest with the women, than
Avith the men, because they alone have there that good
faith and firmness, which, in every other part, is the
peculiar heritage of the men.
Since the course of description has led me to speak
of the women of Maracaibo, I ought not to let it be
unknoAvn that they are in their youth paragons of mo
desty ; in marriage, faithful Avives and excellent mo
thers of families. Affection for their husbands; the
cares of their households ; and the education of their
children, are the objects which divide all their
moments, and occupy all their solicitude. They
knoAv not, before marriage, any other amusement
than music. Their favourite instrument is the harp.
There are feAv houses in Avhich the harmonious sound
of this instrument is not heard every evening, and
every day of festival.
The catholic worship has at Maracaibo only one
parish church, aided by a chapel of ease, called St.
Juan de Dios. Of four monasteries, and as many
* Quick-writers.

nunneries, which Alcedo, the author of the Dictiona*
ry of America announces, there is seen and there
never has been seen only that of the Franciscans,
which is well furnished, well supported, and well serv
ed; but they still venerate in the parish church, Avith
as much fervour as ever, the same crucifix,, of which
it is made a sacred duty to relate the prodigies.
They adore also, at Maracaibo, a virgin whose ap
parition, inauguration, and miracles, demand of my
piety, the publication which I am about to make.
This virgin bears the surname of Chiquinquira,
because it Avas in a village of that name, situated in
the kingdom of Sante Fe, that she made her first ap
pearance. Her passion is to paint herself on dish-
clouts, and in the midst of filth. In 1586 they found
her in a farm yard, three-fourths rotten, painted on an
old and shabby piece of linen, which one would al
most instantly have thrown away, if, in the hands of
the good Avoman Ramos, who took her by the ends of
her fingers, her colours had not suddenly animated
themselves, and if their liveliness had not given to her
figure an expression, that made them cry out a mira
cle, and that softens the most hardened hearts. They
dedicated a temple to her ; a fountain rose under the
altar where she Avas placed. She hastened to com
municate to its Avater miraculous virtues, to which she
owes a reputation that will end only with the Spa
niards. She introduced herself into Maracaibo under the,
same form, and in the same manner as at ChiquinJ-
quira, and that is the reason she has preserved its
name. Vol. III. a a

186
An old mulattress taking one day, either from
chance, or from necessity, the only dishclout she had
in the house, perceived some colours upon it. She
stretched it out, and the figure of the virgin struck
her eyes emanating from their orbit. She observed
the colours brighten, and the picture in a twinkling
assumed the most dazzling brilliancy. She called
witnesses, and the miracle, proved by a crowd of old
Avomen, became a sacred truth, that gained the vir
gin the hearts and respect of the whole neighbour
hood. The mulattress, the depositary of this pre
cious relic, exhibited it at her oAvn house, to pub
lic veneration. A great resort to her was establish
ed, miracles commenced, and very shortly all Ma
racaibo addressed their prayers exclusively to our la
dy of Chiquinquira. This celebrity was too great,
and too rapid for the civil and ecclesiastical authori
ties not to think of giving to this virgin a habitation
more decent than her own inclinations had made her
choose. The common council repaired to the mu
lattress to announce to her that they Avere about to
place our lady of Chiquinquira in the parish church.
Neither remonstrances nor tears could change this
resolution. All the clergy, all the local authorities,
all the people went in procession to seek the virgin
and remove her to the parish church. Arrived at
the corner of a street which it was necessary to turn,
the picture acquired a weight, that the whole poAver
of mankind could not move. After innumerable
useless prayers, one of the assistants said, the virgin
was doubtless averse to going to the parish church,
but she might perhaps prefer that of St. Juan de Dios.

187
They followed this inspiration, and succeeded. The
virgin assumed her natural lightness, and they placed
her in the chapel of ease of St. Juan de Dios, where
she immediately declared herself the Avarm protec
tress of all mariners who might invoke her. One
cannot imagine that she wants vows, or that in every
perilous case they do not have recourse to her. On
her part, her zeal and her power are justified by so
many vessels saved after due invocation, that one
must hive lost one's senses to doubt her poAver.
Maracaibo is the seat of a governor, Avho enjoys the
same salary, and exercises the same functions as the
governor of Cumana. Concerning the defence of the
city, see article Armed Force, in Chap. V. The de
scription of its port and lake will be found in Chap. II.
Its latitude is 10 degrees 30 minutes north ; its lon
gitude 74 degrees 6 minutes Avest from the meridian
of Paris ; its distance from Caraccas one hundred and
forty leagues. Merida.
The city of Merida, founded in 1558, by John
Rodriguez Suarez, under the name of Santiago de
Los Caballeros, is situated in a valley three leagues
long, and about three-quarters of a league wide in its
broadest part. It is surrounded by three rivers, the
first bears the name of Mucujun, and takes its course
to the north, in what is called los Paramos de Conejos,
the rabbit barrens. It flows from north to south, and
passes by the eastern part of the city ; the second,
knoAvn under the name of the Albarregas, comes from

188

the north-west and passes to the south-west of the
toAvn ; the third is the Chama ; it runs from the east,
and directs its course by the south of Merida to the
north, until it discharges itself in the lake of Mara
caibo. It receives the two first rivers at a little dis-
stance from Merida, and from the waters of a multi
tude of other streams by which it is successively in
creased, it acquires the size of a river of the first or
der. They cross these rivers on foot and on horse
back, on bridges of Avood constructed with solidity
enough to maintain at all seasons, a free communica
tion. None of these rivers is navigable, on account of
the rapidity of their currents, and the obstacles op
posed to navigation by straits, sometimes formed by
rocks, and at others by mountains that contract its bed
so as to create falls, which no boat can pass without
evident danger of being dashed to pieces. Another
powerful reason for not having sought to overcome
these difficulties, is the excessive insalubrity of that
part of the lake of Maracaibo, into Avhich the river
Chama disembogues. It is, in fact, impossible to
pass two hours on this spot Avithout leaving it in a
fever, which most frequently assumes a character of
malignity that inevitably conducts to the grave. .
Their only cultures then, are befriended by the ri
vers Avhich water the environs of Merida. I ought
to mention to the praise of the inhabitants, that their
industry perfectly seconds the advantages of nature.
At some distance from the city are plantations of su
gar, cacao and coffee, the quality of which is superior
to the same commodities raised in any other part of
the province.

189
All the environs of Merida are covered with the
provisions of the country, with fruits, pulse, such as
maize, beans, peas of every sort, potatoes, cassada,
wheat of the finest quality, barley, &c. All these ar
ticles are consumed on the spot, and are so abundant,
that the poorest people have always more food than is
necessary for their subsistence. The butcheries of
Merida supply Varinas and Pedraza. Most excellent
meat is purchased there at a very moderate price.
The climate of Merida is exceedingly variable :
they experience there every day the four seasons of
the year. Yet the inhabitants insist, that neither the
cold nor the heat, is ever felt to a degree that can in
convenience, and that throughout the year, either
silk or woollen clothes may be indifferently worn ; but
they cannot deny that the variations of weather are so
rapid and sensible as to cause frequent complaints. —
They peculiarly dread the west Avind. It never blows
without leaving traces of its malignity. The rains
are heavy ; they fall through the whole year ; but
with redoubled violence from the month of March to
November ; and at all times they leave some interval
of dry weather.
The city of Merida is the seat of a bishop and a
chapter. It possesses a college, and a seminary,
where the ministers for the catholic worship are form
ed, and where youth receive those principles of edu
cation, that are suitable to every station of life. —
There are masters to teach reading, writing, and
arithmetic ; preceptors for the lower classes, profes
sors of philosophy, theology, morality, the cannon and
the civil laAV. All the schools are under the direction

190
and superintendance of a rector and vice-rector, and
under the immediate authority of a bishop.
The luxury of science has made so much pro
gress at Merida, that they have resolved on obtaining
a university that should dispense with the necessity
of going to seek doctorial caps in those of Santa Fe or
Caraccas. They sent in 1801, the vice-rector of the
college, as a deputy from them to the university of
Caraccas, to solicit its approbation of the request the
inhabitants of Merida wished to make to his catholic
majesty, for the establishment of a university, but in
spite of the talent and personal qualifications of the
vice-rector, it was decided against the wish of his con
stituents. Their request has been transmitted to the
king. It certainly will not be readily granted, be
cause the existing system of the government is not to
multiply this sort of establishments. But, in the end,
it will not be surprising if perseverance and importu
nity should force the government to comply, against
its inclination. How many times does it not find it
self reduced to the painful extremity of authorising,
or tolerating, what it was a part of its plan to hinder
or prohibit.
Independent of the cathedral, religion has attained
at Merida houses of worship, the number of which is
at least proportioned to that of its inhabitants. The
orders of St. Dominic and of St. Augustine, have
each a convent ; that of St. Clair has also another. —
They carefully keep up the church of a convent of
Cordeliers, that has been suppressed. That of the
hospital is striking ; then come the chapels of ease of

191
Milla, Mucujun del Espejo, and of Unao ; lastly, that
of Misericordia, lately erected.
The number of the inhabitants of Merida amounts
to eleven thousand five hundred persons, of all colours
and of all classes. That of the slaves is less nume
rous than any other. That of the whites has been
long divided into tAVO parties ; those of Serradas and
Guavirias, the names of the two principal founders of
the city, Avho vowed a hatred against each other,
which their descendants have preserved with so much
obstinacy, that it cannot be said to be even yet per
fectly extinguished, though its explosions, heretofore
so frequent, have not been for some years re-produc
ed. Without this unfortunate circumstance, the po
pulation would this day have been more considera
ble, and the cultivation more flourishing.
An open disposition, a sound understanding, and a
love of literature, is remarked in the whites of Merida.
No class there, disdains labour. Agriculture, the
raising of cattle, or the ecclesiastical state, are the ca
reer of the whites. Persons of colour apply them
selves to useful occupations, that at once prove their
understanding and industry. They fabricate differ
ent articles in cotton and avooI, the cheapness of which
makes them preferred to our linens of Europe. —
Among these fabrics are carpets of the wool of the
country, . one ell long by rather more than half an ell
wide, ornamented with flowers, and dyed on the spot
with indigenous plants, Avhose red, green, blue
and yellow, are as bright and continue as lastingly
lively, as those of our most famous manufactures. —
To have mentioned the local industry of the place, is

192
enough to have no occasion to say, that there reigns in
the city an ease, which does not alloAV of beholding
any poor or wretched beings.
The latitude of Merida is 8 degrees 10 minutes
north; its longitude 73 degrees 45 minutes west. —
Its distance from Maracaibo is eighty leagues to the
south ; from Caraccas a hundred and forty leagues
south-east, and from Varinas twenty-five leagues
south-east also. Truxillo.
There is no city in the province of Venezuela
which has, from its origin, made such rapid progress
as Truxillo. In the first century of its foundation, it
had edifices that would have been deemed splendid in
European cities, and this magnificence, a symptom of
the application of its inhabitants to culture, drew thi
ther a number of laborious Spaniards, and contribut
ed to augment its population. Every thing an
nounced that this city would acquire a considerable
growth Avhen, in 1678, the buccaneer Francis Gra-
mont, entered the province of Venezuela Avith a hand
ful of men, and traversed the whole of it Avith as much
security and confidence, as if he had a formidable ar
my. The renowned opulence of Truxillo deter
mined the intrepid buccaneer to direct thither his de
solating steps. Neither the distance of eighty leagues
from the port where he disembarked, nor the badness
of the roads he had to pass, nor the heats, nor the rains
he had to endure, nor the disasters which the armed
force of the country might make him experience on

193
jiis rout, Avould alter his resolution. What appear
ed an obstacle to the eyes of a man of rational bravery,
was but an excitement to buccaneers. They disdain
ed every action in which it was not necessary to per
form extraordinary things to escape death, or inflict
it. We cannot say they were heroes, because booty,
not glory, was the motive of their courage j but in
placing them in the rank of robbers, We cannot, with
out injustice^ refuse them the name of illustrious. —
Grammont With his men reached Truxillo, killed or
put to flight all its inhabitants, pillaged, sacked and re
duced to ashes all the superb edifices of the city. The
existence of the ruins still causes the eye to sadden in
contemplating the evidences of the past grandeur of
the city, and these indications of what it ivould have
been at this day.
The Spaniards who escaped the carnage and the
flames, fled with their families to Merida, where
the fear lest the disaster should be reneived, fixed
them forever. There remained at Truxillo only the
old and impotent, whom pity had caused to be spared,
and the want of strength forbade to fly. Behold here
the most explanatory reason for the moderate popu
lation of Truxillo. Yet the salubrity of the air, and
the fertility of the soil, have successively drawn
there inhabitants enough to make their number actu
ally rise to seven thousand six hundred persons.
The land about it produces sugar, cacao, indigo,
coffee, and in general all the productions of the torrid
and some few of the temperate zones. Wheat grows
superiorly, and its flour differs little from that of Eu-
Voi. HI. b b

194
rope. They reap it in abundance, and it becomes to
the cultivator an article of commerce that compen
sates his labours. They grow with considerable as
siduity, other commodities, and we may say, that in
general, the inhabitants of Truxillo, pay to public
prosperity, at least one part of the tribute every citi
zen owes.
Agriculture is not their only occupation. Some
raise sheep,, goats, and they observe that the mutton
there is larger than in any other part of the province,
and the meat much better. The cheeses made there
are also preferred to those of other places. The care
they bestow in washing and carding their wool, ena
bles them to fabricate from it works, the sale of which
is always certain and profitable.
The women, more laborious in Truxillo than any
where else, apply themselves in making sweetmeats,
for Avhich they frequently receive orders beforehand,
in order to resell them in the province, or send them
abroad. This branch of industry, insignificant as it
appears, does not fail of relieving that miserable class,-
Avhich in all the other cities, is embarrassed by its own
existence. They carry the commercial articles of Truxillo to
Maracaibo by the lake, which is 25 leagues to the
west, but the intercourse most pursued is with Caro
ra, where they send their goat and sheep-shins to be
dressed. This intercourse, however, is not exempt
from inconvenience, because it is necessary to cross
the plains of Llonay, so unwholesome that the trav
eller is obliged to hasten his march, not to be infect-

195
ed with the malignant fever the least stop is sure to
give. We have just said the city of Truxillo enjoys a
pure air ; but its waters, although clear and light, are
impregnated with metallic particles, and occasion
goitres*, which, however, are only an inconvenience
as they do not in the least affect the health.
The spot occupied by the city is shut in by two
mountains, so as to give it the shape of a coffin. The
parish church is constructed with very little taste ;
but it is solid and decent. It has a chapel of ease de
pendent upon it, Avhich is called Calvaire. There is
a monastery of Franciscans, and one of Dominicans.
There is also a house of Dominican nuns, which the
king with difficulty granted liberty to found. It was
at first forbidden to continue the building, and this
inhibition was not taken off in 1636, but at the instance
and request of the bishop of Mata. Society has no
other reproach to make to the nuns of Truxillo, than
having renounced the soft pleasures of maternity. —
They all labour in their solitude, and make with bark,
a number of little delicate articles, equally curious
and useful, and which every one is eager to purchase.
Truxillo possesses also a hospital, dedicated to our
lady of Chiquinquira, and a common council for the
administration of justice and the police.
Its latitude is 8 degrees 40 minutes north. Its dis
tance from Caraccas, to the north, is 105 leagues ;
from Merida, to the south, 20 leagues; from Goana-
ra, to the south-east, 30 leagues.
* Swellings under the throat, the -hernia gutturis.

196
Government of Varinas — Varinas.
It was only in 1787 that the city of Varinas was
detached from the government of Maracaibo to be
come itself the seat of a separate government, Avhich
they have formed at the expense of those of Vene
zuela and Maracaibo.
The chief has only the title of political governor,
although his functions, in the district assigned to him,
are the same as those of other governors in the civil,
military, and religious departments. He has also,
like them, a salary of four thousand hard dollars a
year. The groAvth which this part of the province
has taken Avithin a few years, and the ease with whieh
it may be invaded by means of the navigable rivers
which empty themselves into the Oronoko, has deter
mined the erection of this government ; and, in order
to better secure its defence, they formed, in 1803, a
militia, and gave to the city of Varinas, a garrison,
consisting of a company of seventy-seven men of the
regular troops of the new establishment.
The city of Varinas has been long knoAvn in the
European markets from the quality of the tobacco
that its territory produces, and which prejudice, rath
er than reason, has caused in them, to be deem
ed superior to any other, when it is, according to all
report, in fact inferior to the tobacco raised elseAvhere,
and peculiarly at Cumanacoa, in the province of Cu
mana. Yet the prepossession is such, that every
package of tobacco, which arrives at Amsterdam or
Hamburg, under any odier name than that of Varinas,

197
sells, whatever may be its quality, at twenty or twen
ty-five per cent less.
Experience has so thoroughly convinced the Spa
niards that the commerce of the north judges from
appearances, and .not from principle, that from what
ever part of these provinces tobacco comes, it is never
sent without this title of recommendation, and the
European purchaser, deceived as he is, sustains on
that account no loss. It is true that the plantations
of almost all the tobacco that is exported, are at Va
rinas, and that none goes out from other places, but
when the crops exceed the local consumption, for
which they reserve all the best that is produced in the
provinces. For some time they have remarked that the tobac
co of Varinas is more subject to spoil than any other.
Scarcely has it undergone the last process of prepara
tion, which heretofore used to preserve it five or six
years, before a destructive worm introduces itself in
to the heart of the tobacco, corrodes all the interior,
and converts it into dust. The surface appears but
slightly injured. It is this which renders the damage
more difficult to be perceived.
The goodness of the land, and the situation of the
country of Varinas, nominate the province of Varinas
to a conspicuous part in the theatre of commerce. —
Sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo, and in general all the
fruits of the torrid zone, there find a soil adapted to
each, and their quality is unrivalled. The inhabitants,
for a long time occupied in the cultivation of tobacco,
believed that nature had refused to the soil of Vari
nas the virtue of affording any other production. This

198
prejudice is entirely dissipated. They at this day
Cultivate, and attempt every thing. The commodi
ties are transported in a great measure by water to
Guiana. The shipping-place is upon the river Portu
guese, five leagues below the city, at a spot called To-
cunos. There are also within the jurisdiction of Va
rinas very large commons, from whence they draw a
number of beeves and mules that are exported by
the Oronoko, or consumed in the province.
The city enjoys a tolerably pure air, though the
thermometer of Reaumur is seldom below twenty-four
degrees. They reckon six thousand persons. The
whole of the public edifices are reduced to one parish
church and a hospital.
Varinas is in 7 degrees 40 minutes of north latitude,
and a 100 leagues to the south-east of Caraccas.
San Jayme.
It is but a little time that San Jayme has had the
character of a city, and consequently, that it has had
a common council. It has no title, either from its po
pulation or culture, to such a distinction. It is situ
ated at the confluence of several rivers which form
but one bed to empty themselves into the Apura,
about a dozen leagues after their union. The city of
San Jayme, thus surrounded by large rivers, has, for
its defence from their annual innundations, nothing
but a hillock of sand, upon which it is placed. The
inhabitants find themselves for three months of the
year, so environed by water, that they can neither re
turn to, nor leave their houses except in canoes.

199
The soil sandy and dry, offers to the cultivator no
flattering prospect. - The edifices of the city, includ
ing the church, correspond exactly Avith the feeble
resources the inhabitants find in a soil so little favour
ed by nature.
The city of San Jayme is situated in 7 degrees 50
minutes of north latitude, and at 75 leagues to the
south of Caraccas. San Fernando ofApura.-
Pastoral nations having occasion for much more
land than agricultural people, find themselves very
much confined in the same space, where an equal
number of these last, would be-at their ease. It is
solely to this cause that the city of San Fernando
owes its existence. The inhabitants of Gunara hav
ing given to common fields a preference over culti
vation, soon covered the savannas, Avithin a certain
distance from the city, with their flocks. In propor
tion as population augmented, the number of common
ers increased also. Those who found the soil allot
ted and occupied, were obliged to seek at a distance
land suitable to their purposes. Their views were
turned tOAVards the south, and did not fix but on the
right bank of the river Apura, Avhere the excellence
of the pasture completely answered their wishes.
When they saAv themselves sufficiently numerous
to form a colony, they asked to be made a parish in
dependent of any other, and they obtained it. Their
ambition did not confine itself to that ; they did not
delay soliciting for their village the honours of a city,

200
and, by a chance remarkable enough, their request
was granted.
The property of almost all the inhabitants is, in
common fields, and breeding farms, for cattle and
mules. They cultivate very few articles. The cli
mate is hot, but healthy ; the water is excellent. —
The city, without being large, is tolerably well built.
The church, the only one there, has neither the gran
deur n Or the architecture of a handsome edifice ; it is,
notwithstanding, neat, and well kept up. The popu
lation is almost six thousand souls.

CHAPTER XI.
OF SPANISH GUIANA AND THE RIVER ORONOKO.

Division of Guiana — First expedition to Guiana — Second expedition —
Foundation of the city of St. Thomas — The river Oroiioko — Its sources
— Its course — Communication of the Oronoko with the river of the
Amazons, by the Rio-Negro — Continuation of the course of the Oro
noko — River Meta, tributary to the Oronoko— Advantages of its navi
gation — Destroyed by the commerce of Carthagena — Results — River
Apura — Cattle raised on its banks — Laborious and dangerous naviga
tion of the Oronoko— Navigation of the mouth of the Oronoko to St.
Thomas — The River Caroni — Continuation c-^ the navigation of the
.Oronoko — Delicious variety presented by the banks of the Oronoko —
Body and rapidity of its waters — Its annual rise — Tides — Fishes of the
Oronoko — Amphibious Animals — The Cayman — Iguana — Chaquira —
Lapa — Water Dog— Liron— Manati — Importance of Guiana — Its ex
tent and population — Lower Guiana — Connexions of the Caribs with
the Dutch — Political relations between the Dutch of Surinam and
the Spaniards of Guiana — Upper Guiana — Its cultures — Saint Tho
mas — Its climate — Commerce— Encouragements that industry de
mands — Plan — Bad situation of the capital — Necessity of placing it
furtherfrom the sea — Where it ought to be placed — Reduction of the
Caribs of Lower Guiana — New modes of cultivating and peopling
Guiana — El Dorado — Various expeditions for its discovery — Expedi
tion of Urra — Opinion on El Dorado — Modern Expedition.

1 HE whole space between the river Oronoko to
the north and west, of the Amazons to the south, the
sea to the east, and the 70th degree of longitude from
the meridian of Paris to the west, is properly what
geography designates under the name of Guiana.
Division of Guiana.
The coast from the mouth of the Amazons to that
of the Oronoko, occupies an extent of a hundred and
Vol. III. s e

202
twenty leagues, possessed by four powers. The Por
tuguese have the southern part. They extended, be
fore the treaty of peace with France of the 29th of
September, 1801, from the mouth of the Amazons to
cape North, to the east of the island of Carpori. By
this treaty, the new limits of Portuguese Guiana, and
of the French Guiana, AArere terminated by the river
Carapana, Avhich discharges itself into the river Ama
zons in 20 minutes of north latitude, beloAv fort Ma-
capa. These limits pursue the course of the river to
its source, from Avhence they take their direction to-
Avards the great chain of mountains which divide the
course of the waters, and follow the sinuosities of
those mountains to the point nearest to Rio-Bianco,
between 2 and 3 degrees of north latitude.
All Portuguese Guiana is then entirely on the left
bank of the river Arnazons, bounded on the north by
the possessions of the French, to the 55th degree of
west longitude. The Portuguese border more west
on the Spaniards. The equinoctial line ought, accord
ing to treaties, to be the boundary ; but they have
so encroached on the Spanish territory, that their es
tablishments extend thirty-two leagues to the north
of the line ; for it is at this distance that the isle of
St. Joseph, and the mountain La Gloria-del-Cocui,
Avhich are now deemed the limits, are situated. The
Spanish fort of St. Carlos, in 1 degree 55 minutes
north, is destined to prevent any new usurpation, and
to recover, if it be possible, the territory that is lost :
what renders it most difficult is, that the Portuguese
already have settlements on this very spot, which they
Avould not abandon but with regret, and as they have

203
a direct interest, in consequence of the fertility of the
soil, and the facility of transporting their commodities
by the Amazons, in retaining these possessions, al
though more than three hundred leagues from the
sea, it is more than probable that they will maintain
themselves there, because the Spaniards having neith
er the same convenience for the transport of their
products, nor the same disposition for their cultiva
tion, will never exercise so much ardour in driving
them out, as the Portugues will manifest in defend
ing their establishments.
French Guiana is bounded on the south by the
river Capara, which mingles its waters with those of
the Amazons ; on the north by the Maroni ; on the
east by the sea ; and on the west by the Spanish pos
sessions. Surinam, Essequibo, and Demerara, are Dutch
possessions, bounded on the east by die sea ; on the
south by the river Maroni; on the north by the Esse
quibo, according to treaty, but they have clandestine
ly carried these limits to cape Nassau ; and on the
west by Spanish Guiana.
What remains to the Spaniards of Guiana, is
bounded on the east by the sea, from cape Nassau to
the mouth of the Oronoko, distant one from the other
about thirty leagues. The river Oronoko is its
southern limit for the distance of five hundred and
fifty leagues from the sea ; it then becomes its west
ern boundary, because from this first point, it runs
back to the south for the space of a hundred leagues,
Avhere it receives the waters of the Guaviari ; from
thence the Oronoko, directing its bed to the east,

204
serves no longer for the boundary of Spanish Gui
ana, which in this part is limited by the Portuguese
possessions. The conquest of the provinces of Venezuela, of Cu
mana, and of Maracaibo, gave too much occupation,
during the first forty years of this enterprise, to the few
Spaniards to Avhom it was entrusted, to permit them
to think of carrying their arms any further, while the
soil of the country where they were was so warmly
disputed, that their very existence was for a long
time regarded as precarious.
The first European who appears to have attempted
to enter the Oronoko, is the lieutenant-general John
Cornejo. He ventured in 1531, to penetrate by the
mouths of this river. He surmounted a variety of
obstacles; but such serious ones presented them
selves, that his vessel went to pieces on some rocks
even with the water. We know that the major part
of his crew was saved, and that those unfortunates
escaped being the food of fishes, only to become that
of the Indians. First Expedition to Guiana.
The Indians subdued and to be subdued in the pro
vince of Venezuela, incessantly related to the con
querors, whom they saAV so greedy of gold, that there
was to the south a country far distant, abounding
prodigiously in gold and silver. These multiplied
and uniform communications had established an
opinon, that in the centre of what is at this day called
Guiana, there indubitably was a country covered

205'
with gold, and on that account named El Dorado, of
which I shall hereafter speak more particularly. A
similar chimera, absolute as it was, determined a sol
dier of Martin Proveda, chief of an expedition that
went in 1566 from Peru to make conquests, to go
clandestinely into Spain, with the design of making
an offer to the king, of reducing El Dorado. He nam
ed himself Don Pedro Malava de Silva. His propo
sitions, although extravagant were received. The
king gave him for two lives, that is, transmissible to
his son, the government of all he might be able to
conquer from the Omegas, Omaguas, and Quinacos
Indians, who were thought to be the inhabitants of
this region of massy gold, and the right of soil, or an
extent of tAventy-five leagues square, with the Indians
he might find there ; moreover, the staff of alguasil, or
major in chancery, if any should be established there.
His dispatches were signed the 15th May, 1568.
Silva immediately began to connect himself with
daring associates. Six hundred Spaniards consented
to administer to his ambition. He landed Avith them
on the island of Margaretta, from tvhence, instead of
passing over to the continent and taking a south
course to go directly to Guiana, he repaired to Bor
burata, leaving at Margaretta the malcontents of his
force, who had persuaded themselves that to become
rich it Avas enough only to breath the air of America.
Arrived at Borburata, he was obliged to leave there
a part of his men disheartened by the difficulties of
the undertaking. At Valencia he experienced a new
defection ; this reduced his body to a hundred and
forty men, with whom he took the road for Guiana,

206
that is to say, he directed his course to the south ; for
theivant of roads left the travellers no other resource
than the compass. But the forests it was necessary
to penetrate, the rivers, the swamps, the venemous
insects and reptiles, the wild fruits with which they
were obliged to support themselves, destroyed almost
all his people, and compelled Silva to renounce his
rash expedition. After five months continual strug
gle against every species of privation, and the incon-
veniencies of a country that appeared the domain of
ferocious beasts alone, he arrived at Barquisimeto in
the month of March, 1570. Such was the result of
this unfortunate expedition. Second Expedition.
Silva, far from being discouraged by all these diffi
culties, departed for Spain, made a new recruitment
of a hundred and seventy men, and embarked with
them at St. Lucar. He made his descent in Guiana,
upon the coast, between the two rivers of Oronoko
and the Amazons. It was exactly on the territory of
the Caribs, the strongest and most warlike of all the
Indians. He had, on the one hand, to maintain a-
gainst these Anthropophagi, combats so repeated and
so violent ; and on the other, to contend with a coun
try covered Avith swamps, and so unhealthy, that he,
as well as his companions, soon became the victims
of his temerity. They all without exception perish
ed, and were in succession the principal dishes of their
conquerors. This Avas in 1574.

207
The bad success of these expeditions was enough
to render them averse to making any similar attempts ;
but not sufficient to induce them to renounce Guiana,
recommended as much by the majesty of the river
with which it is watered, as by the richness of the me
tals of which they believed it the depository.
They attempted the conquest of it on a new plan.
They substituted persuasion and morality to the force
that had not succeeded. They sent in 1576 two Je
suits as missionaries, who for three years preached
the evangelists with tolerable success; they were
obliged to interrupt their apostolical labours and re
tire. History adds that the Dutch, desirous of this
possession, drove them from it.
Foundation of the City of St. Thomas.
At length, in 1586, Anthony Berrio founded on the
right bank of the Oronoko, and at fifty leagues from
its mouth, a city under the name of St. Thomas.
He confined his desires to the maintaining himself in
the city, leaving to time and the zeal of the mission
aries, the softening the ferocity of the Indian manners,
and the inspiring them with a taste for social life, and
the establishing with them amicable and useful con
nexions. In truth, it was not on the part of the In
dians that the new city experienced much opposition,
but on that of the English, the Dutch, and even the
French. It was for ever attacked, pillaged, and de
vastated, by one or other of these three nations, all of
whom coveted this country. The Dutch particular
ly, had already established Avith the natives a com-

208
merce by barter, too lucrative not to be maintained.
Their efforts by land and by Avater were proportioned
to the interest by which they were actuated. In pro
cess of time, the Spaniards thought of fortifying it,
and imagining that the city Avould be more out of reach
of all insult, if further removed from the sea, they
successively carried it back, and in 1764 they trans
ferred it to ninety leagues from the sea, and on the
right bank of the Oronoko.
The River Oronoko.
But before engaging in the description of Spanish
Guiana, destined by the fertility of its territory and
situation, to become the centre of the commerce of
all these parts, with which navigation facilitates an
intercourse, it is right to describe the famous river
Oronoko, the first and immediate cause of all the ad
vantages futurity promises to Spanish Guiana. I
will not dissemble that this task deserves so much the
more the whole of my attention, as it will furnish, up
on one of the greatest rivers in the world, information
that no other author has given but imperfectly. The
inaccuracies that I have ascertained the literary world
owes to the Jesuits, the fathers Gumilla, Coleti, and
Caulin, missionaries to the banks of the Oronoko, au
thorise me in asserting that they have done more ho
nour to their zeal than their understanding, their bold-
ness than their exactitude.
I shall beg leave to consider the Oronoko in its
double relation, of cultivation and of commerce. To
accomplish the first object, I shall take it at its source,

209
and descend with it to the capital of Guiana ; for the
second, I shall follow the ordinary method, that is to
say, after having conducted from the interior to St
Thomas all the territorial riches, I shall take from the
mouths of-the Oronoko, all the vessels that go there
in quest of them, Its Sources.
The sources of the Oronoko are but little less
known by the Spaniards than those of the Nile were
to the Europeans, and even to the Africans, before
James Bruce. The father Gumilla, who I have just
mentioned, does not hesitate to place them, in the
map he has annexed to his Oronoko Illustrated, to the
south-west of Santa Fe, Bogota ; and to give to this
river a direct course from south-west to north-east.
But no sooner was the Oronoko ascended to its most
remote parts, than the opinion of father Gumilla was
acknowledged to be false, because an opportunity pre
sented itself to ascertain that its waters came from the
environs of the lake Parima, situated to the south of
the capital of Guiana. Some celebrated geographers,
in the number of whom Mr. Bonne is to be found,
make them flow from the lake itself; and others say
they spring from the mountains, situated to the north
west of the lake. This opinion is the most believed,
and most deserves to be so. It is, nevertheless, very
difficult to collect sufficient positive information upon
this fact. The savage Indians render access to the
spot too dangerous; recourse dien must be had to pro
babilities. Vol. III. d d

210
The mountains to the north-Avest of the lake Pari*
ma, are called, in the language of the Indians, Ibirino-
ko; it is very probable that they have, according to
their custom, given to this celebrated river, which
there takes its source, the name of these mountains,
of which the Spaniards have made OronOco ; the
French, Oronoque ; and the English Oronoko, &c.
It is also equally natural, that if the lake of Parima
had been the reservoir of this grand river, they could
not have failed to give it that appellation which is
likeAvise Indian. But, one thing more, no one has been
able with certainty, to verify the fact ; because the
savages form to it an insurmountable obstacle. Of
this Mr, Humboldt had positive experience in 1800,
at the time of his voyage to Rio-Negro. Arriyed at
the point where the Casiquiari branches from the
Oronoko, he Avished, himself, to ascertain the real
sources of this river ; but he found it impossible : he
was obliged to content himself with the testimony he
could collect from a few Indians.
Several rivulets, flowing from the southern bank of
the mountains Ibirinoco, unite their waters at eight
or ten leagues from their sources, and form a river,
which, in the course of five hundred leagues it has to
traverse to the sea, receives the tribute of an infinity
of streams, to which it oavcs the honorable denomina
tion of the river, geographers, as well as the natives
of the country, call the Oronoko.

211
Course of the Oronoko.
It is thought that the course of the Oronoko, for the
first hundred leagues is from north to south ; it leaves
in this space, at sixty leagues from its left bank, the
lake of Parima. The contribution of the rivers that
unite themselves to the Oronoko, give it such an im
mense body, and a current so rapid, that even before
these hundred leagues from its source, it has as much
water and strength as the most considerable rivers. —
From the Esmeraldes to St. Fernando of Atabapa,
the Oronoko runs from the east to the north-west.
It is in this place that the canal of Casiquiari is. It
forms the communication of the Oronoko, Avith the
Amazons by the Rio-Negro. As history needs some
elucidation on this important point of geography, the
reader must permit me a slight digression.
Communication of the Oronoko with the River Ama
zons by the Rio- Negro.
The Spanish missionaries, the sole depositaries,
since the discovery of the neAv world, of the historical
and geographical particulars of the Oronoko, have al
ways denied the communication of these two rivers,
and their testimony had so much the more weight, as
they were the only Europeans to whom it was possible
to penetrate into these places, inhabited by savages. —
It is in vain that Sampson de Fer. geographer to his
Catholic majesty, laid down, in 1713, this communi
cation in his chart. It is in vain that Condamine as
sured himself, in his voyage to Peru, that the Oro-

212
noko and the Amazons communicated with each
other ; the apostles of the Oronoko maintained al
ways that this communication did not exist.
Father Gumilla is the person who has manifested
the most tenaciousness in endeavouring to render
prevalent the false opinion he had embraced. He
maintains, in his Oronoko Illustrated, in a tone of con
viction, or rather of ill humour, that no one can know
better than he, all that relates to the Oronoko, be
cause, having travelled its banks for twenty years,
with the intention of Avriting the history of it, he has
a right to contradict every thing that does not accord
with his observations. " Neither I," says he, " nor
" any of the missionaries, who have passed, and who
" do pass their lives on the banks of the Oronoko,
'V have ever seen the river enter the Rio-Negro, or
" come out of it ; for if there do exist a communica-
Ci tion between them, it is necessary to knoAv which is
" at the expense of it, that is, whether the Rio-Negro
" discharges its waters into the Oronoko, or the Oro-
" noko discharges into the Rio-Negro. But the great
" and long chain of mountains that is found between
" these two rivers, makes this pretended communi-
" cation impossible, and every doubt on this point
" ridiculous." After such testimony, which every
thing concurs to render respectable, it would be'
scarcely possible still to believe in the communica
tion of the Oronoko with the Rio-Negro, and by this
with the Amazons ; yet some later geographers have
proved that they are not the dupes of the tone of as
surance of Father Gumilla, and in spite of the pre
tended chain of mountains, which, according to him,

^213
separates the two rivers, they have continued to make
them communicate. It is, however, possible that
some doubt may, notwithstanding, remain ; and, under
the persuasion that whatever tends to dissipate it, must
needs be favourably received, I hasten here to deposit
the truth, supported by proofs round Avhich all opi
nions ought to rally.
Baron Humboldt, to whom the sciences already
owe so many obligations, after having traversed the
province of Venezuela as a naturalist, geographer,
and politician, conceived, in 1800, the design of
ascending the Oronoko, and determining its commu
nication with the Rio- Negro. He entered the Orono
ko by the river Apura, and arrived, after incredible
difficulties, at Fort St. Charles, conterminous with the
Portuguese possessions. " From Fort St. Charles,"
says that illustrious philosopher, in one of his letters
to the captain-general of Caraccas, dated the 23d of
August, 1800, " we have returned to Guiana, by the
'¦' Casiquiari, a very large branch of the Oronoko, and
" which forms its communication with the Rio-Ne-
" gro. The force of the current, the immense size of
" the gnats and emmets, and the Want of population,
" renderthis navigation fatiguing and dangerous. We
" entered the Oronoko by the Casiquiari, at three and
" a half degrees; we ascended the Oronoko as far as
" the Esmeraldes, the last establishment of the Spa-
" niards," &c. There certainly wants nothing more to
enable the communication of the Oronoko to pass
henceforth as a certain fact, Avhich madness alone can
have a right to dispute. I shall noAV resume my de
scription.

214
Continuation of the Course of the Oronoko.
The Oronoko, from its source to the Atures, tra
verses a territory which it fertilizes to no kind of pur
pose. Occupied almost entirely by savage Indians,
whose reduction will probably be for some ages unac
complished, and situated at so great a distance from
the sea, it will for a long time be abandoned to sim
ple nature.
Before arriving at the Atures, the Oronoko directs
its course to the north, as far as the mouth of the river
Meta, from whence it inclines to the north-east, to
take, at length, an eastern direction, which it main
tains quite to the sea.
What they call los Saltos de Atures, are cataracts
formed by rocks, which in vain dispute the passage
of the Oronoko, whose force, augmented by the river?
Guaviari and Vichada, which it has just before receiv
ed, immediately becomes sufficiently large to brave
every obstacle that can be opposed to it. Scarcely
does it touch the resistance made to it, than it be
comes agitated, rises up, and not being able to level
a barrier nature has rendered indestructible, it bounds
over it with a terrific noise, depositing on the very-
place of the shock, a foam of extreme whiteness, as a
proof of its rage. No vessel, great or. small, can pass
these cataracts. The navigator has no other resource,
Avhether he ascends or descends the river, than to take
his canoe on shore, and carry or drag it to the point
where danger no longer exists.
Immediately after the cataracts of Atures, the Oro
noko receives from the east the river Abacuna, and

215
from the west the Bichao. The uncultivated coun
tries they run through, render the description of them
little interesting. It is the same with the rivers
Chiricua and Metoya. The one that merits great
consideration is the river Meta ; it blends its waters
with those of the Oronoko, at thirty leagues below the
cataracts of Atures, and at a hundred and twenty-five
leagues from St. Thomas of Guiana.
The river Meta, tributary of the Oronoko.
Nature seems to have destined the river Meta to
form vast commercial relations between the Avhole
eastern part of the kingdom of Santa Fe and Spanish
Guiana. It takes its source at a hundred and fifty
leagues south-west of its mouth, in the Oronoko. —
A number of the rivers of the kingdom of Santa Fe
increase its waters. It is navigable to Macuco near
the plains of the separate government of Santiago de
los Atalayas, .within forty leagues of the capital of the
kingdom. Its banks are still a wilderness, or inha
bited by the Guahivos Indians, who have an aversion
equally decided against social life and labour. They
are wild without being ferocious. As little qualified
to attaok as to defend themselves, they preserve their
independence only by flight. The traveller may then
traverse their country without any risk. Seventy-
five leagues before the entry of the Meta into the
Oronoko, the river Casanara gives it its Avaters. —
They are themselves, in great part, the tribute of
other rivers. Proud of this acquisition, the Meta

216
silently and majestically carries its waters to the Oro
noko. She distinguishes herself from the other
streams that lose their names and their Avaters in that
river, by the silence with which she enters it. It may
be said that she is the only one that introduces her
self into the Oronoko ; all the others precipitate them
selves into it. Advantages of its Navigation.
The rivers Meta and Casanara are navigable with
sloops throughout the year. In the summer, that is
to say, in the dry season, there are continual and fresh
breezes. In the winter, calms and a strong currents
They then keep nearer in with the shore ; they pro
ceed more slowly, but to the full as certainly as with
the most favourable winds. These two rivers have
flats, on Avhich the vessels frequently strike ; but they
get them off without any injury, and almost without «
any trouble, because they are all sand.
The immensity and richness of the country through
which the Meta runs, the great number of rivers that
unite themselves Avith it, are so man}- means which
Providence offers to die inhabitants of the eastern
part of Santa Fe, advantageously and conveniently to
get rid of their commodities ; and to Spanish Guiana
to augment its commerce with all the productions
transportable by the river Meta. This order of
things is so natural and so favourable to the two pro
vinces, that during the little time this intercourse ex
isted, cultivation on the uppermost banks of the Me-

217
ta and Casanara was seen to take a very sensible
growth ; and the commerce of Guiana to acquire a
consistence that carried this province by large strides
towards prosperity ; but, will it be believed, that the
industry, of which this previous intercourse was
the fruit, instead of being protected by the go
vernment, has, on the contrary, been paralyzed by its
orders, on the simple representation of the commerce
of Carthagena? Nothing, however, is more true !
Destroyed by the Commerce of Carthagena.
The city of Carthagena, whose cupidity believes
itself to have an exclusive right on the commer
cial articles of the kingdom of Santa Fe, was no
sooner informed of this new vent that the inhabitants
in the vicinage of the Meta and Casanara, gave to
the products of their activity, than she raised the
greatest outcry on the violation of what she called her
rights. It was represented that the city of Carthage
na was lost, and that the revenue of its custom-house
would be annihilated if the law did not put a check to
the communication which reciprocal interest had
opened between the inhabitants of the eastern part of
Santa Fe and Guiana. The minister, confounding de
clamation with reason, and the croaking of particular
interest with the voice of general benefit, ordered, that
from thenceforth, they should carry from the kingdom
of Santa Fe by the river Meta to Guiana, no other
territorial productions than flour, and some coarse
Vol. III. Ee

218
cottons fabricated in those regions, and that they
should take back nothing but money. This mea
sure was a thunderbolt to these two provinces. Com
merce was reduced to almost nothing, and public
misery resumed the empire she was about to lose.
Results.
Were we to believe that the commerce of Cartha
gena gained any thing by this, Ave should deceive our
selves. The cultivator, divested of the motives that
had made him quit his inactivity, found it more easy
to recline in his hammoc, and to struggle, as before,
against privations, than to fatigue himself to procure
commodities, the length and expense of transporting
Avhichto Carthagena Avould absorb all their whole
Avorth, and sometimes more. Thus the productions
and the commerce they fed, were lost forever. —
It seems to me, that I might defy the most subtle
man to prove that the gain of the trade of Carthagena
has not been equally prejudicial to the revenue, to
cultivation, to Guiana, to the commerce of the mother
country, and to public prosperity.
The inhabitants of Guiana proposed to themselves,
in 1804, to communicate to the king that this disas
trous regulation had been a surprise on his goodness.
If- they take care to annex to their memorial a
map of the country, the text alone of their request
will suffice to insure it success.
At this day, they no longer carry to Guiana, by the
river Meta, any thing but hammocs, mourning veils,

219
coverlids, and other coarse articles in cotton, flour,
and a little sugar, without being in sufficient quanti
ty to export the least particle. The agents in this
mournful commerce are paid in money, which they
have not permission to employ even in the iron im
plements of husbandry. Let us return to the Orono
ko, now enriched with the waters of the Meta. Thir
ty leagues lower, the Sinaruco empties itself into this
river from the west, after having traversed about fifty
leagues through a country, of which no one demands
the productions. Only fifteen leagues more, and we
shall enjoy the sight which the entry of the Apura
into the Oronoko affords. The river Apura.
The river Apura takes its source in the mountains
neighbouring to St. Christopher, a dependency of the
kingdom of Santa Fe. It has a course of one hun
dred and seventy leagues, of which forty is from the
north to the south-west, and the rest from the Avest to
the east ; then it directs itself to the south to meet
the Oronoko. It is navigable more than sixty
leagues, and in its course augments the body of its
waters by those of an infinity of other rivers, some of
which are equally navigable, and so much the more
useful, that after having Avatered a great part of the
province of Venezuela, they serve for the transport of
those very articles that owe their existence to them.
These riyers are, Tinaco, St. Charles, Cojeda, Agoa-
blanca, Acarigoa, Ara, Yarno, Hospina, Maria, tie

220
Portuguese, Guanara, Tucupido, Bocono, Masparo,
the Yuca, St. Domingo, Paguey, Tisnados, &c. —
They successively blend their waters in the immense
plains of Venezuela. They almost all unite above
San Jayme, and form a large body of water, which,
at twelve leagues below, throws itself into the Apura,
at the distance of twenty leagues to the north of
the Oronoko. This quantity of water, not capable
of being contained in the bed of the Apura, is forced
to divide itself into many branches, and to enter the
Oronoko by a number of mouths. That, however,
does not prevent its entering it with a pride that gives
it its importance. The Apura has rather the air of
coming to dispute with the Oronoko its precedence,
than of paying tribute to it. It seems averse to ming
ling its waters with those of that river, into which it
precipitates itself with a terrifying impetuosity. The
shock is so violent, that the agitation is felt to the
very middle of the river, and even at that distance,
the swell, the eddies, and the whirlpools, put the navi
gator in danger.
From the mouth of the Apura, the Oronoko is
bounded on the north by the province of Venezuela,
then by that of Cumana quite to the sea.
The Cattle raised on its Banks.
Upon the banks of the Apura and the other rivers,
whose names it takes aivay in taking their waters,
there are numberless commons, the animals of which
are very much esteemed. They are composed of

221
beeves, horses, and mules, but principally of these
last. Their natural exportation is by Guiana, on ac
count of the advantage the country affords of giving
them the same feed to the very mouth of the Oronoko.
All that portion of Venezuela, which at the present
day forms the new province of Varinas, and all the
southern part of the province of Venezuela itself, are
invited, by the facility of transportation, to send their
commodities to Guiana, instead of carrying on the
backs of mules to Caraccas or Porto-Cavello, their
coffee, their cotton, and their indigo, and travelling a
hundred leagues on roads almost impassable, and inter
sected by rivers that frequently overflow their banks.
The intercourse between the province of Varinas,
and that of Guiana, is not so much pursued as the na
ture of things would seem to point out, because the
city of St. Thomas having hardly any cash, and
scarcely ever any vessels from Europe, the cultivator
still finds, in the price for his articles at the ports of
Venezuela, the focus of the commerce of the mother
country, a compensation for the expense and difficul
ties inseparable from the long and laborious journey
to Caraccas and Porto-Cavello.
From the junction of the river Apura with the Oro
noko, to St. Thomas, is reckoned eighty leagues. In
all this space no other rivers of consequence empty
themselves into the Oronoko than those of Caura and
Caucapana : it is true, that from its source it receives
almost all its rivers by the left bank ; and after the
Apura it receives others, that for the future assure to
Guiana, all the commerce of the southern plains.

222
The navigation of all the upper part of the Orono-
ko is far from being as easy and certain as the magni
tude of the river might induce to suppose; sowed
with islands that obstruct its channel, and which throw
the bed of it sometimes on the right bank, sometimes
on the left, filled with rocks of every size and of eve
ry heighth, some of which are consequently on a le
vel with the water, and some at a depth more or less
disquieting according to the season ; subject to dread-
. ful gusts of wind, the Oronoko permits itself to be na
vigated only by good pilots, and vessels of a peculiar
construction, and of a certain size. All this relates
only to the navigation that is commenced at the port
of Guiana to ascend the Oronoko, or at the mouth of
the Meta, to descend to the capital ; for it appears to
me to be a part of my task to render further details on
the navigation of the mouths of the Oronoko as far as
to St. Thomas, than I have given on that of the inte
rior, inasmuch as this is less brisk, and more familiar
to those who are interested in performing it.
Mouths of the Oronoko.
The Oronoko, at nearly forty leagues from the sea,
forms, like the Nile, a kind of fan, strewed over with
a multitude of little islands, that divide it into a num
ber of branches and channels, and force it to discharge
itself through this labyrinth into the sea, by an infini
ty of mouths situated to the north and the south, oc
cupying an extent of more than sixty leagues. These
islands multiply themselves on the coast in such a
maimer that the mouths of the Oronoko are very nu-

223 =
merous, while those that are navigable are very feAv,
They reckon about fifty mouths, and only seven ca
pable of receiving vessels, provided they be of a
large burthen. The venturous navigator, who should
enter the Oronoko by a mouth not navigable,
would pay dear for his imprudence ; he ivould either
be shipwrecked, or lost in the innumerable channels
formed in every direction by the "Goaraunos islands,
or perish by hunger, or fall a prey to the savage In
dians who inhabit those very isles, among whom he
would find but a very disagreeable, perhaps a fatal
hospitality. We may judge of the care and skill that the navi
gation of the Oronoko requires, at its mouth, by Avhat
daily happens to the Goaraunos Indians themselves.
Born among the mouths of the Oronoko, living only
by a fishery that obliges them incessantly to navigate
in the openings and inlets of the islands they exclu
sively possess and inhabit, they ought always to knoAv
exactly where they are ; yet these very men, amphi
bious, as one may say, frequently lose themselves,
and are compelled to seek for the current, that they
mav let it carry them to sea, in order to enter, after
discovering where they are, by the channel that is
adapted for their return. I say seek for the current,
and this would seem a paradox, did I not apprise the
reader that there is a certain skill necessary to dis
cover it, which the Indians alone, in a kind of pre-emi
nence possess. These channels, formed by that im
mensity of isles, are so numerous, and have such va
rious directions, that for the most part, no current is

224
to be perceived ; in others, the eddies and winds es
tablish false currents, which carry you up, instead of
down the river. The use of the compass, itself, does
not always, when you are once lost, secure you from
wandering for several days among the Goaraunos isl
ands, and, in consequence, making a circuit round
them, from returning to the very point from whence
you set out, believing the whole time, that you are
either ascending or descending.
All these circumstances evince the necessity there
is of having a good pilot on board, in order either to
enter or go out of the Oronoko.
The first of the seven navigable mouths is at twelve
leagues to the south of the embouchure of the river
Guarapicha, in the province of Cumana. It is one of
those rivers that discharge their waters into the
Gulph of Paria. They call this mouth the Grand Ma-
namo, to distinguish it from the little Manama, which
comes almost to the sea in the same channel, and is
perfectly navigable, but only with small vessels.
The second mouth is at two leagues to the south
east of the preceding. It is called the channel of Pe-
dernales, and comes from the east of the island Guari-
sipa. It throws ilself into the sea three leagues south
west of the isle of Soldiers, situated at the southern
entrance of the gulph of Paria. This channel is na
vigable only by canoes, or at most, small craft.
The third mouth is that denominated Capara ; it is
a branch of the channel of Pedernales, from which it
separates itself at seven or eight leagues from the sea.
Its embouchure is the most southern part of the gulf
of Paria, eight leagues more south than that part of Pe-

225
dernales. The navigation can but seldom be carried
_on by the Capura, except in canoes or small craft.
The name of the fourth mouth is Macareo ; it dis-r
charges itself into the sea six leagues to the south of
that of Capura. It serves for the communication of
Guiana Avith Trinidad, and every thing concurs to
exclusively assure it this advantage. It is navigable
for schooners and brigs ; its channel is extremely
clear and straight ; its source opposite the point and
river Erin of Trinidad.
The fifth mouth is little frequented ; first, because
it does, not offer very easy navigation ; next, because it
has on its banks savage Indians more ferocious than
the Goanauros, whom there is more inducement to
avoid than to seek. This nation of Indians is called
Mariusas, and gives its name to the fifth embouchure
of the Oronoko. It is at tAvelve leagues, and in the
most southern part, from the fourth. Between the
mouth of Mariusas and the sixth, there are a number
of inlets to the sea, which it is practicable to go up
with the tides and inundations.
Eight leagues to the south of the Mariusas is found
the sixth navigable mouth of the Oronoko. It is a
branch of the Mariusas that issues from the great bed
of the Oronoko. This mouth is rarely entered, as
a practice of many years gives no encouragement of
conquering its difficulties.
At length, eight leagues more to the south, is
what they call the great mouth of the Oronoko. It
is, according to the order I have observed, the se
venth. It bears the name of the " Ship's Mouth," be
cause it is the only one by which vessels of tAvo or three
Vol. III. *f

226
hundred tons can enter. Its width is six leagues,
but it wants a great deal of being of an equal depth.
It is time that we should enter the Oronoko, and
make all those remarks which can throw a light on
the navigation of this magnificent river. We shall
give the preference to the Ship's Mouth, because it
is generally by that, that the vessels Avhich trade
with Guiana ascend or descend.
Navigation of the Mouth of the Oronoko, to St Tho
mas.
This entrance of the Oronoko, is formed by the
point of Barima, to the south-south-east, situated in
eight degrees, forty-fiveminutes of north latitude, and
the isle ofCangrejos, to the north-west of the point.
It is near ten leagues from one point to the other ;
but the navigable channel is not quite three leagues
ivide. Its depth on the bar, which is a little more ad
vanced into the sea than point Barima, has seventeen
feet at low water.
As soon as the bar is passed, there are four or
five fathoms on the side of the island of Cangrejos,
while on that of Barima there is not more than one
and a half. The shoals of Cangrejos stretch seven
leagues into the sea. Those of point Barima do not
extend more than tAvo leagues.
Near a league from point Barima, there is a river
of the same name, that discharges itself into the Oro
noko. It is entered by a narrow channel, one fathom
and a half deep, that runs north-west. On the same
south bank of the Oronoko, and at two leagues above

227
the river Barima, is seen the mouth of the river Attia-
ruco, which traverses a large part of the most eastern
position of Guiana, occupied by the missions of the
Catalonian Capuchins. Sloops may with ease navigate
this river for ten or twelve leagues inland. It is to the
south of the island, and ofthe point of Cangrejos, that
forms, as we have just said, the north side ofthe
Ships' Mouth.
Three leagues above the island of Cangrejos, is
met the island of Arenas, small, and of a sandy
soil. It is covered with tAvelve or fifteen feet of wa
ter in high tides. On its southern part, it has1 a chan
nel, that from the sand of which it is formed, is ren
dered very uncertain. One does not ascend half a
league, before one finds one's self between the two
points that the Spaniards call Gordas, (Big). That on
the north side has a flat, which runs out a little, but
not enough to inconvenience the navigation.
In running along the south bank of the Oronoko,
at eight leagues above Barima, is seen the river Ara-
tura. It has its source on the southern bank of the
hills of Itamaca, and bounds the savannas ofthe mis
sions. Its mouth is very narrrow, but that does not
hinder it from being navigable about ten leagues. It
communicates by different arms Avith the Amaruco,
to the east, and the river Aguirra to the west. On
4ts banks are found a great deal of Avood for building
and cabinet-work, and opposite its embouchure some
little islands that bear its name. On the side opposite
the Oronoko, that is to say, on the north bank, is the
channel that they name the Cocuina. It discharges
itself into the sea.

228
At the distance of eleven leagues above Barima, is
the isle of Pagayos, in the middle ofthe Oronoko, but
rather nearer to its right bank ; its soil is a white mud,
covered with oziers. It is overflowed by the tides
about eleven feet. It is remarked that it was former
ly much larger, and that it diminishes sensibly.
No sooner is the island of Pagayos passed, than
that of Juncos is met with. It is the most eastern of
the chain ofthe isles of Itamaca, which occupy in the
Oronoko, a space of eight leagues. They divide the
river into tAvo branches ; that on the south is call
ed the branch of the Itamaca ; that on the north,
of Zacoopana. They are both navigable, but that on
the south, though much wider, has much less ivater.
It is by this last, large vessels at all times of the year,
pass. Exactitude of description demands that Ave should
begin to ascend the arm of Itamaca, as far as the west
point of the chain of islands, and diat Ave should then
do as much by the branch of Zacoopana.
The island of Juncos forms with the point Barima
Zanica, which advances on the right bank ofthe Oro
noko, the eastern entrance of the Itamaca branch,
which is nine hundred toises ivide. At this same
point, Barima Zanica there separates a channel,
called Carapo. It runs inland, and unites itself
on the back of the hills of Itamaca, to the river Ara-
tura. In ascending a little more, we find the mouth ofthe
river Aguirra. It rises in the territory ofthe missions
of the Catalonian Capuchins, and descends by the
hills of Itamaca. Its waters appear black in the bed

229
of the river, but they are very clear in a glass or other
vessel. Its embouchure is very wide ; it has a depth of
three fathoms at the distance of ten or twelve leagues
from the Oronoko. Its navigation becomes Avorse
than it was ; for heretofore schooners and brigs enter
ed it ; at present a vessel larger than a shallop would
have a great deal of difficulty in going up it. Very
slight preparations would doubtless suffice to render
it as navigable as it could ever have been. It wants
only, that interest should command them ; but as it
traverses no cultivated country, the utility of its navi
gation is entirely confined to those who go in quest of
the timber on its banks. The trees through which it
passes are so lofty, that they render the use of sails
impossible. It is navigated only with the tide.
Let us continue our route, and we shall* see at two
leagues from the mouth of the river Aguirra, and in
the middle of the Oronoko, the little island of Vena-
do, which Ave leave on our right. It does not furnish
matter for one observation. We shall keep, conse
quently, near the south bank ofthe Oronoko, to exa
mine, eight leagues above the Aguirra, the channel of
Caruzina. It issues from the Oronoko, runs by the
backs of the mountains, from thence turns to the
south-east, so as to form with a part ofthe south side
of the river, an island, in Avhich the Goaraunos Indians
have established a hamlet dependent on the Captaincy
of the Indian Gemericabe. This channel has a arood
deal of water at its entrance, but the point of the chain
of the Itamaca hills contracts and obstructs it so much

230
for half a league, that it is almost useless for naviga
tion. It is subdivided to almost infinity, and by this
means it could be of great benefit to agriculture. —
The country it runs through, in various directions, has
the advantage of being sufficiently elevated not to fear
inundations. A continual verdure is there beheld,
an unequivocal symptom of fertility. The Spaniards,
little enthusiastic in the vegetable kingdom, have for
the soil, that the ramifications of the channel of Caru-
zina irrigate, a sentiment of predilection, that has late
ly induced them to conceive the project of expelling
from it the Goaraunos Indians, of founding villages
there, and placing batteries for the defence of the
Oronoko. What the south side of the Oronoko offers remark
able, after the channel of Caruziha, is the river Ita
maca. Let us repair to it, recollecting that we are
always running along the isles of Itamaca, which con
tinue on our north. The mouth of the Itamaca is
narrow, but deep. It carries from sixteen to eigh
teen feet of water. Opposite this mouth, the Oronoko
has, under water, a bank that stretches itself out, and
crosses even all the arm of Itamaca, excepting a very
narrow passage, Avhich requires from the navigator
some caution, especially at low water. The Itamaca,
six leagues from its embouchure divides itself into two
branches ; the first goes to the west, and enters the
valleys out of which rises the mountain ; the other
goes to the Savanna, near the mission of Palomar.
Schooners and boats can ascend the river to the very
place where it branches off.

231
From the river Itamaca, we have but tAVO leagues
to go to arrive at the west point of the Itamaca island;
that is to say, to have traversed the Avhole branch of
that name. The arm of Zacoopana being equally en
titled to description, I re-descend the river Oronoko
to the point Avhere the tAvo branches re-unite, and I
shall re-ascend by going round the isle of Juncos, and
leaving it on my left.
From the east point of the isle of Juncos, there runs
out a flat, which stretches to the north, and leaves for
navigation only a very narroAV channel, but deep ves
sels, in passing, ought to keep close in with the north
side. Within the east point of the island of Juncos, is
the island of Pericos, which has very lately disappear
ed. It formed two channels, that on the south Avas
almost choaked up by the sands ; that on the north,
though narrow, afforded a passage, though with con
siderable difficulty to vessels. If they did not ground,
they often touched. This island, small and sandy,
was seen in the tides and rise of the Oronoko. No
earthquake, no extraordinary inundation has occa
sioned its disappearance.
Four leagues above the point Avhere the isle of Pe
ricos was, is seen the island of Hogs, Avhich Ave leave
to the right, because it inclines to the north. The na
vigable channel is on the south. It has, hoAvever,
between it and the land, a narrow channel, through
which small vessels are able to pass.
A league to the west ofthe isle of Hogs, is seen on
the north bank of the Oronoko, the channel of Lau-

232
rent, from the embouchure of which runs a flat, that
occupies half the channel of Zacoopana. The chan
nel of Laurent has a mouth that gives it the appear
ance of a large river, but at a very little distance to
the north it forms so many narrow straights, and of
so little depth, that there is only one, through which
small vessels can go out to sea. This channel bears
the name of a French captain, who without sufficient
local information, entered it with his vessel. He soon
found himself embarrassed in the midst of all these
channels, and ended by not knoAving Avhere he was.
Providence, however, so ordained, that in conse
quence of turnings and windings, he regained the
channel of Zacoopana. At the entrance of that of
Laurent, there is a little island of the same name, from
whence there comes out a flat, that runs into the
mouth of the Mateo which intersects the arm of Ita
maca. The island of Mosquitos, situated near the south
side, is remarkable only because it has, at its two
points of east and west, shoals Avhich extend more
than a league. In the middle of the river is the chan
nel, half a league wide.
From the mouth of the channel Abacuyo, a shallow
extends quite to the isle of Palomes. On the north
side and opposite are two channels that run to the
»sea. Another shallow runs from the island of Palo
mes, and does not stop till it meets the Avest point of
the Itamaca islands. ,
We have only to speak, of the isle of Zacoopana, to
have communicated on the channel of that name,
ideas similar to those which we have given on the

23S
channel of Itamaca. At the mouth of the channel of
the island of Zacoopana commences a shoal that ex
tends itself two leagues west, and often occupies the
half of the river. Between this shoal and another
that runs from the isle of Palomes, is the channel
through which vessels ought to pass without leaving
the centre, towards either one or the other bank ;
for they would run the risk of being stranded*
Here the Oronoko, or to speak more accurately,
that part which discharges itself into the sea by the
ship's mouth, forms only one bed for eight leagues to
the west. In this space is seen, on the south bank,
the mouth of a lake, a little distance from the river.
It extends quite to the foot of the mountain of Pia-
coa. One sees also, and almost at the same time,
from the middle of the Oronoko, the hills of Meri to
the south.
We arrive at the chain of islets, that divide the
channel of Piacoa and the river. It extends twelve
leagues from the east to the west ; but let us turn our
eyes to the north bank and we shall see the moutli of
the little Paragoan, from whence a flat runs which
reaches quite to that ofthe great Paragoan. The two
channels denominated Paragoans unite before arriv^
ing at the sea.
Above the great Paragoan, the arm detaches itself
known by the name of the mouth of Pedernalesj
which the Oronoko has opened on the side of Trini
dad. It forms a variety of channels, by which they
come from the Oronoko to this island. It branches
Vol. III. o g

234
from the Oronoko one league from the east point of
Yaya, There is in this place a shoal that occupies
half the river.
You have scarcely ascended a league and a half, be
fore you find yourself off the red bogs. It is the first
place where, ascending the Oronoko, yOu see Terra-
Firma, and lands secure from inundation. The soil
is firm and red. Opposite is a shoal that extends it
self along the south side, nearly half a league east
and west. The passage for vessels is, in this place,
close in with the two banks. It is better on the north
dian the south ; for this last has but little water. —
In the midst of these bogs is a very narrow channel,
named Guaritica, by which, in high tides, or when
the river rises, shallops may go to a lake that is very
near it. On the borders of this lake, are seen, bana
nas and fruit trees, that the Indians formerly cultivat
ed on this spot.
We have to ascend only one league to find, on the
same north bank, the mouth of the channel of Goaro-
apo. In the summer it has so little water, that shal
lops can scarcely pass it. Yet there are some years
in which it affords enough for sloops and schooners to
go there in pursuit of the contraband trade in mules,
cattle, and other productions coming from the pro
vinces of Cumana and Venezuela, giving dry goods
in exchange. After having passed the mouth, all the
rest of the channel has a great depth. Large vessels
navigate it with facility, but by oars or towing ; for
the high mountain on the side of Avhich it is situated,
hinders from profiting of the bounty of the winds. —

235
Two leagues above Goaroapo is the island of Araya ;
it runs along the north side, and is of a moderate size.
Towards the south side are seen the cascades of
Piacoa. They are formed by three or four falls from
the middle ofthe south side ofthe channel, but there
is water enough on the north to afford a passage for
large vessels. It is on this side that heretofore were
the missions of Piacoa, and the Catalonian capuchins.
One finds here excellent pasture, very fertile lands,
good water, regular breezes, and a situation adapt
ed to an agricultural people.
After having perceived the three islets of Aruba,
the island of Iguana is seen. It runs along the north
side of the river, for more than half a league. The
bed of the river remains navigable on the south side.
On that of the north, there are in the summer, banks
of sand, that leave a channel with but very little wa
ter. In the winter, sloops and schooners pass easily.
From the west point of the island of Iguana you have
to go only one league to be off the hill of Naparema.
It is only a high rock, and of no great magnitude. —
All this side, quite to the islands of Iguana and Araya
is full of sand banks.
The channel of Lemons, which is on the south side,
would not, perhaps, deserve to be mentioned, if it had
not at its mouth the ruins of a little fort that bears its
name. From thence is seen the island of Don Vi
cente ; it has a shoal at the east point that crosses the
channel to a little below the fortress, but in the in
crease of the river it occasions no inconvenience.

236
Behold us here at the place Avhere stood the ancient
capital of Guiana, before it was transferred to Angos
tura. We have noAV performed fifty leagues of our
voyage, and there remain forty to reach St. Thomas.
In removing the capital forty leagues above, the Spa
niards thought it necessary to leave on the place where
the ancient city was, the forts destined to defend Gui
ana. They are seen at the foot of a small mountain;
one is called St. Francis, the other El Padastro, —
There are on one side two little lakes ; one is named
Zeibo; the other Baratillo. Half a league below St.
Francis is the rivulet Usupamo, ivhich near its mouth
has a lake. The port of the military post has, on its
borders, a number of rocks, visible in summer, but
covered during the winter.
Near half a league above the ancient city, and in
the middle of the river, is the great rock Morocoto. —
It is rather nearer the south than the north side. —
This rock is bare in the summer, and covered with
water in the winter. Not far from it is the island
Mieres, half across the river. On the south side is
seen the mountain of that name, and within its cir
cumference, a little lower, that of Hache. This isl
and forms a channel on each side. That on the north
is the best and Avidest. Three leagues higher is seen
on the south side, the point of Aramaya, which is
nothing more than a projecting rock that makes a
breaker in the season of the floods. Opposite this
same point commence the three islets of San-Miguel.
They are all three of stone, with a flat shore of sand.

237
When the river is swoln, these islands are almost cov,.
ered ; nothing but the highest stones are then seen.
On the other side of the river, that is to say, near
its left bank, and opposite the village of San-Miguel,
is seen two islands called Chacaranday, from the name
of the Avood with which they are covered. They are
divided by only a very narrow channel, which is
nothing but one shoal.
Let us, however, glance our eyes over the island
Faxardo, situated in the middle of the river, nearer,
however, the right, than the left bank, and opposite the
mouth of the Caroni. It is three thousand toises long,
by thirteen hundred and eighty- seven Avide. It is
subject to inundations only on the western side. —
They think of making of this island a military post,
supported by a fort that defends the river. As this is
a new project, it is difficult to foresee whether it will
ever be executed. River Caroni.
The river Caroni. empties itself into the Oronoko,
opposite the island of Faxardo. Its course is direct
from south to north. Its waters appear black, be
cause it runs over a fine black sand, excellent to dry
Avriting ; but they are clear and very good. Its visi
ble declination, and bed strewed Avith rocks, give it a
course equally rapid and thundering; but it is in parti
cular about a league before reaching the Oronoko, that
finding its passage obstructed by rocks, it makes terri
ble, but ineffectual efforts to destroy the obstacles that

238
brave its fury, and force it to rise up in order to fall
again with a noise that is heard at a very great dis
tance. Enraged Avith this resistance, that it has been
able to overcome only by yielding, it enters the Oro
noko ivith an impetuosity that it is more easy to con
ceive than describe. With the force acquired by its
body and velocity, it drives a long ivay back the wa
ters of the Oronoko, with which it does not mingle
its own, but at more than half a league beloAv its
mouth. This phenomenon is so much the easier to
be observed, as the limpidity of the Caroni distin
guishes itself in the ever troubled waters of the Oro
noko. Continuation of the Navigation of the Oronoko.
On the left bank, and at a league above the isle of
Faxardo, is the island of Torno. It is separated from
the land by only a little channel ; it has on the west
point rocks, and a shoal that prolongs itself five leagues
above. The first object, that from this point, ought to fix
the attention of the navigator, is point Cardinal. It
is on the south side, three leagues above the island
Faxardo. At a quarter of a league nearly, from this
point, there is a chain of rocks that run into the river,
half-channel over, opposite Guarampo. In ivinter,
-but one of these islets, formed by these rocks, is dis
covered. In summer, three are seen opposite Guar
ampo, and on the south side there is a port named
Patacon, formed by point Cardinal.

239
They call Guarampo an assemblage of rocks seen
on the north side five leagues above the island Of Fax
ardo. These very rocks form a port on which they
bestow their name. From this port there comes out
a shoal almost north and south with point Cardinal.
In some places, this shoal extends into the channel.
On its east point are three rocks that are covered in
floods, leaving the principal channel between them,
and those of the south side. Half a league from,
Guarampo, is found, on the left bank, the island Ta-
guache; it is a league and a half from east to west.
The island of Zeiba is on the opposite side of the
river; it is four leagues long, and more than one wide.
The channel that separates it from the land has very
little water. In summer it is almost dry. When the
river rises these two islands leave in the middle of the
stream a channel for large vessels. But at every other
period, there are a number of sand banks, and very
little depth: between Terra-Firma on the north, and
the island Taguache, there is a channel navigable at
all seasons.
The channel, or the river of Cucazana, occupies
here a place, only because at its west point, and near
the land, is a shoal which does not stretch much to
the west, but occupies half the river. The island of
Cucazana is at the mouth of the river of the same
name ; it is, as it were, united with the island Ta
guache by a flat, Avhich in summer leaves a number
of shelves bare. From its Avest point there runs ano
ther inclining towards the south. It also in summer
shows bare shelves.

240
The channel of Mamo, at its mouth, has a shoal of
but little extent, in the middle of the river; and at
seven leagues below the capital, there is another north
and south with the island of Mamo. The channel
that the shoal leaves on each side, has not, from the
month of January to April, more than eight feet of
depth. It is this that obliges the vessels to be light
ened. Yet, it is but seldom, in spite of this precau
tion, that they can pass Avithout touching and losing
three or four days in getting off. The navigation
then has inevitable expenses to support, and risks
more dreadful to run. In the floods these difficulties
do not exist. The same thing takes place in another
channel that the island of Mamo forms on the west-
point of Zeiba.
Afer having surmounted these difficulties, one
sees nothing but rocks on the sides and in the stream.
The points of Currucay on the south side, and three
leagues above port St. Anne, are nothing but rocks,
forming salient angles. In the middle of the river,
and almost opposite these points, is seen a great rock
called the rock of Rosaire : between that and the sides
there are a number of others under water in the winter.
To me north of the rock of Rosaire is a channel, but
very narrow, on account of the rocks which stretch
themselves out, almost close to the bank. Vessels
cannot pass in summer, without danger of being stove
on these rocks. In winter the current is very violent,
and if by mischance the wind dies away in this place
you are menaced with shipwreck against the rock of
Rosaire, as we have seen examples of.

241
The north side then offers to the vieAV, at one league
above the rock of Rosaire, a point of rocks. At some
distance from thence are three reefs near one another,
that extend one third across the stream north and
south Avith the east point of the island Panapana. —
One of these reefs is almost north and south with the
west point, and runs nearly half over the river ; there
are two of them covered on their sides.
The island of Panapana is one league above the
point of Rabits, near the south shore, from whence it
is separated by a channel of moderate width, but of
little depth in summer. At each east and west point
there is a shallow with very little water. That on the
west point runs up more than a league, always inclin
ing to the south. Between this island, which is a
league and a half long, and the north shore, is the prin
cipal channel ofthe Oronoko, a little narrow, and of
little depth when the waters are low. At that time the
navigation is by no means convenient ; but Avhen the
river rises there is no reason to have any apprehension.
Two leagues higher you find yourself at the nar
rowest place on the Oronoko, named by the Spaniards
Angosturita. The north and south points that form
this contraction, are rocks. A little above and almost
half across the river, there is an immense stone called
Lavandera, or the washerwoman. It appears in sum
mer, but the water covers it in the floods. Between
it and the south side there is an islet of stones even
with the land, opposite which the river Maruanta dis
charges itself.
Vol. III. H h

242
Point Tineo to the north, is also formed by rocks,
that appear only when the waters are low. Point Ni-
casio, to the south, is in the same situation, excepting
that the stones are not entirely covered.
At length we arrive at St. Thomas, the capital of
Spanish Guiana, situated at the foot of a small moun
tain on the right bank of the river. They have built
for its defence, a fort placed opposite to the city and on
the left bank ; it is surrounded by a number of houses,
dependent, like the fort, on the province of Guiana.
They call this place port Raphael : it is here that the
passage of communication between Guiana and the
provinces of Venezuela and Cumana is. Between
port Raphael and the city, is seen the island called
del Medio, or the Middle, because it is in the middle
ofthe river. It is a rock which, on its southern part,
discovers itself in summer, and is under water in
floods. The principal channel is between the city
and this island ; it has, Avhen the water is low, tAvo
hundred feet of water, and on the increase of the river,
fifty or sixty more.
This appears to me, as much information as is
necessary to enable the reader to judge ofthe difficul
ties of the navigation of the Oronoko. I have prefer
red these details, which bear with them the marks of
correctness, to a general representation of the dan
gers the navigator of the Oronoko has to brave.---
Literary experience teaches us, that in truth, the pen
given up to either the coldness or the fire of imagina
tion, is very far from containing itself within the cir-

243
de of truth, in the same manner as when it has nor
thing but material facts to set down.
The delicious variety that the banks of the Orpnokn
offer.
Nothing iti the world is so calculated to captivate
the admiration of the naturalist as the navigation of
the Oronoko. Sometimes its banks are bordered by
forests of the most majestic trees^ enriched with the
most exquisite underwood, and filled with birds,
whose various kinds seem privileged, as Avell from the
beauty of their plumage as the melody of their song.
Monkeys of the marmoset speciesj such as the tama-
rin, the ouistiti, the saki, the marikina, the pincha,
themico, embellish this enchanting picture, by their
cries, their leaps, their grimaces, their feats of agility.
The savage inhabitant of these same woods, and
who contents himself with sharing the possession of
them with the ferocious beasts, supports himself on
the same fruits as the birds and the quadrupeds,
without receiving or inspiring fear. At other times,
the immense plains,, covered with excellent pasture,
procure the observer the pleasure of stretching his
eyes, fatigued with being confined by forests, over a
verdure that bounds his horizon for the space of
twenty to thirty leagues. Every thing concurs to
make him admire the order, the wisdom, and the
harmony of nature ; and man, in spite of himself, is,
by this thought, elevated above himself.

1244
Without insects, without the necessity of con
stantly lying upon the ground, wet or dry, and
among ferocious beasts, without the danger of want
ing provisions, without sands and rocks, without
the caprice of the winds, the navigation ofthe Oro
noko Avould be an inexhaustible source of delight for
a man, the friend of nature, and the admirer of her
wonders. After having made the Oronoko known, with re
spect to its navigation, we still have to present to the
reader, the picture of the constituent peculiarities of
this great river.
Importance of the river Oronoko.
The Oronoko is so little known, that it is placed al
most the last in the list of great rivers, when it is
doubtful whether any can carry away from it the
palm of supremacy. I support this opinion by re
marks carefully made by Mr. Humboldt, in 1800.
All geographers have invariably accorded to theriver
Amazons the honours ofthe largest river in the world.
It is enough that the Oronoko may dispute with it this
advantage, in order to render its superiority over all
other rivers, an historic truth. Now Mr. Humboldt
says, in his letter, Avritten in 1800, to the captain-gen
eral of Caraccas, on his return from his voyage to the
Rio-Negro. " I have compared my measurement
" taken in the Oronoko, with those that the illustrious
" Condamine took in the river Amazons. The re-
-" suit is, thatthe mouth ofthe Amazons is much wider

245
" than that of the Oronoko ; but this last merits
" equal consideration with regard to the quantity of
" water it has in the interior of the continent ; for, at
" two hundred leagues from the sea, the Oronoko has
" a bed of from two thousand five hundred to three
" thousand toises, without any island."
Body and rapidity of its water.
The width of the Oronoko, before the capital of
Guiana, is about three thousand five hundred toises.
Its depth, measured at the same place, in 1734, by
order of the king, was found to be sixty-five fathoms
in the month of March, the period when its waters
are the lowest. It discharges into the sea with such
velocity and force, that its water preserves itself
fresh at more than thirty leagues from its mouth, and
at more than forty it is distinguishable from that of
the sea. Its annualrise.
The Oronoko experiences, like the Nile, and
other great rivers, an annual and periodical rise. It
regularly commences with the month of April, and
finishes with the month of August. The Oronoko
remains all the month of September with the same
quantity of water it has acquired in the five preceding
months. It is then that it presents a spectacle truly
worthy of admiration. With this increase of power,
it overleaps its natural limits, and makes incursions

246
from tAventy to thirty leagues in the southern regions^
which it occupies from east to west more than two
hundred leagues, as if the whole of this extent was
united to its domain ; the whirlpools, eddies, and
falls resulting from the inequalities of the land
over which the torrent passes, and the new sea that
covers the surface of the plains, are so many objects
capable of exciting the most senseless imagination.
The ordinary rise of the Oronoko, before St. Tho
mas, is thirteen fathoms. It is greater in proportion
as it approaches the sea, and it is perceptible at three
hundred and fifty leagues from its mouth. It is not
every year equal ; but the difference never exceeds a
fathom. They pretend, in the country, that there
is every twenty-five years, another extraordinary
rise of another fathom.
In the first of October the Oronoko begins to
fall. Its Avaters abandon insensibly the plains, and
return to their beds. A multitude of rocks and isl
ands discover themselves in its bosom, and by the
end of February it finds itself at its lowest, which it
preserves till the commencement of April. It is in this
interval that the turtle go out of the Oronoko to depo
sit their eggs on the shores lately uncovered, to which
the waters by remaining on them, has imparted a mois
ture, that, aided by the heat of the sun, powerfully de-
velopes every principle of fecundity. We have seen
in Chapter IV. that the Indians, from every part, re
pair with their families, to the banks ofthe Oronoko
to make by drying of these turtles a durable food, and

247
to extract from their eggs an oil, which they either
consume or selL
The waters of the Oronoko are drinkable ; they
even find in them medicinal qualities, the princi
pal of which is to disperse wens.

Tidt

es.

The tide, very strong at the mouths of the Oronoko,
experiences so many subdivisions in the number of
channels that it enters, that it is almost imperceptible
before St. Thomas. It flows as high as that, only in
the summer, and when the wind is from the sea.
The navigator pays little attention to it.
The Oronoko is extremely full offish. The kinds
vary to infinity ; and by their abundance amply com
pensate those who make fishing their principal occu
pation. The fish there have not a perfect identity with
those of Europe, though they give to some the names
our fishes bear. This arises rather from the resem
blance they bear to those, than because they are ab
solutely believed to be of the same kind.
I shall dispense with giving the list of all the fishes
found in the Oronoko, because they require a descrip
tion appertaining more to the naturalist, than to
the historian. I shall make no exception but in fa
vour of those the Spaniards call curbinata and caraibe.
The first is a fish the largest of Avhich does not
Aveigh more than two pounds. It abounds in the
proooko, and is of an excellent flavour. But it is

248
less appreciated for its nutritiAre virtue, than for two
stones lodged in the head, in the place the brain ought
to occupy. They each have the shape of an almond
without the shell, and the brilliant colour of mother
of pearl. These stones are bought for their weight
in gold, on account of their specific quality against a
retention of urine. It is sufficient to take three grains
finely powdered in a spoonful of wine or water, to
cause an instant discharge of urine : an over dose re
laxes the muscles, and occasions an inability of urina
ry retention.
The second, smaller than the curbinata, attacks
with the utmost ferocity, every animal, whether
alive or dead, that falls within its reach. It is pecu
liarly inimical to the legs of the persons who cross
some branches of the Oronoko. Its bite is severe.
Did its strength correspond with its fury, it would
occasion frequent misfortunes. But they guard
against its attacks, and are always able to check
the progress of its bite. The name of caraibe was
given to it on account of its carnivorous disposi
tion. I shall not pass so slightly over the amphibious ani
mals seen in the Oronoko. The peculiarities that ap
pear to me to distinguish them from those of Europe,
compel me to give a description of them.

249
Cayman.
The cayman, which many naturalists confound
with the alligator and the crocodilej is nevertheless
very different from these two species of the encyclo
pedic methodique, as the abbe Bonaterre has judicious
ly observed. Larger than the crocodile, and even than
the alligator, the cayman is also more heavy and dull.
To be more dangerous than the crocodile, he only
wants to know better how to use his strength.
The cayman of the Oronoko, like all those of his
species, has the appearance of a lizard of from fif
teen to eighteen feet. His mouth is extremely wide,
is furnished with a row of fangs and of teeth, a little
separated one from another. His projecting eves,
which he keeps on the surface of the water, give him
an opportunity of seeing every thing without being
seen. His skin is coVered with strong scales and
points, against which a ball is ineffectual. He is the
destroyer of fish, and terror of men. The Indians eat
his flesh, which is white, but of a faint taste. They
take the cayman with large spears and hooks. His
fangs serve as ornaments of the Indian dress ; they are
placed round the neck and arms.
The common tradition among the Indians of Ter
ra-Firma and the Oronoko is, that the cayman and ti
ger engage in frequent combats. The tiger quits the
thickets of his forest, and walks along the banks of
the rivers where the cayman is accustomed to enjoy
the sun. He watches the movements of the cayman
he perceives. So soon as he sees an opportunity of
Vol. III. i i

250
surprising him, or that he sleeps, he springs immedi
ately upon him. He fastens himself with his talons on
his hard and impenetrable shell. If the cayman is
young, he is lost ; if strong, he instantly flings him
self into the water, and droAvns the tiger ; then takes
him in his fangs, and devours him on the shores of
the river. The cayman eats only on land, because,
having neither tongue nor gills, he cannot swallow in
the water. ¦
The teeth of the cayman pass among the Indians
ofthe Oronoko for an antidote to poison, and an alexi-
pharmic ; but it is more generally acknowledged that
the fangs and limbs of the cayman, pulverised and
administered in doses of twelve grains of one or the
other, or six of each, are an excellent anti-spasmo
dic : the remedy is repeated as occasion may require.
They say that a drop of its gall on the lachrymal
point, destroys by its anti-opfhalmic virtue, cataracts
and films. It at first causes a burning, but that soon
ceases. The fat ofthe cayman put warm into the ears, pos
sesses the virtue of removing obstructions in the au
ditory channels. It produces the same effect on the
mesenteric veins. This is the reason it is given to
those Avho eat earth. The dose is a spoonful in any
mucilaginous liquid. The Iguana.
The Iguana (Guana) is very common on the Oro
noko. It is a lizard of two and a half feet long, of a
greenish colour; it has on the back a row of points

251
like the cayman, which gives it a horrid appearance.
It is verv often on shore on the trees. Fear makes it
always fly into the Avater. Its meat is thought as good
by the Indians and Spaniards, as that of a pullet. —
The female Iguana lays from twenty-five to thirty
eggs, at one time, about the size of a nut. They are
yellow and covered with a thin skin or membrane
that serves as a shell. They are dressed like the
eggs of fowls, and are eaten as a greater delicacy. —
They find in some iguanas a stone about the bigness
of a turkey's egg. It is white, soft, and enveloped
in a number of cuticles, like the coats of an onion. —
The powders made of it are powerfully diuretic, and
lithotriptic. Chiquira.
In the Oronoko and other rivers of Terra-Firma,
is an amphibious animal which the Caribs call capi-
gua ; the Palanaques and Cumanagotos Indians, Chi
quira, and the Spaniards, quadratinejas. It has the
nose of a sheep, red hair, and a tail so short that it
hardly appears. They eat it on fast days, because it
lives as much in the water as on land. These ani
mals swim in shoals, and come up from time to time
to breathe. They feed on the grass that grows on the
borders of the rivers and lakes. It is there that the
Indians wait for them with their arrows, for they are
passionately fond of their flesh.

252
The Lapa.
In Guiana they call lapa an amphibious animal,
named by the Indians tamenu. It is of the size
of a terrier dog. Its hair is red, dotted with white
spots. It has the grunt of the paca of Mr. Buffon. —
Its flesh is tender and like that of a roasting pig. —
The lapa, in fact, in all the feasts of Southern Ame"-
rica to the north ofthe line, makes as distinguished
a figure as the roasting pig in ours. The lapa in
general lives on the banks of the rivers, where it feeds
on grass and fruit. It is so wild that at the least noise
it throws itself into the water.
The Water-dog.
The animal of the otter genus, called by the Spa
niards, the water-dog, resembles very much the bea
ver. Its head is like that of a small dog ; its ears ex
actly those of the beaver ; its tail long ; its fore feet
like those of the fox, but larger ; its hind feet flat arid
webbed. Its hair soft and of a whitish colour. It lives
in holes that it makes on the edge of the water. It of
ten walks in the fields. It feeds on grass, fruit, and
even fish, which it catches with inconceivable dex
terity. Liron.
The little animal Avhich, in Southern America,
bears the name of liron, has almost ail the character
istics of the sariga, only that it is amphibious. It is
on that account that it is called the little water-dog.
It is a lovely little animal, that lives in the rivers and

25S
pools. Its skin is covered with short hair, very soft
and of extraordinary beauty. Its colour is white and
black, so disposed, that beginning with the head, it
forms a ribbon of black hair, which shows itself
in the shape of a semi-circle, and then at the dis
tance of two fingers, forms another, then a third
and a fourth, &c. As its radii are black on a white
ground, they contribute v/ery much to the beauty of
the animal. Its little head is like that of the dor
mouse, Avith the whiskers of a cat. Its feet are web
bed ; its tail very striking, and perfectly without hair
from the middle to its extremity.
The belly of this animal is split entirely down, and
divided into two long strips of skin which it opens
and can shut so hermetically, that the division is hard
ly to be perceived. These strips are lined with a soft
and thick short hair. It is with them that the female
covers as many as six little ones, which she carries
under this thin cuticle. Manati.
The Indians and Spaniards of Terra-Firma call the
manati, what Ave name the lametin. It is a species of
marine cow, more aquatic than terrestrial; but its
custom of going on shore, to crawl amongst and feed
on grass, has caused it to be placed among the num
ber of amphibious animals.
The manati of the Oronoko is of a frightful figure,
and without any proportion. Its bulk is nearly that
of an ox, which it resembles a little in its mouth, and

254
habit of ruminating the grass on which it feeds. Its
eyes are very small ; its gills scarcely perceptible ; it
has no fins, and is therefore frequently obliged to leave
the water for the purpose of respiration. Its skin is
much thicker than that of an ox. They make thongs
of it to tie their cattle, and for horsewhips. Its tail
forms a circle from the right to the left part of its body,
and gives it nearly three feet of diameter. It has on
its breast two little irregular arms, Avithout any divi
sion of finger or nails, which it uses to go and graze.
It is at these times that the tigers have a good bar
gain of it. The female carries under its arms its two
little ones, most frequently male and female. She
presses them against her stomach, and nourishes
them with a rich milk till they are able to accompany
their mother in going to graze.
The meat of the manati is fat, good, and tender;
the greater part converts itself into a grease that is
very good to burn. The use of this meat destroys all
venereal taints. The lump that grows on the nape of
its neck has the consistence of bone or ivory. Jts
powder is excellent in stopping the bloody flux.
The manati fishery is carried on by the Indians in
the same manner as that of the whale at Spitsberg,
with this difference, that one Indian, with his wife,
goes in his canoe to the manati fishery.
Importance of Guiana.
It is difficult to find in all the Spanish dominions a
possession so favoured by nature and so little appre-

255
eiated as Guiana. Its extent, Avhich they reckon a
thousand leagues in circumference, gives it the im
portance of an empire. Its soil, whose only fault is a
too active vegetation, Avould yield more articles than
all the other Spanish possessions now produce. The
rivers, that the Oronoko in its course of five hundred
leagues receives, and the number of which exceeds
three hundred, are so many canals that would carry to
Guiana all the riches they themselves might have con
tributed to obtain from the earth. The Oronoko,
which traverses it, and which is itself the opening by
which an enemy might penetrate into the provinces
of Venezuela, Varinas, and the kingdom of Santa-Fe,
can be defended only by Guiana, Avhich must, of
course, become the bulwark of the provinces, she alone
can guarantee.
How is it that a country, industry ought to prefer
to every other, is a desert ? How that a military sta
tion, so advantageous, has obtained no more attention
from its government ?
To the first of these two questions, one may an
swer at once, that the Spanish population in America,
possessing a hundred times more land than it can cul
tivate, has no motive to go in search of any other at a
distance : besides, the Spaniard, not devoured by an
ambition which he cannot gratify but Avith the SAveat
of his brow, and who immediately takes root in the
spot, good or bad, Avhere fate has fixed him, cannot
resolve on abandoning the place AAdiere he has procur
ed himself ease, and acquired habits, and run after
an opulence that he can do without, or expose him
self to fatigues, the Aery idea of which frightens him?

250
The second question can hardly be solved, but by
the great expense fortifying and garrisoning Guiana
would demand, unless the government, reposing on
the difficulties and dangers presented by the naviga
tion of the Oronoko, believes that no nation would
undertake the conquest of an uncultivated country,
which its actual misery defends better than arms. —
Woe to Guiana, if the indolence of the government
is occasioned by such a system as condemns it for
ever to the most afflicting nullity ! But the wise po
licy, for a long time the base of all the operations of
the Spanish ministry, assure us that it is impossible
with justice, to attribute to it, ideas so opposite to
public prosperity. It is in this persuasion, that I am
about to add to the information I have already given
on Guiana, all those which policy, cultivation, and
commerce can reasonably desire.
Extent and Population of Guiana.
Spanish Guiana, from the mouths of the Oronoko
to the limits ofthe river Portuguese, occupies a space
of more than four hundred leagues. Its width in
the first eighty leagues to the east, is not more than
thirty leagues south, where it is bounded by the pos
sessions ofthe Dutch, but then its breadth increases
to more than a hundred and fifty leagues.
Upon this immense surface, she has but thirty-four
thousand inhabitants of all conditions and all colours,
of which nineteen thousand four hundred and tiventy

257
five Indians are under the conduct of the missionaries;
six thousand five hundred and seventy-five in the cap
ital ; and the remaining eight thousand in the other
villages. The thickest population is from fifty leagues
from the sea, tu a hundred and thirty leagues up the
Oronoko. Lower Guiana.
Guiana is divided into the upper and lower Orono
ko, and the capital is adopted as the point of division.
But this honour Avould more justly belong to the river
Caroni, because it bounds on all the western part, a
territory that might properly be called an island ; for
it has the Oronoko to the north ; the sea to the east j
the river Essequibo to the south ; and the Caroni to
the west. It forms almost a square of seventy leagues
Ofrom east to Avest, and thirty leagues in its least
breadth from north to south. America has few lands
more fertile than those within this circumference. —
Watered by a number of rivers, that for ages have
augmented the bed of mould, they reproach man for
his indolence and sloth.
The missionaries charged with conducting the In
dians by the paths of Christianity, to social life, com
menced their labours in this part of Guiana. Twenty
seven villages founded to the east of the river Caroni,
attest the success of the fathers, the Catalonian capu
chins. Yet they have not approached more than thir
ty leagues from the coast, because it is inhabited by
Vol. III. k k

258
the Caribs, the most ferocious and courageous of all
the Indians, who have on all occasions made martyrs
of the apostles who have attempted to make christians
of them. It is true that the ferocity of the Caribs
would undoubtedly have given way to the morality of
the missionaries, had they been left to the pure im
pulse of their own hearts ; but the Dutch of Surinam,
interested in extending their commerce in Spanish
Guiana, have made it a point of policy to protect the
vagabond existence of the Caribs, who interdict to
the Spaniards all approach from the coasts. It is, in
fact, certain, that Spanish Guiana, which on the map
appears to occupy thirty leagues of coast from the
mouths ofthe Oronoko to Cape Nassau, does not oc
cupy one inch; for the natives have defended their
independence, so that having never been converted,
reduced, nor vanquished, they are, in laAv and in fact,
as free as they were before the discovery of the new
world. It is melancholy, that the barbarous use they
make of their liberty, obliges philosophy itself to
offer up wishes that they may lose, rather than pre
serve it. Connexions ofthe Caribs with the Dutch.
The Dutch court with a great deal of earnestness
the friendship and alliance of the Caribs, They ob
tain it with so much the more facility, as they do not
preach to them the inconvenient morality ofthe Spa
niards, but make, on the contrary, an apology for their
manners and habits. It is asserted that in these poli-

259
fcical relations they do not fail in nourishing the hatred
of the Caribs against the Spaniards, and to attach
them to themselves by the bands of interest ; and
nothing can better prove their success than the per
mission the Caribs have given them to establish on
their territory, on the borders of the sea, a guard post,
where thty have six Dutch soldiers and a serjeant.
This post is destined to protect the contraband trade,
that the Dutch carry on upon these coasts. The Ca
ribs, far from creating any obstacle, buy and consume
what the Dutch bring, or go and resell it to the Indians
of the missions, or assist the Bntavian pedlars, who
wish to increase their profits by retailing their articles
for themselves. The commercial intercourse between
the Dutch and the Caribs is very much followed, and
more interesting than it should seem it could be with
savages, to whom cultivation has not one attraction.
But the Dutch point out to them the balsams, the
oils, the gums, the rosins, the medicinal plants, the
fruits, the woods that are fit for commerce, and it is
with these articles that all their exchanges are made.
If there remains any balance in favour ofthe Dutch,
the Caribs pay it with the Indians called Poytos, Avhom
they take prisoners in their wars, and the Dutch pur
chase to make slaves.
Political relations between the Dutch of Surinam and
the Spaniards of Guiana.
Much more vigilance and inquietude is perceived
in the Dutch for the protection of their possessions,

260
than the Spaniards manifest for theirs. For these last
have no advanced post on the Dutch boundary, while
the Hollanders have first, on the coast, a fort on
the guard post Ave have just mentioned ; then they
occupy a fort called the old castle, at the junction of
the river Mazurini with the Essequibo, and maintain
and advanced guard of from twenty to five and twen
ty men, on the river Cuyuni. By means of these
precautions, they are not only respected on their
own territories, but they even traverse in safety all the
neighbouring Spanish possessions. They even extend
their limits wherever the convenience of agriculture
invites them, and maintain their usurpations by force.
Every thing is therefore wanting for the Spaniards
and Dutch to live in Guiana like good neighbours,
whose respective mother countries are friendly na
tions. They mutually reproach each other with in
juries, some of which are serious enough.
The Spaniards pretend that the Dutch, constantly
occupied in encroaching on their territory, respect no
boundaries ; that they destroy the Spanish com
merce in Guiana by the contraband articles they intro
duce ; that they continually excite the Caribs against
them ; that they prevent their reduction by the ad
vice they give, and the arms they furnish.
The Dutch, in their turn, impute to the Spaniards
the desertion of the slaves from their possessions in
Surinam, who find in Guiana a hospitable reception,
liberty, and the protection of the government. It is
true, that for a long time the Spaniards have favoured,
rather from revenge against the Dutch than from

261
principles of humanity, all the slaves from Surinam,
who have come to ask an asylum. They have even
peopled with these fugitives, two pretty considerable
villages on the banks of the river Caura, where they
receive also the Indians that the Caribs force to fly
in order to avoid becoming slaves to the Dutch. From
this commixture of men Avithout manners, it will
be difficult at some future day, more or less remote,
to prevent some inconvenience from resulting to pub
lic tranquillity.
For seven or eight years these two governments
have mutually reproached each other, and have pro
mised by treaties to behave with the decency and re
spect from which they ought never to have departed.
One of the promises of the Spanish government is, to
restore to the Dutch all the slaves who shall withdraAv
themselves into the Spanish dominions, or pay their
value. If this stipulation be always as faithfully exe
cuted as it is in these first moments of the compact, it
will re-establish, betAveen the tAvo countries, a harmo
ny, almost all the advantages of which appear to
me necessarily to result to the Spaniards. For peace
and friendship are always best adapted to him who
wants power to make himself feared.
Upper Guiana.
Every thing which is to the east of the river Caro
ni, commencing a league above St. Thomas, depends
on the mission ofthe Franciscans. Were we to judge
of their zeal from the result of their labours., Ave should

262
have no occasion to be astonished. But if Ave com
pare their works with the difficulties they had to over
come, and with the disinclination, or rather the decid
ed repugnance of the Indians to receive the lights of
the faith, Ave shall see that it was scarcely possible for
men to do more than Avhat the Franciscans ha\'e done
on the upper banks of the Oronoko. But these mis
sionaries as well as the Capuchins, think they have
fulfilled their ministry in mechanically retaining the
Indian in the appearance of civil life, and in obtain
ing from him the exterior and insignificant signs of
Christianity. The missionary neglects to inspire the
Indian with the love of labour, at the same time that
he instils into him the love of God. Provided he
mumbles over his prayers at certain hours, he is
dispensed from every other Avork. Drunkenness,
lasciviousness, sleep, fill up all his leisure, that is to
say, his whole time. If he cultivates a feAv 'provi
sions around his cot, he passes for very industrious.
Cultures.
Upon the most productive land in the world, there
are seen but a few plantations badly worked, situated
at thirty leagues to the south of the capital of Guiana,
where the proprietors raise a little cotton, some sugar,
and a little country provisions. The soil is excellent,
especially for tobac.oo. One may judge of its good
ness by that cultivated on account of the king, in the
environs of San Antonio of Uspata, to the east of the
river Caroni. Nature there produces of herself the

263
oil of Raima Christi, a balsam ealled in the country,
the butter qf Carapa, the real simacouba, so efficacious
in dysenteries, bark, rosins, oils, balsams, and an in
finity of medicinal plants,
San Thomas.
The city of San Thomas, situated on the right
bank of the Oronoko, is the seat of a separate govern
or, with a salary of three thousand hard dollars. He
enjoys all the rights and exercises all the functions
that the laiv gives to governors : but he depends in
the military and political departments, on the cap
tain-general of Caraccas. He is also a deputy of the
intendance, and has, in this capacity, the administra
tion of the finances of his province, and orders all the
ordinary expenses, but is obliged to account Avith the
intendant-general, and to execute his orders in every
thing that regards finance or commerce.
The bishop of Guiana makes the Capital his resi
dence. We have spoken in Chap. IV. ofthe period
of the erection of this bishoprick, of the revenues of
the bishop, and of the chapter of this cathedral, which
does not as yet exist even in design. Religion has
not, to speak correctly, any temple worthy of her, in
Guiana. Divine offices are celebrated there in a hovel,
that the most insignificant villages would not suffer
for its parish church. It is not, however, because the
bishop does not make frequent and lively representa
tions to the government on the indispensability of an
edifice, to which the name of cathedral might seri-

264
ously be given, and, with the mediocrity of his rental
he can only offer wishes for the construction of a re
ligious building, whose decency should correspond
with the grandeur of the object.
The police of the capital is conducted by a com
mon council, the only one in the province, composed
of two magistrates, an alguazil major, an alferez real,
and a notary. Criminal justice is under the exclu
sive jurisdiction ofthe governor.
In all the province of Guiana there are but three
livings ; San Thomas, St. Rose of Maruante in the
east, and Caycara, a hundred leagues to the west.
Its Climate.
We breathe at San Thomas an air tolerably heal
thy. The trade-winds are there very regular from
the month of November to the month of May. In
the rest of the year they are interrupted by calms
more or less frequent, more or less long. The in
habitants are pretty well lodged. The streets are on
a line and paved. The houses are for the most part
built as in Caraccas, of lime and sand, with terraces
on the tops, where they sleep in the seasons of their
greatest heat, without receiving from the dew any in
jury to their health or sight. Storms are frequent in
the months of August, September and October. —
They have no earthquakes ; but sometimes a wind,
that does not last long, which blows with the vio
lence of a hurricane ; it terminates in rain.

265
Its Commerce.
To give a just idea of the riches or poverty of
Guiana, I shall have recourse to Avhat the tithes pro
duce. The tithes of all Guiana were farmed out in 1803,
for four thousand hard dollars a year. Let us suppose
that the farmer gained fifty per cent, and carry it to
6000 : that would give an annual revenue of 60,000
hard dollars for every thing generally consumed in
Guiana, or exported from it. A great deal of pene
tration is not necessary to estimate what remains to
commerce. It is true, that in calculating by the tithes, the pro
ducts of the herds ofthe capuchin missionaries do not
come into the account, because they are exempt.
They estimate the horned beasts alone that they pos
sess, at a hundred and fifty thousand, which naturally
make a part of the riches of Guiana.
There was, notwithstanding, exported through the
port of Guiana, from 1791 to 1794, in articles coming
as Avell from this province, as from that of Varinas,
ten thousand three hundred and eighty oxen, and
three thousand one hundred and forty mules ; and
they in return, introduced two hundred blacks, and
349,448 hard dollars in specie.
From 1791 to 1795, they exported for Europe,
in silver, - - 25,203 hard dollars.
In goods, - 363,397
Total 388,600 hard dollars.
Vol. III. & 1

266
At this day the commerce is reduced to less than
one half.
At the end of 1803 there were in Guiana thirty- four
small vessels employed in the coasting trade in the
colonies, and the trade then was in the hands of a few
Catalonians, who have carried there that spirit of in
dustry which is found in no part of Spain in the same
degree as in Catalonia. The poverty of Gaiana easi
ly places very narrow limits to their emoluments ;
but it imposes none on their ideas, or their plans.
They think, with all the other Avhites of Guiana, that
this province has received from nature, favours
which render her worth}' of a better lot.
Encouragement that industry requires.
The exertions of industry meet in Guiana an insur
mountable obstacle in the difficulty of communica
tion, as well on account of the number of rivers, with
which the province is intersected in every direction,
as the want of roads, and the wretched support of
those that do exist. They require barges, or large
ferry-boats in the rivers they are obliged to pass the
most frequently, in order to afford the cultivator, at
all seasons, a certainty of transport for his commodi
ties. They require, also, a road from the capital to
Cayacaca. This communication is, at the present
time, very long, very difficult, and often impractica
ble. A second road from San Thomas to Barcelo-
"netta, distant about four days' journey. Lastly, a

267
third road for the village of San Antonio, forty-
leagues from the capital.
The inhabitants of Barcelonetta represent also,
through their delegate, that the port of San Thomas
experiences continual encroachments, of which it
is indispensable to arrest the progress. After the
long and heavy rains that soak and soften their lands,
there are made by the rapidity of the current of the
Oronoko, considerable encroachments, that expose
their houses to be washed away, from the month of
July to September. It is impossible to prevent these
excavations, and preserve the city, but by the means
of a solid quay in all that part called the Almeda.
Another work, also very useful that Guiana de
mands, is to blow up the large stones that prevent
vessels from anchoring in the most convenient and
safe situations. This might easily be done on the ap
proach of the month of February, when the waters of
the Oronoko, fallen thirteen fathoms, leave these
stones uncovered. This operation ought to be per
formed at the place called la Cucuycra, because it is
the most sheltered part of the harbour, and where
vessels lose most anchors.
They demand particularly, and with importunity,
that the passage at Mamo, seven leagues below the
capital, should be rendered more navigable. From
the month of January to April, no vessel can pass
there with a cargo. Every vessel must discharge
Avithout being able to load again, but after passing
this channel ; for then it does not carry above seven or

268
eight feet of water. They must deepen the bed, the
depth of Avhich every day diminishes, as well from the
deposition of sand, as by the ballast a number of ships
throw out, in order to lighten themselves, arid be
able to pass.
Of all these labours, it is not allowed me, accord
ing to my opinion on Guiana, to regard as indispen
sable any but those that the facility of communication
by land requires. The plan I am about to unfold,
renders the others less pressing, excepting, neverthe
less, those of the pass of Mamo, which it is, in every
situation, necessary to clear.
PL AN. — Bad Situation ofthe Capital.
The Spanish government has thought, that it ac
corded best with the defence of Guiana, to place the
capital at the enormous distance of ninety leagues
from the sea, and not to leave in this space any city
exposed to the invasions of an enemy. It is not my
business to combat this opinion, which I think foreign
to my subject. It is in vain for reason to present me
with arms ; I renounce all use of them. I will sup
pose, on the contrary, that it may in fact be possible,
for a city on the banks of a river to defend better the
entrance into a country by leaving between it and the
sea, the most important part ofthe possession, than if
it was near the sea, and that an enemy could not pe
netrate into the territory but after having taken it.
I do not undertake to examine the situation of San
Thomas, but as it relates to agriculture, navigation,

269
and commerce, and I maintain, under these points of
view, it could never be worse situated than it now is.
In all ages reason has advised to give the prefer
ence, for the cultivation of colonial produce, to the
lands nearest to the sea, or at least to navigable rivers,
because the saving which results from the transporta
tion by water, in diminishing the charge on the whole,
becomes a powerful encouragement to the cultivator,
and contributes also to the increase of agriculture,
and the augmentation of commerce.
On this principle the lands of Guiana, between the
river Caroni and the sea, are those which ought to
have been cultivated the first. Excellent, as has been
said, divided into immense plains, mountains, hill
sides, and valleys, every article might there find a soil
and climate adapted to it, and the different rivers that
enrich this part assure, in case of droughts, irrigations
to supply the want of rain and the transport of the
Oronoko near at hand without any expense.
Necessity of placing it nearer the Sea.
But it is impossible to yield to any idea of success,
so long as the only city of Guiana shall be at the great
distance from the sea where it now is ; for if to sell
their productions and purchase their necessaries the in
habitants ofthe part to the east ofthe Caroni are oblig
ed to ascend to St. Thomas, and to expose themselves
to charges, delays, and incalculable dangers for eyery
thing they send to, or require from the capital, they
will very soon, and Avith reason, renounce a possession

270
which repays neither the advances nor the sweat of
the brow it exacts.
If it be repugnant to cultivation that San Thomas
should be placed at Aagos> ura, navigation and com
merce demand no less that it should be carried near
er the sea, or that another city be substituted in its
place. Ic has already been seen, in the description of
the Oronoko, the great difficulties that vessels of all
sizes have to surmount in order to go as high as San
Thomas ; that the Spanish policy has placed it on the
spot of the river so beset with rocks, shelves, and
sands, that it seems as if nature Avished to separate it
from man, by herself showing it under the most hide
ous aspect.
The voyage from the ship's mouth to San Thomas
is from fifteen to twenty, and even thirty days ; if to
this be added the time lost, and the risks ran, it will
be seen that there are very few seamen who would
not prefer sailing their vessels to Europe, to the
trouble, the care, and the dangers annexed to the na
vigation of the Oronoko.
The exterior navigation merits, however, so much
the more regard, as Avhat would be expended in sur
mounting the difficulties opposed to it, is always paid
by the cultivato ; for the expense and dangers of na
vigation are always carried to account in commercial
speculations, and necessarily cause in the articles a
deduction fatal to local prosperity. The interior na
vigation being performed Avith shallops and canoes
that no shoals can impede, it is much more suitable
that it should be appropriated to transport the pre-

271
ducts to that part of the Oronoko Aimere all sorts of
sea vessels can with facility repair, than to oblige these
last to ascend the stream and make the voyage lon
ger, more expensive, and more dangerous.
It is then contrary to every principle of agricultural
and commercial economy, that the only port exist
ing in Guiana, should be so buried, and so little ac
cessible to navigation. The city of San Thomas may
well remain where it is ; but the drawing any advan
tage from this province must be renounced, so long
as there shall not be in the lower part of the Orono
ko, and not far from its mouth, any port to receive
the products of the interior, and to facilitate to ves
sels from sea voyages, the means of making their ex
changes with more dispatch and less expense.
Where ought it to be placed ?
Once agreed on that point, it remains to know
what shall be the place to which the preference Avill
be given. Not too much to brave the reigning opin
ion, I shall place the neAV city at the mouth of the
Aguirra, twelve leagues from the ship's mouth, and
upon the left bank ofthe river, that in the seasons of
inundation, the communication with the country may
remain open. But one great objection presents itself;
it is that this spot makes a part of the territory occu
pied by the Caribs, and it is indispensable that they
be first reduced.
Nothing is more easy than the reduction ofthe Ca
ribs, provided it be not undertaken till after they are

272
deprived of the aid and protection of the Dutch of
Surinam. That ought to be accomplished in Eu
rope by a good and faithful treaty betAveen the Dutch
and Spanish governments, by which the Dutch shall
acknoAvledge, as the immutable limits of the Spanish
arid Dutch possessions in Guiana, cape Nassau on the
coast, and the river Essequibo in the interior of the
country. They should oblige themselves to aban-
don all the posts, and withdraw all the troops, that in
contempt of the original treaty, they maintain beyond
these limits upon the coasts, or on the southern part
ofthe Essequibo, and to refuse the Caribs of lower
Guiana, all kind of protection that might hinder or
retard their reduction.
The Spaniards, on their part, should promise to
send back to Surinam grato, every runaway slave, and
even every refugee freeman that the government
shall claim, and to live in peace and good fellowship
with the Dutch. As the conditions of this trea
ty Avould be more advantageous to the Spaniards
than the Dutch, the former ought to balance it by
permitting the Dutch to export, at all times, whether
by sea or by land, from Guiana, all the animals ne
cessary for the furnishing their markets with provi
sions, or the supply of their domestic labours.
For the perfect execution of this treaty, the gov
ernments should name, reciprocally, commissioners
of their respective nations, to reside at the neighbour
ing seats of government, and every important diffi
culty should be submitted to the decision of the moth
er countries.

273
Expulsion of the Caribs.
So soon as friendship and good faith shall be thus
solemnly established between the governments of
Surinam and Spanish Guiana, force might be em
ployed in this with a certainty of success. The Caribs,
ferocious and brave while supported by the Dutch,
will no longer be any thing more than Indians, less
pusillanimous than those ofthe other nations ; besides
never having had an opportunity of exercising their
courage but on unarmed and isolated unfortunates,
the aspect, new to them, of a regular force, will ap
pear so formidable that the idea of resistance will ne
ver occur to them. Flight into their forests, or resig
nation to social life, will be the only alternatives pre
sented to them.
Three thousand troops of the line would clear, in
less than two months, all the circuit bounded by the
Oronoko on the north, the river Essequibo on the
south, the sea on the east, and the missions of the
Catalonian capuchins on the Avest. After this con
quest, which would cost no more than a military pro
cession, it will be necessary to establish and preserve,
for the three first years, about ten posts of from fif
teen to tAventy men each, distributed over the ter
ritory newly conquered, in order that agricultural
measures should not, in their commencement, receive
any impediment.
Vol. III. m m

274
New means of Cultivating and Peopling Guiana.
The Spanish sovereignty will be no sOoner acknow
ledged and respected, than it will be necessary to turn
its attention to employing, in a manner more useful to
commerce, the powers of the Indians who live in
vices, perfect nullities under the rod of the missionaries.
t-t is time that these pretended exercises of piety, in
which all their moments are occupied, should, in a
great measure, be replaced by labour ; it is time that
these miserable beings, abandoned to a sort of life
more calculated to degrade than reform mankind,
should commence the practice of the social virtues ;
it is time that they should cease to be automata, and
become men ; in short, it is time that the misery ofthe
conquered Indians, which cannot but estrange from
social life the savage Indians, should give place to
ease and comfort. This grand object may easily be
accomplished. It needs only that it be willed. The
Indians are intemperate, but submissive ; indolent,
but fearful. Gentleness and threats, judiciously em
ployed, can do every thing on such characters. Let
the experiment be but made in good earnest, and the
success will be seen to exceed the hope.
It is not, however, on this population alone that
We ought to reckon for the prosperity of Guiana.
The Canary islands, whose inhabitants, whether from
a love of change, or Avhether from want, have con
tracted a habit of emigrating in bodies to the differ
ent parts of Spanish America; the Canary islands
may greatly contribute to immediately people Guiana,

275
and metamorphose this region, now a desert and
without cultivation, into a rich and delicious country.
It is for the government to make regulations by which
these men may find advantages, that would induce
them to prefer Guiana to any other Spanish posses
sion, especially for cultivation or trade.
There is another mode, still more infallible, of for
ever securing prosperity and happiness to Guiana. — -
It is to do for her what the king of Spain did in Octo
ber, 1783, for Trinidad.
The impossibility of desiring any thing more ad
vantageous for Guiana, would make me terminate
this chapter by expressing the truly sincere wishes it
entertains for her, if I had not engaged, at the com
mencement of this description, to finish it by informa
tion, true or false, real or fabulous, that history and lo
cal tradition have given me on El Dorado.
El Dorado.
The first conquerors who undertook to unite to the
dominions ofthe Spanish crown, the province of Vene
zuela, received from the different Indian nations they
pillaged, violated and massacred, positive and unani
mous information, that by marching for a long time
south, a region would be found on the banks of a great
lake, inhabited by Indians, of a peculiar nature, knoAvn
under the name of Omegas, living under laws delibe
rately made by themselves, principally in a large city,
the buildings of which Avere covered with silver. That
the heads of the government and religion wore, when

276
discharging the duties of their offices, habits of massy
gold ; that all their instruments, all their utensils, all
their furniture, were of gold, or at least of silver. That
this nation, equally numerous and warlike, kept on
foot armies so formidable, that no other could resist
it, and the principal use it made of its power was to
drive off from its territory any individual who was not
born within it.
In every part of Venezuela and Cumana, to which
the European detachments directed their steps, they <
received the same accounts, and from Indians too far
separated by the distance of their abodes, to have pre
concerted this falsehood. It did not appear that even
superstition had given any credit to this tradition, for
they attributed to the Omegas no supernatural virtue
or power.
At Peru, Pizarro and his men received the same
information of the existence of the Omegas upon the
borders of a lake, situated to the north-east of Peru ;
this communication accorded also with those of Vene
zuela, upon the riches of this nation, its power and
pOUce. Quesada, sent from Peru, had scarcely arrived
with his people at Santa Fe of Bogota, than the In
dians, seeing them hungry after gold, apprised them,
that there wras to the east, a country very remote, in
habited by the Omegas, Avhere gold and silver were
the only metals used for every purpose. The Spa
niards were so enthusiastic at this neAvs that they
named this country, so rich, El Dorado ; and from
this epoch expeditions from all sides, went out in
search of El Dorado.

277
Pedro de Ordaz formed, almost at the same time,
from Quito an expedition for the same object, of
which he had no more to boast than Pizarro of his.
Antonio Berrio, a contemporary of the preceding,
set out from the kingdom of Santa Fe, for the dis
covery of El Dorado ; he found himself very happy in
being able, after eight months of ineffectual endea
vours, to return with a tenth part of his men.
Francisco Orellana, an enterprising and indefatiga
ble man, was sent with one hundred people, by the
viceroy of Peru, to discover El Dorado. He de
scended the river Amazons, where his own men mu
tinied, killed him, chose another chief, and encoun
tered other adventures, that caused their total de
struction. But it Avasfrom Venezuela thatthe most expeditions
were made for El Dorado. Every army, every de
tachment, directed its march towards the south hop
ing that the discovery of a country so renowned
would be the termination of its evils. The misfor
tunes of the first did but excite the desires ofthe se
cond. All aspired to the honour attached to success,
and all found, in the fatigues of the journey, when
hardly commenced, incurable disorders, blindness, or
death. Among these daring men was Philip of Urra, whose
expedition deserves so much the more to be known,
as it is the only one to which are owed the ideas that
have the most fed the illusion upon El Dorado.

278
Expedition ofUrra.
The faithful historian Oviedo informs us that Philip
of Urra, was one of those who formed the first expedi
tion of the Welsers to Venezuela. Less savage than his
companions, he did not yield to them in ambition or
intrepidity: From his disembarkation at Coro to the
period of his death, which comprehends an interval
of fifteen years, he did not enjoy a single instant of
repose. Always on the march, fighting the Indians,
living on wild fruits, exposed to all the inconvenien-
cies that multiply themselves in a country in which
man had done nothing to correct its insalubrity, or
facilitate its communications, his life was a tissue of
dangers and ills.
In the course of these expeditions chance led him
to a place where he learnt that Quesada, one of the
conquerors of Santa Fe, had just passed Avith two
hundred and fifty men and a number of cavalry, in
going to discover and seize on El Dorado. This
news was true. Quesada marched a long while, suf
fered much and discovered nothing. He fell back on
Popayan, Avhere he did not arrive till a long time after,
and with a considerable loss of men.
Philip of Urra, knowing nothing but the project of
Quesada, and not its result, presumed, on the contra
ry, that so large an expedition would never have been
made, without infallible evidence respecting the land
of gold, tOAvards Avhich all the Spaniards directed
their Avishes and turned their views. He determined
then to follow the track of Quesada, in order to ob-

279
tain at the least, a part in the riches of El Dorado,
should he arrive too late to share in the conquest.
After many days of labour and incredible fatigues,
he arrived in the province of Papamena. He found
there an Indian equally distinguished by his rank, and
his understanding. Urra communicated to him his
plan ; the Indian answered with every appearance of
goid faith, that the direction of his march would con
duct him only to uninhabited countries, or deserts,
where he would experience hunger and all the hor
rors with which it is accompanied ; that, if he wish
ed, the Indian added, he himself would conduct him
to a country where gold and silver were in the great-
est abundance ; that for this it was necessary
only to march to the east to the river Guayuava (at
this day the Guariavi, situated not far from the lake
of Parima.) The Indian even showed some apples
and medlars of gold, which his brother had lately
brought from thence.
Philip of Urra thought that prudence commanded
him to give no credit to this account, but invariably
to folloAv the steps of Quesada. He only took the In
dian to guide him by the same road Quesada had
pursued ; but after eight days, seeing that the most
frightful places, the most difficult passages, in a
word, that no obstacle could change the resolution of
Urra, the Indian availed himself of a dark night to
save himself, and AvithdraAv among his countrymen.
His flight, and the bad roads, began to make the
army murmur rgainst Philip of Urra, Avhose plans and
ideas Avere constantly the same. All the soldiers
complained of his not having folloAved the advice of

280
the Indian. He alone remained unalterable. A fevv
days after theydiscovered a mountain resembling that
at the foot of which, they had been assured the city
of El Dorado- was built. They had it reconnoitred
and were undeceived. They call this mountain the
point of Los Pardaos. Philip of Urra Avas obliged to
pass the rainy season there, and to suffer the most
cruel effects of hunger. Ants and reptiles were the
support of this fragment of an army. Many swelled
and died in the most excruciating agonies ; others lost
their hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, nails, Sec. So soon
as good Aveather returned, Philip of Urra took the road
for Coro, then the capital of Venezuela. He stopped,
to let the waters subside, at a village called our Lady
of Fragoa.
Whilst his people rested themselves, and thought
only of the pleasure of arriving at Coro, Philip of
Urra, irritated at his disappointment, thought only of
making new endeavours to render fortune more pro
pitious. From the informations of the Indians of the
country, he learnt there was a region inhabited by the
Omegas, richer by far than any that had been discov
ered, but peopled with a Avarlike and ferocious race.
Other Indians called this nation Itaguas, but they all
agreed in its topographical situation.
So much was clearly by no means wanting to re
kindle all the desires of Philip of Urra. So soon as
the plains were no longer under water, he directed his
steps towards the country become the only object of
his wishes. His army was reduced to forty men. —
The Indians offered to conduct him safely to the
banks of the river Guayuava, and they kept their

281
'word. He arrived by roads tolerably commodious.
He took fresh information. The natives told him
that the city of Macatoa, through which he must ne
cessarily pass, was on the other side of the river,
which he could not cross without a canoe. One of
these Indians appeared to him so sincere, that he
commissioned him to go and apprize the inhabitants
of the city, that he was there with forty men, on his
way to more distant provinces ; that he demanded a
passage and the friendship ofthe natives, to whom he
offered his own.
The Indian sent by Urra, was from a valley neigh
bouring to Macatoa. He fulfilled his commission so
well, that the morning after there arrived in a canoe the
son of the cacique, sent by his father, to offer, in his
turn, his friendship and hospitality to Urra, who ac
cepted both one and the other with pleasure. He re
paired with his people to the cacique's at Macatoa,
with whom he formed the most friendly connexions.
The cacique, informed ofthe motives ofthe journey
of the Spaniards, told them that the country of the
Omegas was, in fact, full of gold and silver, but that
its population was so great, and so disciplined to war,
that their attempt with so small a body was imprudent,
rash, and impracticable. Philip of Urra, whose ob
stinacy converted obstacles into encouragements, con
stantly persisted in his design. The cacique gave
him guides as far as the first village, which was at
nine days' journey off, and recommendations to the
cacique, his friend. The distance was travelled with
Vol. III. Nn

282
tolerable comfort, as the rOads were well opened and
pretty good.
The new cacique received the Spaniards with all
the marks of affability and satisfaction. He made to
Philip of Urra, as his colleague of Macatoa had done,
all the observations possible on the extravagance of
the undertaking. He assured him, that all he had
been told respecting the Omegas Avas true ; but per
haps they had suffered him to remain in ignorance of
the power and information of that people, whom
no other had ever attacked wilh success ; that it was
consequently ridiculous and contrary to common sense
to believe it possible, Avith fort}- men, Avere they lions,
to make the conquest of a country, defended by men
formidable, as well by their number, as by their know
ledge ofthe art of Avar. The force and justice of this
reasoning made no more impression on Philip of Urra
than all he had before heard on the same subject. The
cacique, seeing his inflexible obstinacy, added that the
country which fatality made him seek, was five days'
journey from thence ; that he would promise him, to
conduct him there himself; that he would even partici
pate in his ulterior dangers, did he not, in waging war
with the Omegas, hazard the safety and existence of
his own nation ; that he especially requested of him
and his companions in misfortune, to remember,
should any one of them escape, the persuasions he had
used to divert them from an enterprise in which they
had nothing to expect but death. All this was heard
with the utmost coldness and indifference. Nothing

283
was talked of but setting out, and the good cacique
was accepted as their guide.
After four days' march they arrived at the back of
a mountain where they perceived four or five villages,
surrounded by well cultivated fields ; and further off,
in a delightful vale, a city so large, that the eye could
not embrace its whole extent. The streets appeared
laid out on a line, and the houses well built and conti
guous. Then said the cacique to Philip of Urra :
" I promised to show you the capital of the Omegas ;
" my promise is fulfilled. Behold this famous coun-
" try, Avhose riches the Spaniards so ardently covet.
" That edifice, which elevates itself in the centre
" ofthe city, is the residence ofthe governor, and the
" temple of a number of gods. The population of
tk the town is immense, and the order that reigns in
" it admirable. Those houses which you see scat-
" tered on the sides of the hills around the city, serve
" for the habitation of the Omega Indians, whom the
" chief destines to the cultivation of provisions for the
" inhabitantsof the city, Avhile the others exercise alone
" the trade of war. Now that you yourself see the
" importance of the country, it is for you to reflect
" anew on the temerity of your project. If you per-
" sist in your design, I am under the necessity of Avith-
" draAving, and offering up, in spite of their inutility,
" prayers to the gods to protect your lives." They
took leave of the cacique, and marched to the city.
On approaching the four or five houses that they
had perceived from the top ofthe mountain, they met
on the way the Indian cultivators. Struck at the

284
sight of the Spaniards, white, bearded, and under, to
them, a strange dress, they betook themselves to flight.
They were ineffectually pursued. It was only Philip
of Urra, who, to his misfortune, overtook one. No
sooner did the Indian find himself seized, than he dis
embarrassed himself of his adversary by a blow from
his lance, by which Philip of Urra found himself se
verely wounded between the ribs. An hour had not
elapsed, before they heard in the city a great noise of
drums, and other instruments of war, mingled with
the most frightful cries. Night happily came on to
favour the retreat of the Spaniards. They carried off
Philip of Urra in ahammoc, and passed the rest ofthe
night on the top ofthe mountain.
The next morning, at break of day, an army of fif
teen thousandOmegas went in pursuit of the Spaniards,
who, although reduced by the wound of Philp of Ur
ra to thirty-nine, prepared for battle under the com
mand of Colonel Limpias. Never was a combat more
unequal, nor so little fatal to the smaller number. —
The Spaniards displayed a valour beyond imagina
tion. Not one of them Avas killed. They repulsed
the Omegas, and covered the field of battle with their
dead. They agreed, however, notwithstanding this un
hoped for success, that the conquest of the Omegas
could not be made, but with forces far more conside
rable. They fell back on the cacique who had acted
as their guide. They there rested themselves a lit
tle. Philip of Urra Avas there cured of his Avound,
and after having obtained from the same cacique all

285
the information necessary for rendering a second
journey more rapid and more easy, he departed for
Coro, with the intention of forming a new expedition
more adapted to the force ofthe Omegas ; but before
arriving at Coro he was, Avith his most faithful adhe
rents, assassinated by the order of the pseudo gov
ernor Carvajal, for the reasons mentioned in Chap. I.
Opinion on El Dorado.
Of all the attempts made for the discovery of El
Dorado, no one anterior or posterior, furnishes to his
tory materials less equivocal than that of Philip of Ur
ra. It wants, nevertheless, a great deal for me to re
gard it, as a proof of the riches and magnificence ofthe
empire of the Omegas, or of El Dorado. It is enough,
however, to induce a belief of the existence of
a warlike nation, more civilized than the rest of the
Indians, Avho had built, on the borders of the lake of
Parima, a large city, handsome, and Avell constructed
in comparison with the miserable hovels of Avhich the
disgusting hamlets of the Indians are composed, but
in fact, inferior to the most insignificant village of
France. Whatever opinion is adopted, it cannot be main
tained by any positive proof, for no European has as
yet traversed the country where every relation places
El Dorado. The lake of Parima, on the western
bank of which it is supposed the capital is situated, is
toAvards the third degree of north latitude, and sixty-
third degree of longitude, west from the meridian of

286
Paris. It makes a part of Spanish Guiana, at its
southern extremity, and not far from the Portuguese)
French, and Dutch boundaries. Its great distance
from the sea, has preserved its environs from the steel
of its conquerors : and the bravery, or if you please,
the ferocity, of its inhabitants, forbid every travel
ler from approaching it. There may then be some
settlements of a little consequence, which the imagi
nation ofthe first conquerors, naturally exalted, might
have represented as opulent states; and it is, at once,
all that can be admitted ; for the European establish
ments have for a long time been too near, for a nation
so polished, so warlike, and so rich, not to have been
perceived. Modern Expedition.
Yet the chimera of exaggeration still findsat this day,
and on the very spot, food to perpetuate it. In 1780,
a Avild Indian presented himself before the governor
of Spanish Guiana, saying that he was from the bor
ders of the lake of Parima. So soon as they knew, or
thought that they knew his country, he was assailed
with questions, to which he answered with as much
perspicuity and precision as could be required of a
wild Indian, whose most intelligible language con
sisted in signs. He, however, succeeded in making
them understand that there was on the banks ofthe
lake of Parima, a city whose inhabitants were civili
zed, and regularly disciplined to war. He boasted a
great deal on the beauty of its buildings, the neatness

287
of its streets, the regularity of its squares, the riches
of its people. According to him, the roofs of the
principal houses Avere either of gold or of silver. The
high priest, instead of pontifical robes, rubbed his
whole body Avith the fit ofthe turtle, then they blew
upon it some gold dust, so as to cover his whole body
with it. In this attire he performed the religious
ceremonies. The Indian sketched on a table, Avith a bit
of charcoal, the city of which he had given the descrip
tion. His ingenuity seduced the governor; he asked
him to serve as a guide to some Spaniards he wished
to send on this discovery. The Indian consented with
the best grace imaginable.
Six Spaniards offered themselves for this under
taking ; and among others, Don Antonio Santos.
They set off; they travelled nearly five hundred
leagues to the south, through the most frightful roads.
Hunger, the SAvamps, the woods, the precipices, the
heats, the rains, destroyed almost all the Spaniards.
When those who survived all these inconveniencies,
thought themselves four or five days' journey from the
capital city, and hoped to reach the end of all their
troubles and the object of their desires, the Indian
disappeared in the night. This event dismayed the
Spaniards : they kneAV not where they were ; they
wandered about for some time. By degrees they all
perished, except Don Antonio Santos, to whom it
occurred to disguise himself as an Indian. In fact,
he threw aside his cloaths, anointed the whole of his
body with rocou, and introduced himself among the
Indians by means of the knowledge he had of many

288
of their languages. He was a long time among fhernj
until at length he fell into the power of the Portu
guese, established on the banks of the Rio-Negro.
They embarked him on the river Amazons, and af
ter a very long detention, they sent him back to his
country. He died in Guiana, in 1796. The ac.
counts of this man, would Avithout doubt, have been
interesting, if his intelligence had been on a par with
his firmness in danger. But, naturally limited, his voy
ages and fatigues have been a pure blank to history.
Baron Humboldt, on his re-entry in 1800, from
the Rio Negro into the Oronoko, wished to penetrate
as far as lake Parima ; but he was hindered, as I have
already said, by the Guavcas, whose height does not
exceed four feet two or four inches. It was from
them that he learnt that the lake of Parima, or Dorado,
is of small extent and little depth, and that its banks,
as also some islets situated in the lake are of talc. May
not the error handed down, of the great riches of this
country, be owing to the brilliancy of gold and of sil
ver, which the rays of the sun give to talc, the effect
of which is still more striking, and tends fir more to
the illusion ofthe spectator, who casts his eye over a
great extent covered with this fallacious stone ? It is
probably, not to say infallibly, the source of all the
stories that have been related.

EXD OF THE THIRD i^ND LAST VOLUME.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME III.

CHAPTER IX.
Of the Administration of the Revenue and the Taxes. PAGE-
Summary of the Finances of the Revenues of Caraccas. - 5
Establishment ofthe office of intendant, or comptroller, in
the Caraccas, ...-.- 6
The governors ofthe provinces are his deputies, T
Tne duties and prerogatives ofthe Intendant, - - ib-
Superior officers of the customs, 9
Court of accounts, - - - It
Supreme chamber of finance, ib-
Taxes, - - - - 12
Alcavala, - - - - ib,
Almoxarifazgo, - 16
Armada and Armadilla, - - If
Duties of the consulate and anchorage, - - ib.
Aprovechamientos, - * - 18
Tafias, - »b.
Aduanas de la laguna, - - 'h-
Pulperias, - - - - 19
Composition of lands, - - - ib.
Confirmation of lands, - - - ib.
Rents of lands, -
Ferry boat on the river Apure,
Lances, - - .
Demi-annates of officers, - ll>-
Royal ninths,
Indian tribute,
Venal offices,
Stamped paper,
Estrays, Fifth of the mines,
Hospital money,
Vol. HI- ° °

20
ib.

21
2S 24
25 26 2f
ib-

CONTENTS. PAGE,
Salt-works, » - - - 27"
Restitutions, •¦ - " - ib.
Confiscations, - - - - 28
Royal tithes, - - - 29
The Corso, ib,
Gaarapos and game cocks, - - - ib.
Fines and amercements, - - - 30
Vacant successions, - - - ib.
Ecclesiasticat mesadas, - - - ib.
Demi-ecclesiastical annates, - 31
Mdjor and minor vacancies, - - ib.
Bulls, ib,
General bull for the living, - - - 32
Bull for eating milk and eggs, or de laitage, » 34
Bulls for the dead, - - - ib.
Bulls of composition, - - 36
Exclusive sale of tobacco, - » 41
Result, ... 51
CHAPTER X.
Description ofthe Towns.
Government of Venezuela, - - 54
Caraccas, - - - - ib.
Its prerogatives, ... ib.
Its climate, - - - - 55
Its meteorology, - - ib.
Its situation, ... 57
Its waters, - - - - 58
Its streets, - 59
Its public squares, - - - ib.
Its houses, - - - - 61
Its public buildings, - £4
The archbishoprick, - - - 65
Cathedral, - - 68
Churches and convents, - - -70
Religious customs, - - 72
Religious habits of the women, - - 73
Penitential dresses, - 74

CONTENTSs
_ . PAGR,
Festivals, « . . . - 75
Our lady of Copa Cobana, - . 76
Our lady of Soledad, - . 73
Theatre, - - 79
Tennis court, - , - - 83
Inhabitants, - « . - 84
White Europeans, 85
Women, « - - , - 87
Domestic slaves, 89
Freed persons, 90
University, - - - - 92
Police, ... - 94
Communications with the interior, - - 100
WithSpain, - - - - 101
Merchants, ... 102
Laguira, - 104
Porto Cavello, ... 107
Valencia, - - - 118
Maracay, .... 122
Tulmero, - - - - 124
Victoria, - - - 125
Coro, 127
Carora, .... 131
Barquisimeto, ... 133
Tocuyo, - - - - 135
Goanara, .... 136
Araura, .... 141
Calaboso - - - - 143
St. John the Baptist of Pao, - - 145
St. Louis of Cura, - - - 146
St. Sebastian de los Reyes, - - - 148
St. Philip, - - - - 149
Nirgua, - 150
San Carlos, - - - - 152
Government of Cumana, - - >'
Cumana,
Cumanacoa,Cariaco, New Barcelona, - » ¦'

161
167
168

CONTENTS. PACE.
Conception del Pao, - - •> 171
Government of the Isle of Margaretta, - - 172
. Maracaibo, - - 176
Maracaibo, .... 177
Merida, - 187
Truxillo, - - - - 192
Government of Varinas, - 19*
Varinas, - - - - ib*
San Jayme, . . * - 198
San Fernando of Apura, - 199
CHAPTER XI.
Of Spanish Guiana, and the River Oronoko,
Division of Guiana, - 201
First expedition to Guiana, - * 204
Second expedition, » 206
Foundation of the city of Saint Thomas, * ¦» 207
River Oronoko, ... 208
Its sources, - - 209
Course of the Oronoko, ... 211
Communication of the Oronoko with the river Amazons by
the Rio-Negro, - - - ib.
Continuation of the course of the Oronoko, - 214
River Meta, tributary of the Oronoko, * -¦ 215
Advantages of its navigation, - . 216
Destroyed by the commerce of Carthagena, * 217
Results, - - 218
River Apura, - 219
Cattle raised on its banks, ... 220
Mouths of the Oronoko, - - 222
Navigation of the mouth of the Oronoko to St. Thomas, 226
River Caroni, - - - 237
Continuation of the navigation ofthe Oronoko, - 238
The delicious variety that the banks of the Oronoko offer, 243
Importance of the river Oronoko, - ' . 244
Body and rapidity of its water, - . 245
Its annual rise, i . jb.
Tides, - * _ 247

CONTENTS

Cayman, -
The Iguana,
Chiquira,The Lapa, - - -
Water-dog, Liron,

PAfeE. 249250 251
252 ib.
ib.

Manati,

253

Importance of Guiana,

254

Extent and population of Guiana,
Lower Guiana,

256
257

Connexions ofthe Caribs with the Dutch,

258

Political relations between the Dutch of Surinam, and the

Spaniards of Guiana,
Upper Guiana,

259 261

Cultures,

262

San Thomas, - -

263

Its climate,

264

Its commerce, - .

265

Encouragement that industry requires,
Plan. — Bad situation of the Capital,

266
268

Necessity of placing it nearer the sea,
Where ought it to be placed ?
Expulsion ofthe Caribs,
New means of Cultivating and Peopling Guiana,
El Dorado, - - - >

269 271273274275

Expedition of Urra,
Opinion on El Dorado,

278 285

Modern expedition,

286

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Roberts on the Reading and Construction of the
Statute of Frauds and Perjuries, 1 vol. 8vo.
This is the first complete systematic treatise on that
very important branch ofthe English law, the Statute
of Frauds, and one therefore, which ought to be in the
possession of every lawyer. The author is well known
for his excellent treatise on Fraudulent Conveyances,
and deserves high commendation for the ability he has
displayed in the present work, in which he has uni
ted great elegance with the utmost perspicuity.
Part 2, vol. 2, of Johnson's New- York Term Re
ports. Vol. 3 of Cranch's Reports in the Court ofthe
United States, for the district of Columbia.
The cases in this work are very ably reported. The
decisions are chiefiy on subjects of a nature highly im
portant to the inhabitants of the United States at
large. Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, abridg
ed for the use of schools — square 12mo. 2d impres
sion. This very useful abridgement of a celebrated work,
is deservedly held in the highest estimation. The use
of it, especially in schools, is widely extended, and is
daily becoming more so. The frequent and earnest ap
plications for this abridgment, in consequence of the
first impression being exhausted, have induced the
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