SPANISH AMERICA.PART II.SOUTH AMERICAN DOMINIONS.(CONTINUED.)CAPTAIN-GENERALSHIP OFCARACCAS.Caraccas is a name taken from that of a tribe of Indians, and given to a country which includes New Andalusia, or Cumana, with Margarita, Barcelona, Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper, Maracaybo and Coro, on the coast of the Caribbean sea, Varinas and Spanish Guiana in the interior.BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT.It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea, east by the Atlantic, south by Peru and Dutch Guiana, and west by the kingdom of Santa Fé or New Granada; its extent may be computed from the twelfth to the eighteenth degrees of north latitude, and occupies a space extending over a surface equal to 48,000 square leagues.POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND GOVERNMENT.The Caraccas are subdivided into seven provinces;viz.New Andalusia or Cumana; Barcelona, Venezuela or Caraccas Proper, containing Venezuela and Coro, Maracaybo, Varinas and Guiana, with the detached government of the island of Margarita; the whole of these are under the particular superintendence of an officer of the highest rank, who is styled captain-general of the provinces of Venezuela, and the city of Caraccas. The population amounts to nearly one million, of whom sixty thousand are slaves, and about one-ninth Indians.DISCOVERY AND HISTORY.The coast of this country was originally discovered by Columbus in 1498, during his third expedition. Several adventurers succeeding in exploratory voyages on this part of the continent, the Spanish government came to the determination of endeavouring to place colonies on its soil. These being chiefly ill conducted, and managed by priests unacquainted with the manners and customs of the natives, did not succeed, and it was found necessary to endeavour to subdue the inhabitants by force. When this was partially effected, and Spanish settlers were placed in some security, the management of the new colonies was entrusted to the care of the Welsers, a German mercantile company. These people exercised, for a length of time, an uncontrolled sway over the unfortunate Indians and the colonists. Their excess of punishment and their fraud becoming at last notorious, the king of Spain deprived them of their power, in 1550, and appointed an officer of the crown to administer justice to the oppressed.This office, under the title of captain-general of the Caraccas, has subsisted ever since, and with some few variations in the territorial divisions, and some abridgments of the authority of the personwho fills it, it existed in the same form, until the year 1810. At this period, the mother country, subdued in part by the victorious arms of the French nation, had no time to attend to the situation of her transatlantic colonies. Engaged in destructive and terrible struggle herself, she little knew of the events which were taking place in the Americas, or if she did know them, was unable to assist those subjects devoted to her cause, or to quell the insurgent and ambitious. Taking advantage of the shackled state of the resources of Spain, the disaffected raised the standard of rebellion, and formed ajunta suprema(a congress, or supreme council) in Caraccas. At first they published their acts in the name of Ferdinand the Seventh; but soon, however, on the arrival of Miranda with some troops, declared themselves independent of the mother country, and appointed Miranda to the chief command. Spain now placed their ports in a state of nominal blockade.They have since been daily engaged in hostile measures, and junta has succeeded to junta, royal power to insurgent government, andvice versa, with little interval up to the present moment. The Caraccas may indeed be styled the focus of the Spanish American revolution. Numerous and bloody actions have taken place between the Spanish troops and the Caraccanians, Miranda has been beheaded, and the captain-general has reinstated himself.Don Simon Bolivar, a native of the country, possessing much property and considerable influence, has been the great leader of this revolt, styling himself president and commander in chief of the united provinces of Venezuela. Obtaining from the congress of a neighbouring state (New Granada) an army of 600 men, he marched against Monteverde, the captain-general who had beheaded Miranda and punished his colleagues, and meeting with few obstacles to surmount enteredthe city of Caraccas as conqueror, on the 4th August, 1813. The captain-general fled, and refusing to treat with the insurgents, as derogatory to the honour of the master he represented, remained quiet until he received from Spain a reinforcement of 1200 men; he then attacked the city, but was repulsed with the loss of nearly his whole army, and himself severely wounded. In discussing the historical facts relating to South America in general, we have entered more at large upon this subject. At present Bolivar occupies the lower parts of the Orinoco, having made the town of Angostura his head-quarters.We have chosen the description of the kingdom of Peru as the proper place to give detail of the general historical facts relating to the whole of South America, as it was in that kingdom that the Spanish government first took a consolidated form; we shall, therefore, at present recur to the metropolis, description, and political divisions of the captain-generalship we are now engaged in treating of.CAPITAL.The city ofCaraccas, or as it is written by the Spaniards,Caracas, is the metropolis of this vast region, and has given its name, within a late period, to the whole government. It is situated in 10° 30' 15" north-latitude, and 67° 4' 45" west longitude, the highest square being elevated 2903 feet above the level of the sea, at the commencement of a fine plain or valley, which extends nine miles to the eastward, and has nearly the same breadth, through which runs the river Guayra; the site of the town is an uneven ground with a steep slope; it was founded by Diego de Losada, in 1567, and called Santiago de Leon de Caracas, in order to have a permanent settlement in the neighbourhood of some gold mines, which were imagined to be very productive. The ground is so precipitous, that the few carriages which the inhabitants possess are little used. The Anauco, the Catache, and the Caraguatu, three small streams, run through the city from north to south; the second of these furnishes the water used by the labouring classes, the rich inhabitants having that useful fluid brought from a stream about three miles off, supposed to possess peculiar medicinal qualities.The streets of Caraccas are straight, wide, and intersect each other at right angles; the houses very handsome and spacious; there are some fine squares, and a handsome cathedral, with eight churches and five convents. This city is the seat of the metropolitan, archbishop of Caraccas, and contains a royal audience, which governs the civil affairs of the captain-generalship, and of which court the officer holding the reins of government is always president, it being in fact a sort of legislative council, composed of the governor and great state officers. The number of inhabitants of this celebrated town are stated not to exceed 20,000 at present, owing to the tremendous loss sustained by the earthquake in 1812, and to the recent sanguinary events which have taken place. The theatre of Caraccas holds from fifteen to eighteen hundred persons, and is well frequented; the female part of the audience occupy the pit, and are separated from the men. The pleasantest part of the year is during the months of November and December, when the air is cool, and the mornings very fine, but the evenings are foggy and damp. During the months of June and July, the nights are beautiful and serene; in fact, the climate during the whole year is so good, that this city may be said to enjoy a perpetual spring.This state of the atmosphere is finely contrasted with the dreary and savage appearance of the mountains in the neighbourhood, the tremendous precipice of the Silla, or Saddle, and the confused appearance of the country on the right of the plain; which plain, called Chacao, is highly cultivated in many parts, and affords the principal objects of subsistence to the town. In it grows the plantain, the orange, the apple, the apricot, the coffee-tree, the sugar-cane, the pine-apple, the strawberry, vine, peach, quince, maize, corn, vegetables, rice, &c. and in this fertile valley, numerous herds of cattle abound, it having been computed that forty thousand head are annually brought to the market, for the purpose of being salted, and of immediate consumption.The only inconvenience felt during this eternal spring is from the effects of certain winds, which cause the weather to prove occasionally inconstant, and produce low nervous fevers, and other disorders incident to a variable atmosphere. The yellow fever sometimes, though rarely, extends its ravages to this place, and once lasted (in the year 1696) for sixteen months, and in 1802 was fatal to the garrison newly arrived from Europe.The season of periodical rain lasts during the months of April, May and June; but hail is seldom or ever known oftener than once in four or five years.This capital, placed in so charming a climate, compared to many others in the same latitude, has bean subjected to a scourge, which no beauty of situation, or salubrity of the air, can ever compensate. In the year 1812 the whole city was nearly destroyed by an awful earthquake. On the 26th of March, in that year, the population of Leon de Caraccas amounted to fifty thousand souls; in a short space, even in the passing of a moment, these devoted people were reduced to thirty eight thousand, and as if an enormous mine had been exploded under the city, the earth was upheaved to a tremendous height, and twelve thousand persons were swallowed up, or perished amid the ruins of their houses.The survivors have been ever since busily engaged in repairing the damages, and rebuilding thecity, which is now rapidly advancing to its former state, and the population annually increasing.La Guayra, a small town situated on the coast of the Spanish Main, is the port of Caraccas, in 10° 36' 19" north latitude, and 67° 6' 45" west longitude, at the foot of the chain of mountains which terminate abruptly in precipices on the coast, and which form the sides of the valley in which the capital is built. From the city to the port, it requires a journey of two hours on the mules of the country, which are very safe and swift. The road is kept in excellent repair, and is fortified by draw-bridges, thrown over the natural clefts, and by small batteries. The harbour itself is rather a roadsted than a haven, and contains a newly formed mole, protected by strong batteries. The wall of rocks rise perpendicularly from the back of the town, and forbid all access, excepting by the regular road. At La Guayra the sea is always agitated, and the vessels are laden and discharged with much difficulty; so much so, that mules are not embarked, the mulattoes and negroes carrying the cacao and other merchandizes to the vessels, by wading into the water.The flat space on which La Guayra stands is only about 900 feet in breadth, from the precipice at the back to the sea, and the whole aspect of the place is arid, gloomy and unpleasant.This town is surrounded on the sea side by works and batteries, some of which are very strong, and contain within their limits two streets, parallel to each other, with 8000 inhabitants.It may be said, that this port is one of the hottest places in Spanish America; the yellow-fever had, however, only commenced its destructive ravages within ten or twelve years, before which time, it was unknown; some are of opinion, that it was brought there after the port was opened to foreign commerce, by the seamen from the United States; others, that it was caused by the overflowing of the river Guayra, which filled the cellars and deep places with water, that soon became stagnant, and exhaled putrid effluvia. However it may be, the inhabitants and strangers who reside at La Guayra, have suffered dreadfully of late years from this disorder.The annual amount of the commerce of this port, which is the principal one of the province, has been estimated (in peaceable times) to arise to the sum of 346,600l., in the exportation of cacao, indigo, cotton, coffee and hides; and the importations of European and other goods to 511,700l.sterling in the same period.DESCRIPTION OF THE FEATURES, &C. OF THE COUNTRY.The coast of Caraccas which extends for an immense length, is exceedingly rocky and mountainous, affording views of some of the most tremendous precipices in the world, that near the capital, called thePrecipice of the Silla, being of the height of 8000 feet above the sea, which washes its base.The chain of the Andes, traversing the whole territory in the direction of its shores, elevates itself the most in the western parts; and is lost in the sea opposite to the great island of Trinidad, which is itself very mountainous.The average height of the Cordillera of Caraccas may be estimated at 4500 feet, though it occasionally exceeds 8000; its breadth varies from ten to twenty leagues, and it forms some extensive and beautiful valleys. Owing to this elevation of the land, the heat is not so insupportable as might be imagined from its situation; along the coast it is very great; but ascending gradually into the higher regions, the traveller finds it sensibly diminish, and observes with delight, the vegetable productions of different countries, concentrated ina small space. The great valley or plain of the Orinoco bounds the Cordillera to the south, and far from possessing those elevated lands which characterise the southern portion of the New World, Nature has here spread the country into immense flats, or savannahs, known by the name of Los Llanos (the Plains).In these plains innumerable herds of cattle are fed, attended by the slaves or servants of the owners, who reside in the towns and villages. These people, living entirely in the desert, have become little better than so many wandering savages; they pass the greater part of their time on horseback, and are said to infest the roads on the borders of the savannahs with their robberies. The heat in the valley of the Orinoco is intense, the thermometer rising even to 115°.The seasons are divided into rainy and dry, the rainy season lasting from March to November, not however, without ceasing, as there are many days in that period, in which no rain falls; during the time of incessant rain, it does not descend in drizzling misty showers, but comes with such volume and rapidity, that streams, which have been dried to their very channels, now assume in the short space of a few hours, the appearance of large rivers; the plains bordering the Orinoco, and its tributary streams, are inundated by seas of fresh water extending three or four hundred miles in length.Rivers.—There is no country in the world which possesses more numerous rivers than Caraccas, most of which rise in the Andes and its dependent branches; every valley is traversed by its river; the ridge which divides the provinces as it were into two distinct portions, furnishes abundance of sources on both its declivities. Those which arise on the northern side of this ridge, run from south to north, and fall into the bosom of the Spanish main. Of these theManzanares,Tuy,Guiges,Tocuyo,Aroa,Yaracuy,UnaraandNeveri, are the largest.The southern flank and main chain of the Andes afford rivers which traverse the great Llanos in a southern direction, and swell, by their junction with the Orinoco, the majestic body of that grand river; of these, theMamo,Pariagou,Pao,Chivita,Zoa,Cachimamo,Arauca,Capanaparo,Sinaruco, theApuraand theMeta, are the principal; and theParima,Siaba,Joa Paranaand theCassiquiari, fall into this river on its southern bank, the latter forming a communication with the still more majestic stream of the Maranon.TheOrinoco, orOronoco, is not only amongst the largest, but the finest of South American rivers, and is chiefly distinguished by its very singular and intricate course. Its sources are not well known, but according to La Cruz, it rises in a small lake called Ipava, in 5° 5' north-latitude, and thence winding upon itself, enters the lake of Parima to the south-east, and issues by two outlets towards the north and south; on the western shores of the lake; receiving the Guaviara, it bends north, then north-east, and embracing the Meta, the Apura, the Arauca, and the other large streams above-mentioned, with thousands of smaller ones, falls into the Atlantic ocean, by numerous estuaries, opposite the island of Trinidad, its chief mouth being considerably to the south-east of that island. This noble river communicates with the Maranon, and it is supposed, that a stream called the Siaba flows from the south-west of the lake Parima into the Negro, and that to the south-east of the same lake, the Rio Blanco, or Parima, joins the Rio Negro also, this last communicating with the Maranon by means of the Joa Parana.The river Cassiquiari, long conjectured to be a strong branch of the Orinoco, but now known to be an arm of the Negro, communicates also with the Amazons, its streams having been visited byM. de Humboldt, who encountered great perils in the undertaking, by the force of the current and other obstacles. The whole country for 300 miles was a complete desert, in which the ants and mosquitoes were so exceedingly troublesome as almost to deter the traveller from proceeding. He entered the Orinoco, by the Cassiquiari in 3° 30' north-latitude, and mounted the current of the great river as far as Esmeraldas, the last Spanish settlement in that quarter. The mouths of the Orinoco are very dangerous to navigators; the largest is six leagues in width, and seven of them are navigable for large vessels. The isles formed by these are of very great extent, and are inhabited by theGuaraounosandMariusosIndians. On the banks of the Orinoco the magnificence of the scenery is beyond description. Forests of the greatest extent are filled with aromatic trees, which diffuse the most delightful odour; birds of every singular variety of beautiful plumage are everywhere observed, and hordes of monkeys follow the astonished traveller. Passing these forests, enormous plains extend their verdant surfaces further than the eye can reach, and the cataracts of the Orinoco give their name to the whole Cordillera, and are represented to be the most tremendous that have ever been observed; but no good description of these falls has yet been given, though they constitute the only outlets from the country situated on the east of the Andes to the vast plains of the Maranon. These cataracts are at Maypura and Atures, two villages in about 6° north-latitude, near the great bend of the river.The periodical inundation of the Orinoco begins in April and ceases in August; in October the flood is low, arriving at its shallowest point in February; the rise is equal to thirteen fathoms at the distance of ninety leagues from the ocean. The mouth of the great estuary is in 8° 30' north-latitude, and 59° 50' west longitude.The caymans, or alligators, are very numerous, and very formidable throughout its whole length, which may be estimated at about 1250 miles.Indians.—On the banks of the Orinoco the Indian tribes are not numerous, consisting only of from 500 to 2000 warriors each; of these, theCaribsare the most powerful as well as the most formidable. TheOtomacsfollow them, and all are nearly in the same state of nature. In this part of the Caraccas, the total number of the natives cannot be accurately ascertained; but in the province of New Andalusia, they amount to 24,000, and in the two provinces of Barcelona and Cumana to 60,000. In Cumana they live almost wholly under the missionaries in little towns or amongst the Europeans, each mission containing about five or six hundred. In the province of Barcelona, the Indian villages contain from two to even three thousand inhabitants. TheGuaraounoes, who inhabit the islands of the Orinoco, are independent of the Spaniards, and amount to about six thousand.To the north of the Orinoco, there are few natives in a state of absolute barbarism; it is only to the south of this river that the efforts of missionaries have been ineffectual.The provinces of New Andalusia and Barcelona contain fourteen tribes, theChaymas,Guayquerias,Pariagotoes,Quaquas,Araucas,Caribbees,Guaraounoes,Cumanagotoes,Palenkas,Piritoos,Tomoozas,Topocuares,Chacopatas, andGuarivas.TheGuayquerias, who are civilized Indians residing at Cumana and Araya, amount to 2000.The Chaymas, the Caribs of the Savannahs, and the Cumanagotoes, are the most numerous. A few, and only a few, of the savages of the islands of the Orinoco, who build their huts on trees, have been formed into missions on the left bank of the Orinoco. These four last possess languages which are the most universal in this part of the world, the Cumanogoto language prevailing in the westernpart of the captain-generalship, and the Caribbean and Chayman in the southern and eastern districts.The missions are not always formed of the same tribe, but often consist of families of different nations, speaking different languages; they all cultivate the land, their huts are all erected in the same style, and they have all a common field for the uses of the community, and are governed by fixed laws; the magistrates are chosen from among themselves, and each village is superintended in its religious and civil affairs by a monk.TheChaymaswere reduced to subjection in the seventeenth century, by Francisco of Pamplona, a monk who had been the captain of a ship; and the oldest mission bears its date from 1660. Of these there are at present twenty-five, containing 15,000 souls. They suffered much from 1681 to 1720 from the Caribs, who burnt the settlements.In stature, the natives of this tribe are short, being not more than five feet two inches, their body thick, with broad shoulders and flat chest, their colour a dull brown, and they are of a melancholic temperament.They have a great aversion to European clothing, and remain naked whilst in their houses, but when obliged to go out, they put on a vest with sleeves, which reaches almost to the knees; the women wear this habit without the sleeves, and both sexes use a narrow bandage tied round the loins: they also carefully eradicate the hair from the chin, and are a neat people, keeping their persons, houses and utensils very clean.Their language, as well as those of the Caribs and Cumanagotoes, has each had a dictionary composed for the use of the missionaries; no word begins withl, and it is destitute off,bandd.ThePariagotoesare mixed with the Chaymas, in the missions; and exist in the villages on the banks of the Caroni. They speak a language peculiar to themselves.TheGuaraounoesbuild their huts on the trunks of the mangrove and palm trees, to raise them above the waters in the great inundations of the Orinoco; as we before observed, they are independent, with the exception of a very few, who have been converted by the monks. Sir Walter Raleigh describes them under the names of Aroottes, Trititivas and Warawites. They make their bread of the flour extracted from the palm tree, which they cut down for this purpose, just previous to the appearance of the flowers.Five or six hundred of this race quitted the islands a short time ago, and formed two villages on the north and south banks of the great river, twenty-five leagues distant from the sea, where they live independent of the missionaries. They are of a middle size, and very strong, and are able to run on the mud of the marshes, where no other Indians can walk. These people are the pilots of the Orinoco, possessing a perfect knowledge of its navigation, and are concerned in the clandestine commerce carried on from Trinidad.TheGuayqueriaswill be described in speaking of the town of Cumana which they chiefly inhabit.A tribe called theQuaquasare mixed with the Chaymas in the missions, and inhabit an immense tract of country as far as the main Cordilleras of the Andes.TheCumanagotoes, to the amount of 26,000, live in the west of Cumana, in the missions of Piritoo. The chief mission of the Piritoos (so called on account of a thorny palm of which pipes are made) was founded in 1556, and was named La Conception.In this country, theCaribbeesare spread over a great extent, existing also in French Guyana, and in Trinidad; and the Guarivas, as well as many others, are Carib tribes. A few missions are found in the great plains, in which some of these people are settled. The Caribs are distinguished in the Caraccas by their great size.A tribe on the banks of the Orinoco, named theOtomacs, raise their dead at the end of twelve months, and place the bones in a general burying place; they cover their grain, fish, vegetables, &c., with earth, to preserve them, and devour their food mingled with the soil in which it has lain. The substances become quite hard in these pits, by the incrustations of the soil, and some of them are said to eat a pound and a half of the earth in a day. The Indians of all these tribes, who prefer a wandering life to the subjected state of their brethren in the missions, are frequently attacked in the night by the monks and their followers, and made prisoners. When the missionaries give the young people to the converted Indians as slaves, in which capacity they remain until of an age to marry, in consequence of this, the mission Indians frequently instigate the priests to attack these unfortunate people, being eager to possess them. Those who are thus taken are called Poitos, and in general consist only of children, torn with unrelenting severity from the arms of their terrified parents. The motive assigned by the monks for such arbitrary measures, is the hope of their ultimate conversion.Lakes—The lakes of Caraccas are chiefly those of Valencia and Maracaybo.Maracaybois a body of water of an oval form, lying in a north and south direction, and communicating with the gulf of Venezuela by a very narrow channel. In length it is 150 miles, in breadth 90, and 450 in circumference; its waters being always fresh, excepting when violent storms force the salt waters of the gulf into it. There is generally a considerable undulation on its surface, and in some winds, particularly those from the north, the waves rise to a great height. The depth of this lake is very profound, and it is navigable for vessels of the greatest burthen.The produce of the interior is conveyed by the rivers which feed it, to the town of Maracaybo, and thence shipped for Europe or the adjoining colonies; and the various sorts of fish, common to the American rivers, are to be found in this lake.The shores in the immediate vicinity of its waters, are unhealthy, owing to the vapours arising in the night after the great heat of the day.When the Spaniards first landed in this country, they observed several villages built in the lake, which is the mode adopted by the Indians at present, considering this plan as the healthiest.The appearance of one of these little towns amid the waters, caused the Spanish adventurers to name it Little Venice, or Venezuela, which title was afterwards transferred to the whole province in the neighbourhood. Four of these villages still remain, and are under the government of a monk, who has a church, and the spiritual charge of these people.The principal employment of the Indians of these towns is fishing and catching the aquatic birds which frequent the lake.To the north-west of Lake Maracaybo, is a vein, or mine of mineral pitch, (used by mixing it with grease, to grave vessels,) which is of such an inflammable nature, that during the hot weather, and particularly at night, corruscations are seen arising from its surface, which have the appearance of quickly repeated lightnings. The Indians and Spaniards, who navigate the vessels and canoes of the lake, called them St. Antony's Lanthorns, or the Lanthorns of Maracaybo, as they serve them to steer by during the dark nights, so prevalent in the torrid zone.The lake ofValencia, which though not so extensive as the last we have described, is far more beautiful and useful. Its banks are fertile and healthy, and clothed with the most luxurious vegetation. It is situated three miles from the city ofValencia, and eighteen from the sea, from which it is separated by inaccessible mountains; the lake of Valencia is of an oblong form, stretching north-east and south-west, and is forty miles in length and twelve in breadth, in a valley surrounded by very high and steep land, excepting on the west.This extraordinary lake receives the waters of twenty rivers, and has no visible outlet. It has been diminishing for twenty years, and its waters are still receding, leaving behind them a rich and productive soil, but at the same time an unhealthy air; and the cultivators are in some parts under the necessity, from the want of water, of drawing off the neighbouring streams to irrigate their plantations.The eastern side is laid out in tobacco grounds, which occupy 15,000 people, who are paid by the crown; and the islands in which it abounds are highly fertile, the largest called Caratapona, being well populated.The woods near this lake are famous for the diversity and beauty of the birds, and its waters furnish fish, and the guanas, or edible lizard, which are considered as a very delicious food; of these, two species are common to the lake. The water of Lake Valencia is not so good for drinking as that of Maracaybo, being thick and nauseous.This lake bears the Indian name of Tacarigua, as does a bay or lake on the coast, which is situated a league and a half from the mouth of the river Tuy, of a circular form, and is twenty-one miles in length from the sea on the north-east to the south-east, it abounds in fish, and is remarkable for the great number of alligators it contains.The lake ofParina, orParanapitinca, in Guiana is said to be an oblong sheet of water, 100 miles in length, and 50 broad, in an island of which is a rock of glittering mica, celebrated as having been the seat of El Dorado, a supposititious city, thestreets of which were paved with gold, alluded to by Milton in his Paradise Lost."And yet unspoil'd GuianaWhose great city Geryon's sonsCall El Dorado."This lake is in 3° 40' north latitude, and 45° 20' west longitude, and gives birth to a large river, called Rio Blanco, or Parima, which we have before spoken of.PROVINCE OF NEW ANDALUSIA.This province, which is also known by the names of Cumana and Paria, is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; on the east by the Atlantic ocean; west by Barcelona, and south by Spanish Guiana, or the river Orinoco.The government of Cumana usually includes the adjacent province of New Barcelona. We shall therefore describe these two under the same head, mentioning however the distinct boundaries of—NEW BARCELONA,Which is limited on the north by the Caribbean sea; east by Cumana; west by Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper, and south by Guiana and the Orinoco.The great extent of the territory of Cumana and Barcelona, its being washed on two of its sides by the ocean, and by the broad expanse of the Orinoco on the third, render it one of the most important governments of the captain-generalship.History, &c.—The eastern part of New Andalusia is famous as having been the scene of the first continental discoveries of Columbus. The mouths of the Orinoco and the adjacent shores of Paria were visited by him during his third voyage. Thefirst land discovered during this expedition, was however not the continent, but the island of Trinidad, which was so named because the admiral had vowed to give the appellation of the Trinity to the first land he should see, and also because three mountains were observed at the same moment. This happened on Tuesday, 31st July, 1498, and having but one cask of water left, he landed at Punta de la Playa, where he procured the necessary supply.On the 1st of August, whilst plying between Cape de la Galera (the first cape they made) and Punta de la Playa, he discovered the main land twenty-five leagues distant; but imagining it another island, he named it Isla Santa. The channel between Trinidad and Isla Santa was named Boca del Sierpe, and the next day he sailed into the lower channel, and called it Boca del Drago. They were so styled on account of the furious hissing noise which the current of an immense river made in rushing towards the ocean. He coasted the supposed island until Sunday, the 5th of August, when he anchored and went on shore. Soon afterwards he took some of the natives into his ship, and landing further to the west, by the direction of these people, discovered that the supposed island was part of an immense continent, and that the natives called it Paria.Being informed that pearls were found in great abundance among some islands to the west, he steered in that direction, and discovered the islands of Margarita, or of Pearls, Cubagua, and Los Testigos, or the Witnesses, &c. On the 16th of August he stood to the north-west, and anchored on the coast of Hispaniola soon afterwards.The admiral was followed by Ojeda, in 1499, who traced the coast as far as Cape de la Vela, entering several ports to procure information. Christoval Guerra, accompanied by Pedro Nino, whohad been with Columbus on this coast, obtained a licence to explore the continent and islands for gold and pearls. They procured plenty of the latter in the bay of pearls, between Margarita and the main, and visited the coasts of Venezuela and Coro.Having got 1200 ounces of very fine pearls, these adventurers sailed back, along the shore to the gulf of Paria, whence they stretched over for Spain, in which country they arrived on the 6th of February, 1500.Vicente Yanez Pinzon having discovered the mouth of the great Maranon in 1500, sailed northwards from it, and explored the estuary of the Orinoco, and the coast of Paria, from which he sailed for St. Domingo, having first laden his vessels with Brazil wood.The report of the arrival of Guerra, with such a valuable cargo, soon spread over the whole kingdom of Spain; and expeditions were fitted out in every part for the American continent. Charles the Fifth gave these adventurers permission to enslave the Indians who should resist them; in consequence of this, avarice and rapacity soon made a dreadful havoc among these unfortunate people; a complaint of these proceedings at last reached the royal audience of St. Domingo, which court immediately took measures to punish the offenders. They appointed Juan Ampues, to the government of the country, who landed on the coast of Curiana, in 1527, with an armed force.The mildness of his measures gained him the affections of the Indians, and the cacique of the Curiana nation took the oath of allegiance to Spain, on the 26th of July, 1527.—This governor laid the foundation of the city of Coro.At this time the company of the Welsers, a German establishment of Augsburgh, having advanced great sums to Charles the Fifth, that Emperor granted them, at their earnest request, thesovereignty of the province of Venezuela from Cape Vela, to Maracapna, and with unlimited boundaries to the south. Their power did not last long, and Juan Perez de Tolosa was appointed governor, with the rank of captain-general. New laws were made, and the Indians were declared free from involuntary servitude; as soon as a nation or tribe was subjected, a town was built, and a hundred Europeans were sent to colonize it. The laws of the repartimientos and encomiendos were established, and every thing went on properly at first, but the settlers abusing their authority over the natives, these laws were repealed, and Spanish America was declared a kingdom united to the Spanish crown. The council of the Indies was formed at Madrid, the legislative functions were declared to be vested solely in the king, aided by this council, and the executive was to belong only to officers appointed by the court; accordingly, on the 4th of September, 1519, this act was decreed and promulgated, since which Caraccas has been governed by a captain-general, and subordinate officers.In treating of Cumana we must not omit mentioning the history of the visit paid to this coast by Las Casas, the bishop of Chiapa in Guatimala.Bartolemeo de Las Casaswho was born at Seville in 1474, and when only nineteen years of age, accompanied his father and Columbus to the west Indies, returning to Spain after an absence of five years, took the habit of a monk, and again embarked with Columbus to Hispaniola; on the settling of Cuba, he was appointed rector of Zaguarama, where he strenuously objected against reducing the Indians to servitude, at the same time relinquishing his own share in the partition of these people among the whites. Meeting with great opposition, on account of his determined resistance to the oppression of the aborigines, he set out for Spain in 1516, for the purpose of laying the grievances, under which the newly-discovered nationslaboured, before the King. Ferdinand promised that new laws should be made, but death prevented his resolves from being put into execution; Las Casas then applied to Cardinal Ximenes the regent, and that minister sent out three commissioners to enquire into the circumstances of the case. These three persons were monks of St. Jerome, and were accompanied by a lawyer of great abilities, and Las Casas, who was granted the title of "Protector of the Indians."On their arrival at St. Domingo, these commissioners finding it impossible to do away with the enslavement of the Indians at once, they adopted some salutary measures to better their condition. Las Casas remonstrated with them, but found his efforts useless, and as he had made all the planters his enemies, he saw himself under the necessity of retreating to the protection of the convent from the effects of their malignity. He again set out for Spain, with a determination not to abandon the cause in which he had embarked. Ximenes being on his death-bed, and the Emperor Charles the Fifth having appointed his Flemish ministers to the chief offices of state, Las Casas was obliged to endeavour to interest them in his favour; in this he succeeded, and they recalled the monks of St. Jerome, and appointed a judge to examine the complaints of the Indians with ample powers to redress them.But Las Casas here tarnished the glory he would otherwise have enjoyed unsullied. To carry his favourite scheme the more certainly into execution, he proposed that a certain number of negroes should be purchased from the Portuguese in Africa, to replace the Indians who were to be liberated. His plans, unfortunately for the poor Africans, were adopted, and ever since that period these degraded people have suffered the most galling servitude, which it is now the delight of an Englishman to know, that his nation have stepped forwardto put a lasting stop to; and the reign of the Prince Regent, would, independent of the brilliant events which have rendered it immortal, have been remembered, to the remotest ages by this magnanimous act alone. The emperor Charles granted a patent to one of his Flemish courtiers, containing the exclusive right of sending 4000 negroes to the West Indies; this patent was sold to Genoese merchants for 25,000 ducats, and these people have the odium of being the first who brought this abominable traffic to a regular form. Las Casas proposed also to send mechanics and labourers to Hispaniola with the negroes, who should be allowed an advance to go thither; but the bishop of Burgos, who was the great enemy of Columbus and his followers, defeated this project, as well as every other that Las Casas offered.Fearful that he should not succeed in relieving the Indians in the new settlements, he requested from the Emperor the grant of a district, then unoccupied, from the gulf of Paria to Cape de la Vela, thus including Cumana, Barcelona, Venezuela, Coro, and Maracaybo. In his memorial, he proposed settling this country with a colony of priests, husbandmen, and labourers; he engaged in two years, to instruct the natives in the arts of social life; to civilize 10,000 of them, and that at the end of that time, the king should derive a revenue of 15,000 ducats, which was to increase to 50,000 in ten years. After much difficulty, in consequence of the opposition of the meddling bishop, this extent of coast was granted to him, with liberty to extend it indefinitely into the interior. He sailed from Spain with 200 followers in 1521. Many of these left him at Puerto Rico, others died, and he landed on the coast of Cumana, with a few only who still adhered to him; here he found the country in a state of great agitation from a recent invasion of the Spanish islanders, who had attacked the natives, for the purposes ofprocuring slaves and gold. He was obliged to go over to Hispaniola to procure a reinforcement, and during his absence, the Indians attacked the colony he had planted, destroyed many of the people, and forced the remnant to take refuge in the little isle of Cubagua.This isle they soon abandoned, and not a Spaniard was then left in any part of the continent from Paria to Darien. Las Casas, mortified beyond every thing, by the failure of his splendid schemes, shut himself up in the Dominican convent at Hispaniola. Here he devoted himself to the performance of religious duties, still keeping in mind the great object of his ambition. The sufferings of the Indians increasing daily, and a chapter of his order at Chiapa in New Spain, having made him their messenger to Europe, on some important affairs, he once more revisited Madrid in 1542, and took a favourable opportunity of pleading the cause of the injured Indians before Charles V. He also composed a treatise, which he called "A Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indians;" in which was painted, in the most pathetic and forcible manner, the enormities which had taken place in every country of the New World which the Spaniards had visited.This work created the most lively sensations throughout Europe, and such a general abhorrence of the cruel measures of the adventurers, that the Spanish court thought fit to adopt some measures to silence the universal clamour. New regulations were adopted, some of which tended to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate Americans; and Las Casas was elevated to the dignity of bishop of Chiapa, in order to afford every relief in the power of the church to bestow.He returned to America in 1544, and continued in this see until 1551, exerting himself in every possible manner to attain the object of his wishes; in which he succeeded greatly, but his health failing in 1551, he resigned his bishopric, and once more revisited his native country; in the same year, and for five years subsequent to his return, he lived in Madrid, still exerting all his influence to consolidate the measures which had been taken for the prosperity of the people to whom he was so much attached; at last nature became worn out, and this indefatigable, and benevolent man, closed his career in 1556, in the 92d year of his age.Besides the work alluded to above, he wrote several others, among which, is a "General History of the Indies," of which Antonio de Herrera is said to have availed himself in the compilation of his celebrated history of the New World.FEATURES, CLIMATE, &C.The provinces of Barcelona and Cumana are extremely mountainous; the first branch from the main chain of the Andes running through these districts, and terminating in the ocean at the gulf of Paria.This ridge gives birth to the rivers which flow into the Orinoco on the south, and into the Caribbean sea on the north, and contains some highly picturesque and singular scenery; the most noted parts of which will be hereafter described.The climate of this government varies according to the situation of its districts, on the high land of the mountains, or in the valleys or plains of the interior.Capitals.—The chief town of New Andalusia is Cumana, where the governor of the two provinces usually resides. The chief town of New Barcelona, is Barcelona.Cumanais situated in 10° 27' 52" north latitude, and 64° 9' 47" west longitude, a mile from the battery of the Boca, or mouth of the harbour, between which and the town extends a great plain, called El Salado. The port is formed by thefine river Manzanares, which runs through the town. East of the city is another extensive plain, and north of it a rocky mass, on which stands the citadel of St. Antonio. The city occupies the space between the citadel, the river Manzanares, and another smaller stream called the Santa Catalina, and the plains which surround it are highly cultivated; that towards the sea having an Indian suburb and gardens filled with sapotes, mameis, plantains, &c. The suburb is divided into three parishes; on the east is that of Sarritos, on the south-east, St. Francisco, and the great town of the Guayqueria Indians. Cumana is one of the oldest cities of the continent, and was built by Gonzalo Ocampo in 1520.In the city of Cumana are no very remarkable buildings, owing to the fatal effects of the last earthquake. There is only one parish church and two convents, but additions are daily making to it, which will render it a fine town.This city is remarkable for the purity and healthiness of its climate, on account of the heat being moderated by the sea-breezes; the most fatal disorders are fluxes, which carry off numbers of children annually, owing to the great use they make of green indigestible fruits. The women, particularly the Indians, are very prolific, which in some measure compensates for the loss annually experienced of the younger branches of society. The population of Cumana amounts at present to 16, or 17,000 souls, of which, two-fifths are Indians of the Guayqueria, Chayma, and other tribes. Of these, theGuayqueriasare the most noted tribe not only of Cumana, but of Caraccas; they are a branch of the Guarounoes, who inhabit the swampy island, at the mouth of the Orinoco; but they have now become so incorporated with the Spaniards, that for the last century they have spoken the Spanish language only. When Columbus was on this coast, his people saw these Indiansfishing with long poles pointed at one end, and tied to a cord at the other; demanding of them the name of their country, they immediately replied Guiake, which signified pointed stick; the sailors thought this was the name of the tribe, and accordingly called them Guaikerias, which name they have since retained.These people, who also inhabit the islands, show to Europeans with pride the Punta de la Galera, so called, because Columbus's vessel touched there, as well as port Manzanillo, where they swore fidelity in 1498 to the whites, which vow they have never violated. The Guayquerias are the pilots of the coast of Cumana, and their suburb is composed of rows of uniform low buildings disposed into the form of streets, which have a very neat appearance.On a naked rock which commands the city, 100 feet above the level of the sea, is the castle of St. Antonio, which commands the place. There is also another fort in ruins, on the south-west; and the entrance into the port is defended with inconsiderable batteries, but the military positions of Cumana are of little importance, as the citadel is commanded by a part of the same rock on which it stands; the chief defence of this post being a thick wood of the cactus, whose thorny shoots defy admission into its recesses.The entrance of the harbour of Cumana is highly picturesque, the city rising out of the plain backed by the citadel, its rocks and groves, the plantations of cocoa-nuts, cassias, capers, and arborescent mimosas; the shores covered with alcatras or brown pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. The beauty of the river, and the clear blue of the sky, contrasted with the dark and gloomy appearance of the mountains in the interior, conspire to afford a landscape of the most captivating character.The European inhabitants, and the descendants of Europeans, are noted for their great politeness and hospitality to strangers; they are chiefly occupied in commercial enterprize, this and Barcelona being ports where much trade is carried on. The manner and customs of these people is nearly allied to those of their brethren in the other great cities of Spanish America. One of the most singular of their customs is that of passing most of their evenings sitting on chairs placed in the river.In this city, the first question in a morning is, "Is the water cool?" Their conversaziones are carried on in the rivers where the evening parties are mostly spent in talking about the weather, the news, and in smoking. All the inhabitants of the town it is said can swim, and the children pass the greater part of their time in the water. The alligator is not dangerous at Cumana, as they are seldom seen, and are only of the smallest kind; the chief fear that the women have whilst bathing is from the dolphin, which sometimes comes up the river and spouts like the whale.The port of Cumana is formed by the gulf of Cariaco, and its harbour by the river Manzanares. The gulf of Cariaco is thirty-eight miles in length and sixty-eight in breadth, with excellent anchoring ground; and the ocean is always smooth and unruffled from Porto Cabello to the point of Paria; so much so, that the coasting vessels are not decked; the only danger in the port of Cumana being a shoal, called Morro Roxo, half a mile in breadth and very steep on all sides.This city has been repeatedly shook by subterrene convulsions; and the natives have a tradition that the gulf of Cariaco was formed by an earthquake, just before the third voyage of Columbus. In 1530, the whole coast was shaken, and the city, then called New Toledo, suffered by having its fort at the mouth of the river destroyed; an immense rent was made in the coast, from which asphaltum and water issued.These shocks were very frequent towards theend of the 16th century, the sea often rising fifteen or twenty fathoms. On the twenty-first of October, 1766, the city was overthrown, and numbers of persons perished; the tremblings of the earth continued hourly for fourteen months; but in 1767, the inhabitants incamped in the streets, when the shocks only took place once a month; a great drought had happened in 1766, but during 1767, the rains were so continual, that the harvest was very abundant. In this memorable earthquake the ground opened and threw out hot water.In 1794, they experienced another tremendous convulsion, and on the 14th of December, 1797, four-fifths of the city were utterly destroyed, the earth heaving up with loud subterraneous noises; but the people got into the streets in time, and a small number only perished of those who sought for refuge in the churches. Half an hour before this happened, there was a strong sulphureous smell near the castle, and a loud noise under the ground; flames were seen to rise from the banks of the river, and in several other places. These flames are frequently observed near the city on the plains, they do not burn the herbage, and issue from no apparent crevices, the people calling them the soul of the tyrant Aguirra, who took part in a revolt against Ursua, governor of Omaguas, and styled himself "the traitor." He descended the Amazons, and reached the island of Margarita by the rivers of Guiana.Though so continually exposed to this dreadful calamity, the inhabitants of Cumana are in a measure insensible to it, as they imagine that it never occurs but at particular intervals, and that they have always sufficient notice by the state of the weather and other occurrences.The neighbourhood of Cumana is infested with the rattle snake, the coral vipers, centipedes, &c.Farms and country-seats adorn the banks of the Manzanares; at a little distance from the city theseare beautifully situated, amid groves of cactus, tamarinds, brazilletoes, the enormous ceiba, palms, &c., and the soil is so rich for pasturage, that excellent milk and butter are produced.Near Cumana the most noted mountains are the Cerro or chain of the Brigantin, about eighteen miles distant, the highest summit of which has a flat top, and is elevated more than 5000 feet above the sea, and the sides of this chain are nearly perpendicular, the country about it being a mere desert.The inhabitants of Cumana attempted to cross these mountains with a road, but found it impracticable, and the passage to the plains of the interior lies over a part of the chain, known by the name of the Imposible, over which a new road is carrying on, the present one being very steep. This chain is continued to the extremity of the gulf of Cariaco, and forms the barrier between it and the ocean.On the peninsula formed by this gulf are the salt works of Araya, which have been successively worked by most of the European nations who possess colonies in the West Indies. The Dutch were however expelled in 1605, when a fort or battery was built to prevent their return, and the mere or lake which these salt-works consist of, was overflowed by the sea in the great hurricane in 1726, which also destroyed the battery; but pits or reservoirs have been since dug, and the sea dyked out, so that great quantities of salt are still procured.The consumption of this article in forming tasajo, or salted provision, amounts, in Barcelona and Cumana, to 9 or 10,000 fanegas (each 400lbs.) annually, of which the salt marsh or grounds of Araya, furnish 3000 fanegas, and the sea the rest.The Indians use very little salt with their food, but the creoles and negroes live almost entirely on salted meat and fish. Salt being a royalmonopoly, the revenue derived from Araya is considerable.A small village is established on the peninsula of Araya, where the Indians keep large flocks of goats. This strip of land was the first place where the Spaniards began to found a town; and it contains springs and masses of petroleum; this substance existing also on its coasts, at Cape de la Brea, Punta Soto, and Guararitto. A stream of naptha issues from the bed of the sea, near these shores, and forms a visible spot, 1000 feet in diameter, among the weeds, with which the beach is covered.Nueva Barcelona, the chief town of the province of the same name, is situated in a plain on the left bank of the river Neveri, half a league distant from the sea, in 10° 10' north latitude, and 64° 47' west longitude; ten leagues by land from Cumana.This city was founded in 1636, by Juan de Urpin, who had been a canon, doctor, and counsellor of laws in St. Domingo, and a private soldier in the fort of Araya; he gave the name of New Catalonia to the province, which was afterwards changed to that of the city. It is meanly built, though it has a regular appearance; the streets are very dirty in the rainy season, and very dusty in the hot weather; and the immense quantity of hogs bred in this place renders the town disgustingly dirty, from the filth which they spread over the footways; and it was not till the year 1803, that some measures were taken to put a stop to this nuisance.Barcelona contains one parish church and a convent of Franciscans, with a population of 14,000 souls, half whites and half mulattoes and negroes.Such is the trade in live and dead cattle in this city, that the inhabitants have not turned their attention to the cultivation of the land, though excellently suited for cotton, cacao, and maize. Barcelona is the emporium for the contraband goodsof Trinidad, and from hence they are dispersed through all the inland provinces.The value of this trade has been computed at 400,000 dollars annually. Hides, tallow, oxen, mules, jirked and salted beef, form the great commercial articles of this port; this trade is chiefly carried on with the Havannah and West India Islands.In the jurisdiction of Barcelona, which declared itself independent in the year 1811, commence those immense plains that stretch with those of Caraccas, as far south as the Orinoco. They are covered with excellent pasturage, and feed innumerable herds of cattle and mules, which are mostly kept on the banks of the rivers. Such immense quantities were killed before the breaking out of the present commotions, that the trade was at one time very considerable, the inhabitants of Barcelona being noted for their skill in salting meat; but just after the first symptoms of this struggle, the plains became infested with robbers, who deprived the owners of their beasts, and greatly lessened the value of the trade.The other towns of Cumana are chiefly missionary establishments seated near the rivers, and on the great plains, the greater part of the country being yet in a state of nature. Of these towns the principal one isCumanacoa, twelve leagues distant from Cumana, on a plain surrounded with lofty mountains, which was founded in 1717, by Domingo Arias, on his return from the Guaripiche river, where some Frenchmen had attempted to plant a colony; it was at first called San Baltazar de las Arias, but soon lost that appellation, for its present one. The climate of this place is mild, and even cold, although it is not more than 630 feet above the sea, owing probably to the abundance of rain, to the frequency of thick fogs, and to being surrounded by humid forests.The dry season begins here in the winter solstice, and lasts till the vernal equinox. Light showers are frequent in April, May and June; the dry weather again commences, and lasts to the end of August, when the winter rains set in, which only cease in November; and during this interval, the country is deluged with water.The environs of Cumanacoa are very fertile, and are chiefly cultivated with tobacco, with which article it supplies the whole province. Indigo is also grown here and in this town; the population amounts to about 2300 souls.The road from Cumana over the Imposible, through the forest, to Cumanacoa, passes by the mission of St. Fernando, of the Chayma Indians. It is described as highly picturesque. The forest consists of trees, whose trunks are of the largest dimensions, and which are clasped in every direction by creeping or parasitical plants, of which the lianas reach to the very summits of the trees, and pass from one to another, at the height of more than a hundred feet, displaying beautiful festoons of dark green leaves, intermixed with the most fragrant and splendid flowers. Under these arcades, which scarcely admit the rays of the sun, the traveller proceeds, viewing, at intervals only, the deep blue of the sky. The parrots, macaws, and innumerable tribes of birds of the most brilliant plumage, are continually hovering about, and here the oriole builds his bottle-shaped and pendant nest. The screaming of the parrots actually drowns the roar of small cataracts which here and there fall from the rocky mountains.On quitting this forest path to go to St. Fernando, the country is open for a short space, and the road is now lined with the bamboo or guadua, whose elegant form, agitated by the slightest winds, strikes the European traveller with the most agreeable sensations. We shall describe the village of St. Fernando, as a type of all theother missionary settlements, which are too numerous to name.The huts of the Indians are built of mud or clay, strengthened by the stems of the lianas, and are disposed into streets, very wide and straight, and crossing each other at right angles, the whole appearing very neat. The gardens are either in, or at a short distance from the village, and each family possesses one which they cultivate, together with a large plot of ground, common to all, and called the conuco, at which the grown-up young men and women are obliged to work one hour in the morning and one in the evening. In the missions near the coast, this conuco is generally an indigo or sugar plantation, the profits of which are divided by the priest, for the support of the church and the village.The great square of San Fernando is situated in the centre of the village; in it is placed the church, the priest's house, and the Casa del Rey, or king's-house, destined for the accommodation of travellers. The priest governs the people in their spiritual and temporal affairs, but the parish officers are always chosen from among the Indians; a matter of necessity, as no whites are to be found in these settlements. They have their governor, alguazil, mayor and militia officers, and the company of archers have their colours, and perform their exercise at stated periods, shooting at a mark.The villages in which the Europeans or Creoles are settled, and in which Indians are occasionally found occupying a distinct part, are calleddoctrinas, and differ entirely from the missions. Of these there are many on the side of the country nearest the coast, the missions being mostly in the interior.Near Cumanacoa, is the great mountain called Tumiriquiri, where an enormous wall of rock rises out of the forest, and is joined on the west by the Cerro de Cuchivano, where the chain is brokenby an enormous precipice more than 900 feet in width, filled with trees, whose branches are completely interlaced with each other. The Rio Juagua traverses this crevice, which is the abode of the jaguar, or American tiger, of a very formidable size, being six feet in length. They carry off the horses and cattle in the night from the neighbouring farms, and are as much dreaded as the most ferocious of the feline race are in the East Indies. Two immense caverns open into this precipice, from which flames occasionally rush out that may be seen in the night at a great distance.The great mountain ofTumiriquiriis situated on the road to Caripe, the chief mission of the Chaymas, which passes over the summit of a lower part of the chain, which bears the general name of theCocollar. From the summit of this last chain, at more than two thousand feet in height, the eye wanders over the immense plains which reach towards the banks of the Orinoco, in the ravines alone of which can be distinguished any trees, and these but thinly scattered; the remainder of the surface is covered with an uniform coat of long waving grass, intermixed with flowering shrubs.From this point the traveller ascends towards the Tumiriquiri; the road is partly traversed on horseback, but soon becomes too steep and slippery for these animals.The round summit of the Tumiriquiri is covered with turf, and is elevated more than 4400 feet above the ocean. This elevation gradually diminishes towards the west by a ridge of steep rocks, and is interrupted at the distance of a mile by an immense crevice, which descends towards the gulf of Cariaco. Beyond this two enormous peaks arise, the northernmost of which, named theCucurucho of Tumiriquiri, is more than 6500 feet in height, surpassing that of the Brigantin with which it is connected. These peaks are covered with mahogany, javillo, and cedar trees, of an enormous size, whose shades arefrequented by tigers and other wild beasts, which are hunted now and then for the sake of their beautiful skins. The view from the summit of this mountain is very fine; the chain which extends from west to east is seen in all its forms; its ridges running parallel to each other at short distances, form longitudinal valleys, intersected by crevices worn by the waters in their passage to the Orinoco or the sea. The sea bounds the prospect on the north, and the immeasurable plains form its horizon on the south. The rivers Colorado and Guaripiche rise in the chain of the Cocollar, and mingle their streams near the east coast of Cumana. The Colorado at its mouth is very broad, and the Guaripiche more than twenty-five fathoms deep; and between this river and the Areo which falls into it, are some springs of petroleum. Beyond Tumiriquiri the road descends the mountains towards Caripe, by the mission ofSan Antonioacross savannahs strewed with large blocks of stone, over a thick forest lying on two steep ridges called Los Yepes and Fantasma, into a valley in which are the missions ofSan AntonioandGuanaguana, which are separated by the rivers Colorado and Guaripiche. Guanaguana valley is divided from that of Caripe, by a ridge called theCuchillo de Guanaguana, which is difficult to pass, the path being often only fourteen inches broad and extremely slippery, as the slope is covered with grass.These paths are traversed on mules, whose footing is so sure, that accidents rarely occur. The height of the Cuchillo is about 3430 feet, and the descent to Caripe is by a winding path through a forest; and as the valley is high, the journey is short and easy. Here the climate is mild and delightful, but in the valley of Guanaguana it is hot and unwholesome; so great is the difference which is experienced in this country in passing from one side of a mountain to the other. The height of the convent ofCaripe, in which the missionary monksreside, is 2575 feet above the sea, in 10° 10' 14" north-latitude; and this appears to be the only high valley of Cumana, which is well inhabited.The convent is seated on a delightful plain, backed with an immense wall of perpendicular rocks, covered with plants; the ceiba and palms show their gigantic and elegant forms, numberless springs gush out on every side, and it is difficult to imagine a more picturesque spot than that which these priests have chosen. The cultivation of the valley adds to the natural beauty of the scene, as the gardens of the Indians are filled with plantains, papaws, and all the fruit-bearing plants common to the tropical regions.The conuco or common plantation contains maize, the sugar cane, culinary plants, and coffee trees. Near this valley is the cavern of the Guacharo, three leagues from the convent towards the west. This cave gives its name to the range of mountains in which it is situated. The cavern is pierced in the face of the perpendicular side of the lofty Guacharo mountain, the access to its mouth being rather difficult, on account of the numerous little torrents which cross the valley. Its entrance is towards the south, and forms an arch eighty feet broad, and seventy-two high, surmounted with rocks, covered by gigantic trees; festoons of creeping plants throw themselves across the chasm, and variegate the scene with the beautiful and vivid tints of their flowers; a river issues from the vault which continues at the same height as at its entrance for a considerable distance; and arums, heliconias and palms, follow the banks of the stream for thirty or forty paces into the interior. It is not necessary to use torches for 430 feet from the mouth, as the grotto keeps the same direction, and forms but one channel from south-east to north-west; when the day-light fails, the hollow murmuring sound of a vast number of nocturnal birds, inhabiting the recesses of the cave, may be distinguished; advancing further by the help of lights the whole rock is seen covered with the nests of these birds, which are called Guacharoes, and are of the size of a fowl, with a crooked bill, feathers of a dark bluish grey, mixed with specks of black, the head, wings and tail, being studded with large white heart-shaped spots edged with black; the spread of the wings is three feet and a half; its eye, which is blue and small, cannot endure the light of day, these birds quitting the cavern only at night in search of the fruits on which they exist; their nests are seen by fixing a torch at the end of a pole, and are generally on the very highest parts of the arch.The Indians enter this cave once a year to destroy the young for the sake of a layer of fat, with which the abdomen is covered. These people construct temporary huts at the mouth of the cavern, and melt the fat in pots of clay, over brushwood fires; this fat is called the butter of the guacharo, is transparent, half liquid, without smell, and so pure as to keep more than a year without becoming rancid; the monks purchase this oil of the natives for culinary purposes. Notwithstanding this annual destruction of the birds, their numbers do not sensibly diminish, as it is conjectured that other guacharoes re-people the grotto from neighbouring caves, which are inaccessible to man.The river which runs through the cave, is from twenty-eight to thirty feet in width, and can be traced into the recesses for a considerable distance, the cave preserving its altitude and regular form for 1458 feet; farther than this the river forms a small cascade over a hill covered with vegetation; and surrounded with stalactites; after this ascent the grotto contracts its height to forty feet, still preserving the same dimensions; here the bottom is covered with a black mould on which plants, deposited accidentally by the birds, have vegetated; their characters are however so much changed by want of light and air that it is impossible to recognise the species. Beyond this spot the cries of the birds were so shrill and piercing that no persuasions could induce the Indians to proceed, and M. De Humboldt was obliged unwillingly to return.
SPANISH AMERICA.
PART II.SOUTH AMERICAN DOMINIONS.(CONTINUED.)
Caraccas is a name taken from that of a tribe of Indians, and given to a country which includes New Andalusia, or Cumana, with Margarita, Barcelona, Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper, Maracaybo and Coro, on the coast of the Caribbean sea, Varinas and Spanish Guiana in the interior.
It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea, east by the Atlantic, south by Peru and Dutch Guiana, and west by the kingdom of Santa Fé or New Granada; its extent may be computed from the twelfth to the eighteenth degrees of north latitude, and occupies a space extending over a surface equal to 48,000 square leagues.
The Caraccas are subdivided into seven provinces;viz.New Andalusia or Cumana; Barcelona, Venezuela or Caraccas Proper, containing Venezuela and Coro, Maracaybo, Varinas and Guiana, with the detached government of the island of Margarita; the whole of these are under the particular superintendence of an officer of the highest rank, who is styled captain-general of the provinces of Venezuela, and the city of Caraccas. The population amounts to nearly one million, of whom sixty thousand are slaves, and about one-ninth Indians.
The coast of this country was originally discovered by Columbus in 1498, during his third expedition. Several adventurers succeeding in exploratory voyages on this part of the continent, the Spanish government came to the determination of endeavouring to place colonies on its soil. These being chiefly ill conducted, and managed by priests unacquainted with the manners and customs of the natives, did not succeed, and it was found necessary to endeavour to subdue the inhabitants by force. When this was partially effected, and Spanish settlers were placed in some security, the management of the new colonies was entrusted to the care of the Welsers, a German mercantile company. These people exercised, for a length of time, an uncontrolled sway over the unfortunate Indians and the colonists. Their excess of punishment and their fraud becoming at last notorious, the king of Spain deprived them of their power, in 1550, and appointed an officer of the crown to administer justice to the oppressed.
This office, under the title of captain-general of the Caraccas, has subsisted ever since, and with some few variations in the territorial divisions, and some abridgments of the authority of the personwho fills it, it existed in the same form, until the year 1810. At this period, the mother country, subdued in part by the victorious arms of the French nation, had no time to attend to the situation of her transatlantic colonies. Engaged in destructive and terrible struggle herself, she little knew of the events which were taking place in the Americas, or if she did know them, was unable to assist those subjects devoted to her cause, or to quell the insurgent and ambitious. Taking advantage of the shackled state of the resources of Spain, the disaffected raised the standard of rebellion, and formed ajunta suprema(a congress, or supreme council) in Caraccas. At first they published their acts in the name of Ferdinand the Seventh; but soon, however, on the arrival of Miranda with some troops, declared themselves independent of the mother country, and appointed Miranda to the chief command. Spain now placed their ports in a state of nominal blockade.
They have since been daily engaged in hostile measures, and junta has succeeded to junta, royal power to insurgent government, andvice versa, with little interval up to the present moment. The Caraccas may indeed be styled the focus of the Spanish American revolution. Numerous and bloody actions have taken place between the Spanish troops and the Caraccanians, Miranda has been beheaded, and the captain-general has reinstated himself.
Don Simon Bolivar, a native of the country, possessing much property and considerable influence, has been the great leader of this revolt, styling himself president and commander in chief of the united provinces of Venezuela. Obtaining from the congress of a neighbouring state (New Granada) an army of 600 men, he marched against Monteverde, the captain-general who had beheaded Miranda and punished his colleagues, and meeting with few obstacles to surmount enteredthe city of Caraccas as conqueror, on the 4th August, 1813. The captain-general fled, and refusing to treat with the insurgents, as derogatory to the honour of the master he represented, remained quiet until he received from Spain a reinforcement of 1200 men; he then attacked the city, but was repulsed with the loss of nearly his whole army, and himself severely wounded. In discussing the historical facts relating to South America in general, we have entered more at large upon this subject. At present Bolivar occupies the lower parts of the Orinoco, having made the town of Angostura his head-quarters.
We have chosen the description of the kingdom of Peru as the proper place to give detail of the general historical facts relating to the whole of South America, as it was in that kingdom that the Spanish government first took a consolidated form; we shall, therefore, at present recur to the metropolis, description, and political divisions of the captain-generalship we are now engaged in treating of.
The city ofCaraccas, or as it is written by the Spaniards,Caracas, is the metropolis of this vast region, and has given its name, within a late period, to the whole government. It is situated in 10° 30' 15" north-latitude, and 67° 4' 45" west longitude, the highest square being elevated 2903 feet above the level of the sea, at the commencement of a fine plain or valley, which extends nine miles to the eastward, and has nearly the same breadth, through which runs the river Guayra; the site of the town is an uneven ground with a steep slope; it was founded by Diego de Losada, in 1567, and called Santiago de Leon de Caracas, in order to have a permanent settlement in the neighbourhood of some gold mines, which were imagined to be very productive. The ground is so precipitous, that the few carriages which the inhabitants possess are little used. The Anauco, the Catache, and the Caraguatu, three small streams, run through the city from north to south; the second of these furnishes the water used by the labouring classes, the rich inhabitants having that useful fluid brought from a stream about three miles off, supposed to possess peculiar medicinal qualities.
The streets of Caraccas are straight, wide, and intersect each other at right angles; the houses very handsome and spacious; there are some fine squares, and a handsome cathedral, with eight churches and five convents. This city is the seat of the metropolitan, archbishop of Caraccas, and contains a royal audience, which governs the civil affairs of the captain-generalship, and of which court the officer holding the reins of government is always president, it being in fact a sort of legislative council, composed of the governor and great state officers. The number of inhabitants of this celebrated town are stated not to exceed 20,000 at present, owing to the tremendous loss sustained by the earthquake in 1812, and to the recent sanguinary events which have taken place. The theatre of Caraccas holds from fifteen to eighteen hundred persons, and is well frequented; the female part of the audience occupy the pit, and are separated from the men. The pleasantest part of the year is during the months of November and December, when the air is cool, and the mornings very fine, but the evenings are foggy and damp. During the months of June and July, the nights are beautiful and serene; in fact, the climate during the whole year is so good, that this city may be said to enjoy a perpetual spring.
This state of the atmosphere is finely contrasted with the dreary and savage appearance of the mountains in the neighbourhood, the tremendous precipice of the Silla, or Saddle, and the confused appearance of the country on the right of the plain; which plain, called Chacao, is highly cultivated in many parts, and affords the principal objects of subsistence to the town. In it grows the plantain, the orange, the apple, the apricot, the coffee-tree, the sugar-cane, the pine-apple, the strawberry, vine, peach, quince, maize, corn, vegetables, rice, &c. and in this fertile valley, numerous herds of cattle abound, it having been computed that forty thousand head are annually brought to the market, for the purpose of being salted, and of immediate consumption.
The only inconvenience felt during this eternal spring is from the effects of certain winds, which cause the weather to prove occasionally inconstant, and produce low nervous fevers, and other disorders incident to a variable atmosphere. The yellow fever sometimes, though rarely, extends its ravages to this place, and once lasted (in the year 1696) for sixteen months, and in 1802 was fatal to the garrison newly arrived from Europe.
The season of periodical rain lasts during the months of April, May and June; but hail is seldom or ever known oftener than once in four or five years.
This capital, placed in so charming a climate, compared to many others in the same latitude, has bean subjected to a scourge, which no beauty of situation, or salubrity of the air, can ever compensate. In the year 1812 the whole city was nearly destroyed by an awful earthquake. On the 26th of March, in that year, the population of Leon de Caraccas amounted to fifty thousand souls; in a short space, even in the passing of a moment, these devoted people were reduced to thirty eight thousand, and as if an enormous mine had been exploded under the city, the earth was upheaved to a tremendous height, and twelve thousand persons were swallowed up, or perished amid the ruins of their houses.
The survivors have been ever since busily engaged in repairing the damages, and rebuilding thecity, which is now rapidly advancing to its former state, and the population annually increasing.
La Guayra, a small town situated on the coast of the Spanish Main, is the port of Caraccas, in 10° 36' 19" north latitude, and 67° 6' 45" west longitude, at the foot of the chain of mountains which terminate abruptly in precipices on the coast, and which form the sides of the valley in which the capital is built. From the city to the port, it requires a journey of two hours on the mules of the country, which are very safe and swift. The road is kept in excellent repair, and is fortified by draw-bridges, thrown over the natural clefts, and by small batteries. The harbour itself is rather a roadsted than a haven, and contains a newly formed mole, protected by strong batteries. The wall of rocks rise perpendicularly from the back of the town, and forbid all access, excepting by the regular road. At La Guayra the sea is always agitated, and the vessels are laden and discharged with much difficulty; so much so, that mules are not embarked, the mulattoes and negroes carrying the cacao and other merchandizes to the vessels, by wading into the water.
The flat space on which La Guayra stands is only about 900 feet in breadth, from the precipice at the back to the sea, and the whole aspect of the place is arid, gloomy and unpleasant.
This town is surrounded on the sea side by works and batteries, some of which are very strong, and contain within their limits two streets, parallel to each other, with 8000 inhabitants.
It may be said, that this port is one of the hottest places in Spanish America; the yellow-fever had, however, only commenced its destructive ravages within ten or twelve years, before which time, it was unknown; some are of opinion, that it was brought there after the port was opened to foreign commerce, by the seamen from the United States; others, that it was caused by the overflowing of the river Guayra, which filled the cellars and deep places with water, that soon became stagnant, and exhaled putrid effluvia. However it may be, the inhabitants and strangers who reside at La Guayra, have suffered dreadfully of late years from this disorder.
The annual amount of the commerce of this port, which is the principal one of the province, has been estimated (in peaceable times) to arise to the sum of 346,600l., in the exportation of cacao, indigo, cotton, coffee and hides; and the importations of European and other goods to 511,700l.sterling in the same period.
The coast of Caraccas which extends for an immense length, is exceedingly rocky and mountainous, affording views of some of the most tremendous precipices in the world, that near the capital, called thePrecipice of the Silla, being of the height of 8000 feet above the sea, which washes its base.
The chain of the Andes, traversing the whole territory in the direction of its shores, elevates itself the most in the western parts; and is lost in the sea opposite to the great island of Trinidad, which is itself very mountainous.
The average height of the Cordillera of Caraccas may be estimated at 4500 feet, though it occasionally exceeds 8000; its breadth varies from ten to twenty leagues, and it forms some extensive and beautiful valleys. Owing to this elevation of the land, the heat is not so insupportable as might be imagined from its situation; along the coast it is very great; but ascending gradually into the higher regions, the traveller finds it sensibly diminish, and observes with delight, the vegetable productions of different countries, concentrated ina small space. The great valley or plain of the Orinoco bounds the Cordillera to the south, and far from possessing those elevated lands which characterise the southern portion of the New World, Nature has here spread the country into immense flats, or savannahs, known by the name of Los Llanos (the Plains).
In these plains innumerable herds of cattle are fed, attended by the slaves or servants of the owners, who reside in the towns and villages. These people, living entirely in the desert, have become little better than so many wandering savages; they pass the greater part of their time on horseback, and are said to infest the roads on the borders of the savannahs with their robberies. The heat in the valley of the Orinoco is intense, the thermometer rising even to 115°.
The seasons are divided into rainy and dry, the rainy season lasting from March to November, not however, without ceasing, as there are many days in that period, in which no rain falls; during the time of incessant rain, it does not descend in drizzling misty showers, but comes with such volume and rapidity, that streams, which have been dried to their very channels, now assume in the short space of a few hours, the appearance of large rivers; the plains bordering the Orinoco, and its tributary streams, are inundated by seas of fresh water extending three or four hundred miles in length.
Rivers.—There is no country in the world which possesses more numerous rivers than Caraccas, most of which rise in the Andes and its dependent branches; every valley is traversed by its river; the ridge which divides the provinces as it were into two distinct portions, furnishes abundance of sources on both its declivities. Those which arise on the northern side of this ridge, run from south to north, and fall into the bosom of the Spanish main. Of these theManzanares,Tuy,Guiges,Tocuyo,Aroa,Yaracuy,UnaraandNeveri, are the largest.
The southern flank and main chain of the Andes afford rivers which traverse the great Llanos in a southern direction, and swell, by their junction with the Orinoco, the majestic body of that grand river; of these, theMamo,Pariagou,Pao,Chivita,Zoa,Cachimamo,Arauca,Capanaparo,Sinaruco, theApuraand theMeta, are the principal; and theParima,Siaba,Joa Paranaand theCassiquiari, fall into this river on its southern bank, the latter forming a communication with the still more majestic stream of the Maranon.
TheOrinoco, orOronoco, is not only amongst the largest, but the finest of South American rivers, and is chiefly distinguished by its very singular and intricate course. Its sources are not well known, but according to La Cruz, it rises in a small lake called Ipava, in 5° 5' north-latitude, and thence winding upon itself, enters the lake of Parima to the south-east, and issues by two outlets towards the north and south; on the western shores of the lake; receiving the Guaviara, it bends north, then north-east, and embracing the Meta, the Apura, the Arauca, and the other large streams above-mentioned, with thousands of smaller ones, falls into the Atlantic ocean, by numerous estuaries, opposite the island of Trinidad, its chief mouth being considerably to the south-east of that island. This noble river communicates with the Maranon, and it is supposed, that a stream called the Siaba flows from the south-west of the lake Parima into the Negro, and that to the south-east of the same lake, the Rio Blanco, or Parima, joins the Rio Negro also, this last communicating with the Maranon by means of the Joa Parana.
The river Cassiquiari, long conjectured to be a strong branch of the Orinoco, but now known to be an arm of the Negro, communicates also with the Amazons, its streams having been visited byM. de Humboldt, who encountered great perils in the undertaking, by the force of the current and other obstacles. The whole country for 300 miles was a complete desert, in which the ants and mosquitoes were so exceedingly troublesome as almost to deter the traveller from proceeding. He entered the Orinoco, by the Cassiquiari in 3° 30' north-latitude, and mounted the current of the great river as far as Esmeraldas, the last Spanish settlement in that quarter. The mouths of the Orinoco are very dangerous to navigators; the largest is six leagues in width, and seven of them are navigable for large vessels. The isles formed by these are of very great extent, and are inhabited by theGuaraounosandMariusosIndians. On the banks of the Orinoco the magnificence of the scenery is beyond description. Forests of the greatest extent are filled with aromatic trees, which diffuse the most delightful odour; birds of every singular variety of beautiful plumage are everywhere observed, and hordes of monkeys follow the astonished traveller. Passing these forests, enormous plains extend their verdant surfaces further than the eye can reach, and the cataracts of the Orinoco give their name to the whole Cordillera, and are represented to be the most tremendous that have ever been observed; but no good description of these falls has yet been given, though they constitute the only outlets from the country situated on the east of the Andes to the vast plains of the Maranon. These cataracts are at Maypura and Atures, two villages in about 6° north-latitude, near the great bend of the river.
The periodical inundation of the Orinoco begins in April and ceases in August; in October the flood is low, arriving at its shallowest point in February; the rise is equal to thirteen fathoms at the distance of ninety leagues from the ocean. The mouth of the great estuary is in 8° 30' north-latitude, and 59° 50' west longitude.
The caymans, or alligators, are very numerous, and very formidable throughout its whole length, which may be estimated at about 1250 miles.
Indians.—On the banks of the Orinoco the Indian tribes are not numerous, consisting only of from 500 to 2000 warriors each; of these, theCaribsare the most powerful as well as the most formidable. TheOtomacsfollow them, and all are nearly in the same state of nature. In this part of the Caraccas, the total number of the natives cannot be accurately ascertained; but in the province of New Andalusia, they amount to 24,000, and in the two provinces of Barcelona and Cumana to 60,000. In Cumana they live almost wholly under the missionaries in little towns or amongst the Europeans, each mission containing about five or six hundred. In the province of Barcelona, the Indian villages contain from two to even three thousand inhabitants. TheGuaraounoes, who inhabit the islands of the Orinoco, are independent of the Spaniards, and amount to about six thousand.
To the north of the Orinoco, there are few natives in a state of absolute barbarism; it is only to the south of this river that the efforts of missionaries have been ineffectual.
The provinces of New Andalusia and Barcelona contain fourteen tribes, theChaymas,Guayquerias,Pariagotoes,Quaquas,Araucas,Caribbees,Guaraounoes,Cumanagotoes,Palenkas,Piritoos,Tomoozas,Topocuares,Chacopatas, andGuarivas.
TheGuayquerias, who are civilized Indians residing at Cumana and Araya, amount to 2000.
The Chaymas, the Caribs of the Savannahs, and the Cumanagotoes, are the most numerous. A few, and only a few, of the savages of the islands of the Orinoco, who build their huts on trees, have been formed into missions on the left bank of the Orinoco. These four last possess languages which are the most universal in this part of the world, the Cumanogoto language prevailing in the westernpart of the captain-generalship, and the Caribbean and Chayman in the southern and eastern districts.
The missions are not always formed of the same tribe, but often consist of families of different nations, speaking different languages; they all cultivate the land, their huts are all erected in the same style, and they have all a common field for the uses of the community, and are governed by fixed laws; the magistrates are chosen from among themselves, and each village is superintended in its religious and civil affairs by a monk.
TheChaymaswere reduced to subjection in the seventeenth century, by Francisco of Pamplona, a monk who had been the captain of a ship; and the oldest mission bears its date from 1660. Of these there are at present twenty-five, containing 15,000 souls. They suffered much from 1681 to 1720 from the Caribs, who burnt the settlements.
In stature, the natives of this tribe are short, being not more than five feet two inches, their body thick, with broad shoulders and flat chest, their colour a dull brown, and they are of a melancholic temperament.
They have a great aversion to European clothing, and remain naked whilst in their houses, but when obliged to go out, they put on a vest with sleeves, which reaches almost to the knees; the women wear this habit without the sleeves, and both sexes use a narrow bandage tied round the loins: they also carefully eradicate the hair from the chin, and are a neat people, keeping their persons, houses and utensils very clean.
Their language, as well as those of the Caribs and Cumanagotoes, has each had a dictionary composed for the use of the missionaries; no word begins withl, and it is destitute off,bandd.
ThePariagotoesare mixed with the Chaymas, in the missions; and exist in the villages on the banks of the Caroni. They speak a language peculiar to themselves.
TheGuaraounoesbuild their huts on the trunks of the mangrove and palm trees, to raise them above the waters in the great inundations of the Orinoco; as we before observed, they are independent, with the exception of a very few, who have been converted by the monks. Sir Walter Raleigh describes them under the names of Aroottes, Trititivas and Warawites. They make their bread of the flour extracted from the palm tree, which they cut down for this purpose, just previous to the appearance of the flowers.
Five or six hundred of this race quitted the islands a short time ago, and formed two villages on the north and south banks of the great river, twenty-five leagues distant from the sea, where they live independent of the missionaries. They are of a middle size, and very strong, and are able to run on the mud of the marshes, where no other Indians can walk. These people are the pilots of the Orinoco, possessing a perfect knowledge of its navigation, and are concerned in the clandestine commerce carried on from Trinidad.
TheGuayqueriaswill be described in speaking of the town of Cumana which they chiefly inhabit.
A tribe called theQuaquasare mixed with the Chaymas in the missions, and inhabit an immense tract of country as far as the main Cordilleras of the Andes.
TheCumanagotoes, to the amount of 26,000, live in the west of Cumana, in the missions of Piritoo. The chief mission of the Piritoos (so called on account of a thorny palm of which pipes are made) was founded in 1556, and was named La Conception.
In this country, theCaribbeesare spread over a great extent, existing also in French Guyana, and in Trinidad; and the Guarivas, as well as many others, are Carib tribes. A few missions are found in the great plains, in which some of these people are settled. The Caribs are distinguished in the Caraccas by their great size.
A tribe on the banks of the Orinoco, named theOtomacs, raise their dead at the end of twelve months, and place the bones in a general burying place; they cover their grain, fish, vegetables, &c., with earth, to preserve them, and devour their food mingled with the soil in which it has lain. The substances become quite hard in these pits, by the incrustations of the soil, and some of them are said to eat a pound and a half of the earth in a day. The Indians of all these tribes, who prefer a wandering life to the subjected state of their brethren in the missions, are frequently attacked in the night by the monks and their followers, and made prisoners. When the missionaries give the young people to the converted Indians as slaves, in which capacity they remain until of an age to marry, in consequence of this, the mission Indians frequently instigate the priests to attack these unfortunate people, being eager to possess them. Those who are thus taken are called Poitos, and in general consist only of children, torn with unrelenting severity from the arms of their terrified parents. The motive assigned by the monks for such arbitrary measures, is the hope of their ultimate conversion.
Lakes—The lakes of Caraccas are chiefly those of Valencia and Maracaybo.Maracaybois a body of water of an oval form, lying in a north and south direction, and communicating with the gulf of Venezuela by a very narrow channel. In length it is 150 miles, in breadth 90, and 450 in circumference; its waters being always fresh, excepting when violent storms force the salt waters of the gulf into it. There is generally a considerable undulation on its surface, and in some winds, particularly those from the north, the waves rise to a great height. The depth of this lake is very profound, and it is navigable for vessels of the greatest burthen.
The produce of the interior is conveyed by the rivers which feed it, to the town of Maracaybo, and thence shipped for Europe or the adjoining colonies; and the various sorts of fish, common to the American rivers, are to be found in this lake.
The shores in the immediate vicinity of its waters, are unhealthy, owing to the vapours arising in the night after the great heat of the day.
When the Spaniards first landed in this country, they observed several villages built in the lake, which is the mode adopted by the Indians at present, considering this plan as the healthiest.
The appearance of one of these little towns amid the waters, caused the Spanish adventurers to name it Little Venice, or Venezuela, which title was afterwards transferred to the whole province in the neighbourhood. Four of these villages still remain, and are under the government of a monk, who has a church, and the spiritual charge of these people.
The principal employment of the Indians of these towns is fishing and catching the aquatic birds which frequent the lake.
To the north-west of Lake Maracaybo, is a vein, or mine of mineral pitch, (used by mixing it with grease, to grave vessels,) which is of such an inflammable nature, that during the hot weather, and particularly at night, corruscations are seen arising from its surface, which have the appearance of quickly repeated lightnings. The Indians and Spaniards, who navigate the vessels and canoes of the lake, called them St. Antony's Lanthorns, or the Lanthorns of Maracaybo, as they serve them to steer by during the dark nights, so prevalent in the torrid zone.
The lake ofValencia, which though not so extensive as the last we have described, is far more beautiful and useful. Its banks are fertile and healthy, and clothed with the most luxurious vegetation. It is situated three miles from the city ofValencia, and eighteen from the sea, from which it is separated by inaccessible mountains; the lake of Valencia is of an oblong form, stretching north-east and south-west, and is forty miles in length and twelve in breadth, in a valley surrounded by very high and steep land, excepting on the west.
This extraordinary lake receives the waters of twenty rivers, and has no visible outlet. It has been diminishing for twenty years, and its waters are still receding, leaving behind them a rich and productive soil, but at the same time an unhealthy air; and the cultivators are in some parts under the necessity, from the want of water, of drawing off the neighbouring streams to irrigate their plantations.
The eastern side is laid out in tobacco grounds, which occupy 15,000 people, who are paid by the crown; and the islands in which it abounds are highly fertile, the largest called Caratapona, being well populated.
The woods near this lake are famous for the diversity and beauty of the birds, and its waters furnish fish, and the guanas, or edible lizard, which are considered as a very delicious food; of these, two species are common to the lake. The water of Lake Valencia is not so good for drinking as that of Maracaybo, being thick and nauseous.
This lake bears the Indian name of Tacarigua, as does a bay or lake on the coast, which is situated a league and a half from the mouth of the river Tuy, of a circular form, and is twenty-one miles in length from the sea on the north-east to the south-east, it abounds in fish, and is remarkable for the great number of alligators it contains.
The lake ofParina, orParanapitinca, in Guiana is said to be an oblong sheet of water, 100 miles in length, and 50 broad, in an island of which is a rock of glittering mica, celebrated as having been the seat of El Dorado, a supposititious city, thestreets of which were paved with gold, alluded to by Milton in his Paradise Lost.
"And yet unspoil'd GuianaWhose great city Geryon's sonsCall El Dorado."
"And yet unspoil'd GuianaWhose great city Geryon's sonsCall El Dorado."
"And yet unspoil'd GuianaWhose great city Geryon's sonsCall El Dorado."
"And yet unspoil'd Guiana
Whose great city Geryon's sons
Call El Dorado."
This lake is in 3° 40' north latitude, and 45° 20' west longitude, and gives birth to a large river, called Rio Blanco, or Parima, which we have before spoken of.
This province, which is also known by the names of Cumana and Paria, is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; on the east by the Atlantic ocean; west by Barcelona, and south by Spanish Guiana, or the river Orinoco.
The government of Cumana usually includes the adjacent province of New Barcelona. We shall therefore describe these two under the same head, mentioning however the distinct boundaries of—
Which is limited on the north by the Caribbean sea; east by Cumana; west by Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper, and south by Guiana and the Orinoco.
The great extent of the territory of Cumana and Barcelona, its being washed on two of its sides by the ocean, and by the broad expanse of the Orinoco on the third, render it one of the most important governments of the captain-generalship.
History, &c.—The eastern part of New Andalusia is famous as having been the scene of the first continental discoveries of Columbus. The mouths of the Orinoco and the adjacent shores of Paria were visited by him during his third voyage. Thefirst land discovered during this expedition, was however not the continent, but the island of Trinidad, which was so named because the admiral had vowed to give the appellation of the Trinity to the first land he should see, and also because three mountains were observed at the same moment. This happened on Tuesday, 31st July, 1498, and having but one cask of water left, he landed at Punta de la Playa, where he procured the necessary supply.
On the 1st of August, whilst plying between Cape de la Galera (the first cape they made) and Punta de la Playa, he discovered the main land twenty-five leagues distant; but imagining it another island, he named it Isla Santa. The channel between Trinidad and Isla Santa was named Boca del Sierpe, and the next day he sailed into the lower channel, and called it Boca del Drago. They were so styled on account of the furious hissing noise which the current of an immense river made in rushing towards the ocean. He coasted the supposed island until Sunday, the 5th of August, when he anchored and went on shore. Soon afterwards he took some of the natives into his ship, and landing further to the west, by the direction of these people, discovered that the supposed island was part of an immense continent, and that the natives called it Paria.
Being informed that pearls were found in great abundance among some islands to the west, he steered in that direction, and discovered the islands of Margarita, or of Pearls, Cubagua, and Los Testigos, or the Witnesses, &c. On the 16th of August he stood to the north-west, and anchored on the coast of Hispaniola soon afterwards.
The admiral was followed by Ojeda, in 1499, who traced the coast as far as Cape de la Vela, entering several ports to procure information. Christoval Guerra, accompanied by Pedro Nino, whohad been with Columbus on this coast, obtained a licence to explore the continent and islands for gold and pearls. They procured plenty of the latter in the bay of pearls, between Margarita and the main, and visited the coasts of Venezuela and Coro.
Having got 1200 ounces of very fine pearls, these adventurers sailed back, along the shore to the gulf of Paria, whence they stretched over for Spain, in which country they arrived on the 6th of February, 1500.
Vicente Yanez Pinzon having discovered the mouth of the great Maranon in 1500, sailed northwards from it, and explored the estuary of the Orinoco, and the coast of Paria, from which he sailed for St. Domingo, having first laden his vessels with Brazil wood.
The report of the arrival of Guerra, with such a valuable cargo, soon spread over the whole kingdom of Spain; and expeditions were fitted out in every part for the American continent. Charles the Fifth gave these adventurers permission to enslave the Indians who should resist them; in consequence of this, avarice and rapacity soon made a dreadful havoc among these unfortunate people; a complaint of these proceedings at last reached the royal audience of St. Domingo, which court immediately took measures to punish the offenders. They appointed Juan Ampues, to the government of the country, who landed on the coast of Curiana, in 1527, with an armed force.
The mildness of his measures gained him the affections of the Indians, and the cacique of the Curiana nation took the oath of allegiance to Spain, on the 26th of July, 1527.—This governor laid the foundation of the city of Coro.
At this time the company of the Welsers, a German establishment of Augsburgh, having advanced great sums to Charles the Fifth, that Emperor granted them, at their earnest request, thesovereignty of the province of Venezuela from Cape Vela, to Maracapna, and with unlimited boundaries to the south. Their power did not last long, and Juan Perez de Tolosa was appointed governor, with the rank of captain-general. New laws were made, and the Indians were declared free from involuntary servitude; as soon as a nation or tribe was subjected, a town was built, and a hundred Europeans were sent to colonize it. The laws of the repartimientos and encomiendos were established, and every thing went on properly at first, but the settlers abusing their authority over the natives, these laws were repealed, and Spanish America was declared a kingdom united to the Spanish crown. The council of the Indies was formed at Madrid, the legislative functions were declared to be vested solely in the king, aided by this council, and the executive was to belong only to officers appointed by the court; accordingly, on the 4th of September, 1519, this act was decreed and promulgated, since which Caraccas has been governed by a captain-general, and subordinate officers.
In treating of Cumana we must not omit mentioning the history of the visit paid to this coast by Las Casas, the bishop of Chiapa in Guatimala.Bartolemeo de Las Casaswho was born at Seville in 1474, and when only nineteen years of age, accompanied his father and Columbus to the west Indies, returning to Spain after an absence of five years, took the habit of a monk, and again embarked with Columbus to Hispaniola; on the settling of Cuba, he was appointed rector of Zaguarama, where he strenuously objected against reducing the Indians to servitude, at the same time relinquishing his own share in the partition of these people among the whites. Meeting with great opposition, on account of his determined resistance to the oppression of the aborigines, he set out for Spain in 1516, for the purpose of laying the grievances, under which the newly-discovered nationslaboured, before the King. Ferdinand promised that new laws should be made, but death prevented his resolves from being put into execution; Las Casas then applied to Cardinal Ximenes the regent, and that minister sent out three commissioners to enquire into the circumstances of the case. These three persons were monks of St. Jerome, and were accompanied by a lawyer of great abilities, and Las Casas, who was granted the title of "Protector of the Indians."
On their arrival at St. Domingo, these commissioners finding it impossible to do away with the enslavement of the Indians at once, they adopted some salutary measures to better their condition. Las Casas remonstrated with them, but found his efforts useless, and as he had made all the planters his enemies, he saw himself under the necessity of retreating to the protection of the convent from the effects of their malignity. He again set out for Spain, with a determination not to abandon the cause in which he had embarked. Ximenes being on his death-bed, and the Emperor Charles the Fifth having appointed his Flemish ministers to the chief offices of state, Las Casas was obliged to endeavour to interest them in his favour; in this he succeeded, and they recalled the monks of St. Jerome, and appointed a judge to examine the complaints of the Indians with ample powers to redress them.
But Las Casas here tarnished the glory he would otherwise have enjoyed unsullied. To carry his favourite scheme the more certainly into execution, he proposed that a certain number of negroes should be purchased from the Portuguese in Africa, to replace the Indians who were to be liberated. His plans, unfortunately for the poor Africans, were adopted, and ever since that period these degraded people have suffered the most galling servitude, which it is now the delight of an Englishman to know, that his nation have stepped forwardto put a lasting stop to; and the reign of the Prince Regent, would, independent of the brilliant events which have rendered it immortal, have been remembered, to the remotest ages by this magnanimous act alone. The emperor Charles granted a patent to one of his Flemish courtiers, containing the exclusive right of sending 4000 negroes to the West Indies; this patent was sold to Genoese merchants for 25,000 ducats, and these people have the odium of being the first who brought this abominable traffic to a regular form. Las Casas proposed also to send mechanics and labourers to Hispaniola with the negroes, who should be allowed an advance to go thither; but the bishop of Burgos, who was the great enemy of Columbus and his followers, defeated this project, as well as every other that Las Casas offered.
Fearful that he should not succeed in relieving the Indians in the new settlements, he requested from the Emperor the grant of a district, then unoccupied, from the gulf of Paria to Cape de la Vela, thus including Cumana, Barcelona, Venezuela, Coro, and Maracaybo. In his memorial, he proposed settling this country with a colony of priests, husbandmen, and labourers; he engaged in two years, to instruct the natives in the arts of social life; to civilize 10,000 of them, and that at the end of that time, the king should derive a revenue of 15,000 ducats, which was to increase to 50,000 in ten years. After much difficulty, in consequence of the opposition of the meddling bishop, this extent of coast was granted to him, with liberty to extend it indefinitely into the interior. He sailed from Spain with 200 followers in 1521. Many of these left him at Puerto Rico, others died, and he landed on the coast of Cumana, with a few only who still adhered to him; here he found the country in a state of great agitation from a recent invasion of the Spanish islanders, who had attacked the natives, for the purposes ofprocuring slaves and gold. He was obliged to go over to Hispaniola to procure a reinforcement, and during his absence, the Indians attacked the colony he had planted, destroyed many of the people, and forced the remnant to take refuge in the little isle of Cubagua.
This isle they soon abandoned, and not a Spaniard was then left in any part of the continent from Paria to Darien. Las Casas, mortified beyond every thing, by the failure of his splendid schemes, shut himself up in the Dominican convent at Hispaniola. Here he devoted himself to the performance of religious duties, still keeping in mind the great object of his ambition. The sufferings of the Indians increasing daily, and a chapter of his order at Chiapa in New Spain, having made him their messenger to Europe, on some important affairs, he once more revisited Madrid in 1542, and took a favourable opportunity of pleading the cause of the injured Indians before Charles V. He also composed a treatise, which he called "A Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indians;" in which was painted, in the most pathetic and forcible manner, the enormities which had taken place in every country of the New World which the Spaniards had visited.
This work created the most lively sensations throughout Europe, and such a general abhorrence of the cruel measures of the adventurers, that the Spanish court thought fit to adopt some measures to silence the universal clamour. New regulations were adopted, some of which tended to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate Americans; and Las Casas was elevated to the dignity of bishop of Chiapa, in order to afford every relief in the power of the church to bestow.
He returned to America in 1544, and continued in this see until 1551, exerting himself in every possible manner to attain the object of his wishes; in which he succeeded greatly, but his health failing in 1551, he resigned his bishopric, and once more revisited his native country; in the same year, and for five years subsequent to his return, he lived in Madrid, still exerting all his influence to consolidate the measures which had been taken for the prosperity of the people to whom he was so much attached; at last nature became worn out, and this indefatigable, and benevolent man, closed his career in 1556, in the 92d year of his age.
Besides the work alluded to above, he wrote several others, among which, is a "General History of the Indies," of which Antonio de Herrera is said to have availed himself in the compilation of his celebrated history of the New World.
The provinces of Barcelona and Cumana are extremely mountainous; the first branch from the main chain of the Andes running through these districts, and terminating in the ocean at the gulf of Paria.
This ridge gives birth to the rivers which flow into the Orinoco on the south, and into the Caribbean sea on the north, and contains some highly picturesque and singular scenery; the most noted parts of which will be hereafter described.
The climate of this government varies according to the situation of its districts, on the high land of the mountains, or in the valleys or plains of the interior.
Capitals.—The chief town of New Andalusia is Cumana, where the governor of the two provinces usually resides. The chief town of New Barcelona, is Barcelona.
Cumanais situated in 10° 27' 52" north latitude, and 64° 9' 47" west longitude, a mile from the battery of the Boca, or mouth of the harbour, between which and the town extends a great plain, called El Salado. The port is formed by thefine river Manzanares, which runs through the town. East of the city is another extensive plain, and north of it a rocky mass, on which stands the citadel of St. Antonio. The city occupies the space between the citadel, the river Manzanares, and another smaller stream called the Santa Catalina, and the plains which surround it are highly cultivated; that towards the sea having an Indian suburb and gardens filled with sapotes, mameis, plantains, &c. The suburb is divided into three parishes; on the east is that of Sarritos, on the south-east, St. Francisco, and the great town of the Guayqueria Indians. Cumana is one of the oldest cities of the continent, and was built by Gonzalo Ocampo in 1520.
In the city of Cumana are no very remarkable buildings, owing to the fatal effects of the last earthquake. There is only one parish church and two convents, but additions are daily making to it, which will render it a fine town.
This city is remarkable for the purity and healthiness of its climate, on account of the heat being moderated by the sea-breezes; the most fatal disorders are fluxes, which carry off numbers of children annually, owing to the great use they make of green indigestible fruits. The women, particularly the Indians, are very prolific, which in some measure compensates for the loss annually experienced of the younger branches of society. The population of Cumana amounts at present to 16, or 17,000 souls, of which, two-fifths are Indians of the Guayqueria, Chayma, and other tribes. Of these, theGuayqueriasare the most noted tribe not only of Cumana, but of Caraccas; they are a branch of the Guarounoes, who inhabit the swampy island, at the mouth of the Orinoco; but they have now become so incorporated with the Spaniards, that for the last century they have spoken the Spanish language only. When Columbus was on this coast, his people saw these Indiansfishing with long poles pointed at one end, and tied to a cord at the other; demanding of them the name of their country, they immediately replied Guiake, which signified pointed stick; the sailors thought this was the name of the tribe, and accordingly called them Guaikerias, which name they have since retained.
These people, who also inhabit the islands, show to Europeans with pride the Punta de la Galera, so called, because Columbus's vessel touched there, as well as port Manzanillo, where they swore fidelity in 1498 to the whites, which vow they have never violated. The Guayquerias are the pilots of the coast of Cumana, and their suburb is composed of rows of uniform low buildings disposed into the form of streets, which have a very neat appearance.
On a naked rock which commands the city, 100 feet above the level of the sea, is the castle of St. Antonio, which commands the place. There is also another fort in ruins, on the south-west; and the entrance into the port is defended with inconsiderable batteries, but the military positions of Cumana are of little importance, as the citadel is commanded by a part of the same rock on which it stands; the chief defence of this post being a thick wood of the cactus, whose thorny shoots defy admission into its recesses.
The entrance of the harbour of Cumana is highly picturesque, the city rising out of the plain backed by the citadel, its rocks and groves, the plantations of cocoa-nuts, cassias, capers, and arborescent mimosas; the shores covered with alcatras or brown pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. The beauty of the river, and the clear blue of the sky, contrasted with the dark and gloomy appearance of the mountains in the interior, conspire to afford a landscape of the most captivating character.
The European inhabitants, and the descendants of Europeans, are noted for their great politeness and hospitality to strangers; they are chiefly occupied in commercial enterprize, this and Barcelona being ports where much trade is carried on. The manner and customs of these people is nearly allied to those of their brethren in the other great cities of Spanish America. One of the most singular of their customs is that of passing most of their evenings sitting on chairs placed in the river.
In this city, the first question in a morning is, "Is the water cool?" Their conversaziones are carried on in the rivers where the evening parties are mostly spent in talking about the weather, the news, and in smoking. All the inhabitants of the town it is said can swim, and the children pass the greater part of their time in the water. The alligator is not dangerous at Cumana, as they are seldom seen, and are only of the smallest kind; the chief fear that the women have whilst bathing is from the dolphin, which sometimes comes up the river and spouts like the whale.
The port of Cumana is formed by the gulf of Cariaco, and its harbour by the river Manzanares. The gulf of Cariaco is thirty-eight miles in length and sixty-eight in breadth, with excellent anchoring ground; and the ocean is always smooth and unruffled from Porto Cabello to the point of Paria; so much so, that the coasting vessels are not decked; the only danger in the port of Cumana being a shoal, called Morro Roxo, half a mile in breadth and very steep on all sides.
This city has been repeatedly shook by subterrene convulsions; and the natives have a tradition that the gulf of Cariaco was formed by an earthquake, just before the third voyage of Columbus. In 1530, the whole coast was shaken, and the city, then called New Toledo, suffered by having its fort at the mouth of the river destroyed; an immense rent was made in the coast, from which asphaltum and water issued.
These shocks were very frequent towards theend of the 16th century, the sea often rising fifteen or twenty fathoms. On the twenty-first of October, 1766, the city was overthrown, and numbers of persons perished; the tremblings of the earth continued hourly for fourteen months; but in 1767, the inhabitants incamped in the streets, when the shocks only took place once a month; a great drought had happened in 1766, but during 1767, the rains were so continual, that the harvest was very abundant. In this memorable earthquake the ground opened and threw out hot water.
In 1794, they experienced another tremendous convulsion, and on the 14th of December, 1797, four-fifths of the city were utterly destroyed, the earth heaving up with loud subterraneous noises; but the people got into the streets in time, and a small number only perished of those who sought for refuge in the churches. Half an hour before this happened, there was a strong sulphureous smell near the castle, and a loud noise under the ground; flames were seen to rise from the banks of the river, and in several other places. These flames are frequently observed near the city on the plains, they do not burn the herbage, and issue from no apparent crevices, the people calling them the soul of the tyrant Aguirra, who took part in a revolt against Ursua, governor of Omaguas, and styled himself "the traitor." He descended the Amazons, and reached the island of Margarita by the rivers of Guiana.
Though so continually exposed to this dreadful calamity, the inhabitants of Cumana are in a measure insensible to it, as they imagine that it never occurs but at particular intervals, and that they have always sufficient notice by the state of the weather and other occurrences.
The neighbourhood of Cumana is infested with the rattle snake, the coral vipers, centipedes, &c.
Farms and country-seats adorn the banks of the Manzanares; at a little distance from the city theseare beautifully situated, amid groves of cactus, tamarinds, brazilletoes, the enormous ceiba, palms, &c., and the soil is so rich for pasturage, that excellent milk and butter are produced.
Near Cumana the most noted mountains are the Cerro or chain of the Brigantin, about eighteen miles distant, the highest summit of which has a flat top, and is elevated more than 5000 feet above the sea, and the sides of this chain are nearly perpendicular, the country about it being a mere desert.
The inhabitants of Cumana attempted to cross these mountains with a road, but found it impracticable, and the passage to the plains of the interior lies over a part of the chain, known by the name of the Imposible, over which a new road is carrying on, the present one being very steep. This chain is continued to the extremity of the gulf of Cariaco, and forms the barrier between it and the ocean.
On the peninsula formed by this gulf are the salt works of Araya, which have been successively worked by most of the European nations who possess colonies in the West Indies. The Dutch were however expelled in 1605, when a fort or battery was built to prevent their return, and the mere or lake which these salt-works consist of, was overflowed by the sea in the great hurricane in 1726, which also destroyed the battery; but pits or reservoirs have been since dug, and the sea dyked out, so that great quantities of salt are still procured.
The consumption of this article in forming tasajo, or salted provision, amounts, in Barcelona and Cumana, to 9 or 10,000 fanegas (each 400lbs.) annually, of which the salt marsh or grounds of Araya, furnish 3000 fanegas, and the sea the rest.
The Indians use very little salt with their food, but the creoles and negroes live almost entirely on salted meat and fish. Salt being a royalmonopoly, the revenue derived from Araya is considerable.
A small village is established on the peninsula of Araya, where the Indians keep large flocks of goats. This strip of land was the first place where the Spaniards began to found a town; and it contains springs and masses of petroleum; this substance existing also on its coasts, at Cape de la Brea, Punta Soto, and Guararitto. A stream of naptha issues from the bed of the sea, near these shores, and forms a visible spot, 1000 feet in diameter, among the weeds, with which the beach is covered.
Nueva Barcelona, the chief town of the province of the same name, is situated in a plain on the left bank of the river Neveri, half a league distant from the sea, in 10° 10' north latitude, and 64° 47' west longitude; ten leagues by land from Cumana.
This city was founded in 1636, by Juan de Urpin, who had been a canon, doctor, and counsellor of laws in St. Domingo, and a private soldier in the fort of Araya; he gave the name of New Catalonia to the province, which was afterwards changed to that of the city. It is meanly built, though it has a regular appearance; the streets are very dirty in the rainy season, and very dusty in the hot weather; and the immense quantity of hogs bred in this place renders the town disgustingly dirty, from the filth which they spread over the footways; and it was not till the year 1803, that some measures were taken to put a stop to this nuisance.
Barcelona contains one parish church and a convent of Franciscans, with a population of 14,000 souls, half whites and half mulattoes and negroes.
Such is the trade in live and dead cattle in this city, that the inhabitants have not turned their attention to the cultivation of the land, though excellently suited for cotton, cacao, and maize. Barcelona is the emporium for the contraband goodsof Trinidad, and from hence they are dispersed through all the inland provinces.
The value of this trade has been computed at 400,000 dollars annually. Hides, tallow, oxen, mules, jirked and salted beef, form the great commercial articles of this port; this trade is chiefly carried on with the Havannah and West India Islands.
In the jurisdiction of Barcelona, which declared itself independent in the year 1811, commence those immense plains that stretch with those of Caraccas, as far south as the Orinoco. They are covered with excellent pasturage, and feed innumerable herds of cattle and mules, which are mostly kept on the banks of the rivers. Such immense quantities were killed before the breaking out of the present commotions, that the trade was at one time very considerable, the inhabitants of Barcelona being noted for their skill in salting meat; but just after the first symptoms of this struggle, the plains became infested with robbers, who deprived the owners of their beasts, and greatly lessened the value of the trade.
The other towns of Cumana are chiefly missionary establishments seated near the rivers, and on the great plains, the greater part of the country being yet in a state of nature. Of these towns the principal one isCumanacoa, twelve leagues distant from Cumana, on a plain surrounded with lofty mountains, which was founded in 1717, by Domingo Arias, on his return from the Guaripiche river, where some Frenchmen had attempted to plant a colony; it was at first called San Baltazar de las Arias, but soon lost that appellation, for its present one. The climate of this place is mild, and even cold, although it is not more than 630 feet above the sea, owing probably to the abundance of rain, to the frequency of thick fogs, and to being surrounded by humid forests.
The dry season begins here in the winter solstice, and lasts till the vernal equinox. Light showers are frequent in April, May and June; the dry weather again commences, and lasts to the end of August, when the winter rains set in, which only cease in November; and during this interval, the country is deluged with water.
The environs of Cumanacoa are very fertile, and are chiefly cultivated with tobacco, with which article it supplies the whole province. Indigo is also grown here and in this town; the population amounts to about 2300 souls.
The road from Cumana over the Imposible, through the forest, to Cumanacoa, passes by the mission of St. Fernando, of the Chayma Indians. It is described as highly picturesque. The forest consists of trees, whose trunks are of the largest dimensions, and which are clasped in every direction by creeping or parasitical plants, of which the lianas reach to the very summits of the trees, and pass from one to another, at the height of more than a hundred feet, displaying beautiful festoons of dark green leaves, intermixed with the most fragrant and splendid flowers. Under these arcades, which scarcely admit the rays of the sun, the traveller proceeds, viewing, at intervals only, the deep blue of the sky. The parrots, macaws, and innumerable tribes of birds of the most brilliant plumage, are continually hovering about, and here the oriole builds his bottle-shaped and pendant nest. The screaming of the parrots actually drowns the roar of small cataracts which here and there fall from the rocky mountains.
On quitting this forest path to go to St. Fernando, the country is open for a short space, and the road is now lined with the bamboo or guadua, whose elegant form, agitated by the slightest winds, strikes the European traveller with the most agreeable sensations. We shall describe the village of St. Fernando, as a type of all theother missionary settlements, which are too numerous to name.
The huts of the Indians are built of mud or clay, strengthened by the stems of the lianas, and are disposed into streets, very wide and straight, and crossing each other at right angles, the whole appearing very neat. The gardens are either in, or at a short distance from the village, and each family possesses one which they cultivate, together with a large plot of ground, common to all, and called the conuco, at which the grown-up young men and women are obliged to work one hour in the morning and one in the evening. In the missions near the coast, this conuco is generally an indigo or sugar plantation, the profits of which are divided by the priest, for the support of the church and the village.
The great square of San Fernando is situated in the centre of the village; in it is placed the church, the priest's house, and the Casa del Rey, or king's-house, destined for the accommodation of travellers. The priest governs the people in their spiritual and temporal affairs, but the parish officers are always chosen from among the Indians; a matter of necessity, as no whites are to be found in these settlements. They have their governor, alguazil, mayor and militia officers, and the company of archers have their colours, and perform their exercise at stated periods, shooting at a mark.
The villages in which the Europeans or Creoles are settled, and in which Indians are occasionally found occupying a distinct part, are calleddoctrinas, and differ entirely from the missions. Of these there are many on the side of the country nearest the coast, the missions being mostly in the interior.
Near Cumanacoa, is the great mountain called Tumiriquiri, where an enormous wall of rock rises out of the forest, and is joined on the west by the Cerro de Cuchivano, where the chain is brokenby an enormous precipice more than 900 feet in width, filled with trees, whose branches are completely interlaced with each other. The Rio Juagua traverses this crevice, which is the abode of the jaguar, or American tiger, of a very formidable size, being six feet in length. They carry off the horses and cattle in the night from the neighbouring farms, and are as much dreaded as the most ferocious of the feline race are in the East Indies. Two immense caverns open into this precipice, from which flames occasionally rush out that may be seen in the night at a great distance.
The great mountain ofTumiriquiriis situated on the road to Caripe, the chief mission of the Chaymas, which passes over the summit of a lower part of the chain, which bears the general name of theCocollar. From the summit of this last chain, at more than two thousand feet in height, the eye wanders over the immense plains which reach towards the banks of the Orinoco, in the ravines alone of which can be distinguished any trees, and these but thinly scattered; the remainder of the surface is covered with an uniform coat of long waving grass, intermixed with flowering shrubs.
From this point the traveller ascends towards the Tumiriquiri; the road is partly traversed on horseback, but soon becomes too steep and slippery for these animals.
The round summit of the Tumiriquiri is covered with turf, and is elevated more than 4400 feet above the ocean. This elevation gradually diminishes towards the west by a ridge of steep rocks, and is interrupted at the distance of a mile by an immense crevice, which descends towards the gulf of Cariaco. Beyond this two enormous peaks arise, the northernmost of which, named theCucurucho of Tumiriquiri, is more than 6500 feet in height, surpassing that of the Brigantin with which it is connected. These peaks are covered with mahogany, javillo, and cedar trees, of an enormous size, whose shades arefrequented by tigers and other wild beasts, which are hunted now and then for the sake of their beautiful skins. The view from the summit of this mountain is very fine; the chain which extends from west to east is seen in all its forms; its ridges running parallel to each other at short distances, form longitudinal valleys, intersected by crevices worn by the waters in their passage to the Orinoco or the sea. The sea bounds the prospect on the north, and the immeasurable plains form its horizon on the south. The rivers Colorado and Guaripiche rise in the chain of the Cocollar, and mingle their streams near the east coast of Cumana. The Colorado at its mouth is very broad, and the Guaripiche more than twenty-five fathoms deep; and between this river and the Areo which falls into it, are some springs of petroleum. Beyond Tumiriquiri the road descends the mountains towards Caripe, by the mission ofSan Antonioacross savannahs strewed with large blocks of stone, over a thick forest lying on two steep ridges called Los Yepes and Fantasma, into a valley in which are the missions ofSan AntonioandGuanaguana, which are separated by the rivers Colorado and Guaripiche. Guanaguana valley is divided from that of Caripe, by a ridge called theCuchillo de Guanaguana, which is difficult to pass, the path being often only fourteen inches broad and extremely slippery, as the slope is covered with grass.
These paths are traversed on mules, whose footing is so sure, that accidents rarely occur. The height of the Cuchillo is about 3430 feet, and the descent to Caripe is by a winding path through a forest; and as the valley is high, the journey is short and easy. Here the climate is mild and delightful, but in the valley of Guanaguana it is hot and unwholesome; so great is the difference which is experienced in this country in passing from one side of a mountain to the other. The height of the convent ofCaripe, in which the missionary monksreside, is 2575 feet above the sea, in 10° 10' 14" north-latitude; and this appears to be the only high valley of Cumana, which is well inhabited.
The convent is seated on a delightful plain, backed with an immense wall of perpendicular rocks, covered with plants; the ceiba and palms show their gigantic and elegant forms, numberless springs gush out on every side, and it is difficult to imagine a more picturesque spot than that which these priests have chosen. The cultivation of the valley adds to the natural beauty of the scene, as the gardens of the Indians are filled with plantains, papaws, and all the fruit-bearing plants common to the tropical regions.
The conuco or common plantation contains maize, the sugar cane, culinary plants, and coffee trees. Near this valley is the cavern of the Guacharo, three leagues from the convent towards the west. This cave gives its name to the range of mountains in which it is situated. The cavern is pierced in the face of the perpendicular side of the lofty Guacharo mountain, the access to its mouth being rather difficult, on account of the numerous little torrents which cross the valley. Its entrance is towards the south, and forms an arch eighty feet broad, and seventy-two high, surmounted with rocks, covered by gigantic trees; festoons of creeping plants throw themselves across the chasm, and variegate the scene with the beautiful and vivid tints of their flowers; a river issues from the vault which continues at the same height as at its entrance for a considerable distance; and arums, heliconias and palms, follow the banks of the stream for thirty or forty paces into the interior. It is not necessary to use torches for 430 feet from the mouth, as the grotto keeps the same direction, and forms but one channel from south-east to north-west; when the day-light fails, the hollow murmuring sound of a vast number of nocturnal birds, inhabiting the recesses of the cave, may be distinguished; advancing further by the help of lights the whole rock is seen covered with the nests of these birds, which are called Guacharoes, and are of the size of a fowl, with a crooked bill, feathers of a dark bluish grey, mixed with specks of black, the head, wings and tail, being studded with large white heart-shaped spots edged with black; the spread of the wings is three feet and a half; its eye, which is blue and small, cannot endure the light of day, these birds quitting the cavern only at night in search of the fruits on which they exist; their nests are seen by fixing a torch at the end of a pole, and are generally on the very highest parts of the arch.
The Indians enter this cave once a year to destroy the young for the sake of a layer of fat, with which the abdomen is covered. These people construct temporary huts at the mouth of the cavern, and melt the fat in pots of clay, over brushwood fires; this fat is called the butter of the guacharo, is transparent, half liquid, without smell, and so pure as to keep more than a year without becoming rancid; the monks purchase this oil of the natives for culinary purposes. Notwithstanding this annual destruction of the birds, their numbers do not sensibly diminish, as it is conjectured that other guacharoes re-people the grotto from neighbouring caves, which are inaccessible to man.
The river which runs through the cave, is from twenty-eight to thirty feet in width, and can be traced into the recesses for a considerable distance, the cave preserving its altitude and regular form for 1458 feet; farther than this the river forms a small cascade over a hill covered with vegetation; and surrounded with stalactites; after this ascent the grotto contracts its height to forty feet, still preserving the same dimensions; here the bottom is covered with a black mould on which plants, deposited accidentally by the birds, have vegetated; their characters are however so much changed by want of light and air that it is impossible to recognise the species. Beyond this spot the cries of the birds were so shrill and piercing that no persuasions could induce the Indians to proceed, and M. De Humboldt was obliged unwillingly to return.