Spanish America, Vol. II (of 2). Bonnycastle Richard Henry

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СКАЧАТЬ 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.

      This subterraneous river is the source of the Rio Caripe, which joining the river Santa Maria a few leagues distant, is navigable for canoes, and falls into the river Areo under the name of Canno de Terezen.

      The forests of this and of every other part of Cumana are peopled with numerous tribes of monkeys, of which the araguato is the most common and singular; it is three feet in height from the top of the head to the tail, with a reddish brown bushy coat of fur which covers its whole body, being very fine on the belly and breast; its face is of a blackish blue, and covered with a delicate wrinkled skin; the beard long, and its eye, voice and gait, denoting melancholy; when domesticated they have not that vivacity which most monkeys are celebrated for; on the rains, or any sudden change of weather approaching, the howling noises made by this creature are beyond conception dismal, and add, during a storm, to the horrors of the uninhabited wilds in which the traveller finds himself alone, and unprotected.

      Near Cumana, at the farther end of the gulf of Cariaco, is the little town of Cariaco, in the middle of a large plain filled with plantations, huts and groups of cocoa and palms; on a hill behind this town, at some distance, and named Buenavista, may be seen the range of mountains which stretch towards the east under the names of Sierra de Paria and Areo; from this hill it is said the most extensive view is to be had which can be seen on the coast of Cumana.

      The town of Cariaco is small and very unhealthy, owing to the great heat of the climate, the humidity arising from the surrounding plains and the exhalations from the shallow mere or lake Campona.

      The number of inhabitants of this town amounted in 1800 to 6000, and the population is on the increase. Its chief commerce is in cotton of a fine quality; Cumana and Barcelona exported 18,000 quintals of this article in 1800, of which the town of Cariaco furnished six or 7000. Cacao is also attended to, but the cultivation of this plant does not flourish. The sugar cane has of late become an object of much speculation at Cariaco, where considerable quantities of it are now grown.

      From Cariaco the gulf stretches to Cumana, its northern shore being naked, dry, and rocky, while the south coast is covered the whole way with plantations of cocoa nut trees; and between Cumana and Cariaco is the small village of Mariguitar, seated in the midst of these plantations.

      Eastward of Cariaco the range of mountains continue to bend towards the promontory of Paria; they contain in their bosom, a short distance from Cariaco a large lake, four or five leagues in diameter, called Putacuao, which communicates with the river Areo. These mountains are visited only by the Indians, and are haunted by the great boa serpent. This part of Cumana, as well as all the country lying towards the east, is nearly uninhabited by Europeans, but a new town has lately been founded at Punta de Piedra, opposite Spanish harbour in Trinidad; and people are daily forming settlements along the coast and in the fertile valleys of the interior; of which, Concepcion del Pao, forty-five leagues south of Barcelona, fifty-five from Cumana, and twenty-eight south-east of Caraccas, has lately been raised to the rank of a city, and contains 2300 persons, mostly proprietors of cattle and land in the northern plains of the Orinoco.

      The provinces of Barcelona and Cumana contain about 100,000 inhabitants, of which the Indians compose more than one-half, 24,000 inhabiting New Andalusia alone, without including the Guaraounoes of the islands of the Orinoco; and who, as it were, command the mouths of this fine river, which extend along the sea-coast for more than sixty leagues. These mouths are very numerous, but seven of them only are navigable. The first of these is twelve leagues south of the mouth of the Rio Guaripiche, and is called Grande Manamo. The second is two leagues south-east of the first, and is named Canal de Pedernales; on the east of it is the island Guarispa, and three leagues south-west is Isla del Soldado, at the south entrance of the gulf of Paria; these two channels are too shallow for large vessels.

      The third is called Capure, and is a branch of the second, detaching itself about seven leagues inland.

      The fourth is Macareo, six leagues south of Capure, navigable for schooners and brigs, and the principal outlet between Guiana and Trinidad, its mouth being opposite Erin river in that island.

      The fifth is called Maruisas, from the tribe which dwell on its shores; it is twelve leagues south of the fourth entrance, but is little frequented.

      Eighteen leagues farther is a branch of the Maruisas, which is the sixth mouth, and is navigable for small vessels.

      Eight leagues south of this is the Boca de los Navios, or grand mouth of the Orinoco, which is navigable for large ships.

      The rivers of Cumana and Barcelona which fall into the Caribbean sea, beginning from the west are chiefly, the Unare, which bounds the provinces of Venezuela and Barcelona. It is navigable for six leagues from the sea, as far as the village of San Antonio de Clarinas. Its whole course from the mountains is about thirty leagues from south to north; the small river Ipire joins this last at about half its course from the interior.

      The next river eastward of any consequence is the Neveri, on which Barcelona is built. The Indian name of the stream is Enipricuar; it is infested with crocodiles, but by means of this river which rises in the mountains of the interior, the port of Barcelona carries on its trade in cattle and skins.

      The animals are brought from the plains behind the mountains by three days' journey, so easy is the road, whilst it requires eight or nine days to reach Cumana by a similar route, on account of the steepness of the Brigantin and Imposible; this has greatly facilitated commercial speculation, and will one day render New Barcelona an important place.

      In 1800, eight thousand mules were embarked at Barcelona for the West India Islands, and it is computed that the plains of the government of Caraccas furnished annually 30,000 of these animals to the Spanish, English, and French islands. Barcelona has been lately fortified, by having a small fort erected on an eminence on the right bank of the Neveri, about 400 feet above the sea. But this is commanded on the south by a more lofty hill. The distance by sea between Cumana and Barcelona is twelve leagues, but by land considerably more, and over a most difficult road.

      At Cumana the river Manzanares, which is only navigable for canoes beyond the town, is noted only for having its shores lined with the most fruitful plantations. Beyond Cumana, the mountains approach so near the coast, that they leave no room for any streams of importance to flow; and therefore proceeding round the point of Paria, and verging towards the Orinoco, the next river we find, of any consequence, is the Guaripiche which flows into the Atlantic by a broad mouth just above the first estuary of the Orinoco; this river rises in the interior as has been before mentioned.

      Of the rivers which join the Orinoco and flow through the plains of Cumana, the Mamo, the Pao, and the Suara are the largest; and on the banks of these are some newly erected settlements.

      PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA AND CORO

      The government of Venezuela comprehends Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper and Coro.

      It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; east by Barcelona; west by Maracaybo and Varinas; and south by the great plains of Varinas, and the Orinoco.

      This extensive government was named Venezuela from the towns inhabited by Indians which were seen by the Spaniards on the lake Maracaybo, having a resemblance to Venice.

      In 1801 the population of Venezuela, including Varinas, amounted to 500,000 persons.

      The soil of Venezuela is fertile, and yields in abundance all the products of the West Indies, besides many others, which those СКАЧАТЬ