Kitabı oku: «Spanish America, Vol. II (of 2)», sayfa 3
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 called doctrinas, 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 broken by 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 of Tumiriquiri is 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 the Cocollar. 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 the Cucurucho 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 are frequented 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 of San Antonio across 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 of San Antonio and Guanaguana, which are separated by the rivers Colorado and Guaripiche. Guanaguana valley is divided from that of Caripe, by a ridge called the Cuchillo 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 of Caripe, in which the missionary monks reside, 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.
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 islands do not possess. Its most noted commercial article is cacao, which is inferior to none in the Americas; vanilla, maize, indigo, cotton, sugar, tobacco and coffee, are a few of the richest objects of cultivation; wild cochineal, dyewoods, medicinal drugs, gums, resins, balsams, sarsaparilla, sassafras, liquorice, squills, storax, cassia and aloes, here find that climate the most favourable to their growth; and the immense plains in the interior feed multitudes of cattle, horses and mules, and in the valleys and mountains, sheep and deer are numerous. All kinds of game are found in this country, the rivers of which also abound with fish.
The climate of Venezuela is modified according to the situation of its districts in the mountains, on the coast or on the plains; on the coast and in the plains a scorching heat prevails, accompanied in the latter with deluges of rain. In the mountain valleys the air is in general pure and mild, and in some elevated parts even cold.
These mountains, which form a part of the great branch extending from the west to the gulf of Paria, divide the lands of the coast from the plains of the valley of the Orinoco. Their surface is rent in every direction by the force of subterraneous convulsions; it is on these mountains that the climate is so singularly altered that a traveller may observe the fruits of the tropics luxuriating at a short distance from those of Europe. To the south of this chain the Llanos or plains, which stretch to the Orinoco are inhabited solely by herds of cattle tended by mulattoes, who are as nearly in a state of nature as the beasts they guard.
On the plains of Venezuela, the rainy season commences in April, and continues till November. The rains fall oftener in the morning than in the evening, and on an average generally occupy three hours of each day; during which period, the plains nearest the rivers are converted into lakes of immense extent.
For about a century after this country was subdued by the Spaniards, all their thoughts were turned towards its mineral productions, and the pearl fishery on its coasts. But being disappointed in their expectations of finding immense riches from these sources, they at last turned their attention to the cultivation of the soil. They first planted cacao trees, and so abundant were the profits which this labour yielded, that cacao alone occupied their fields till a very late period. About the year 1774 indigo plantations appeared, and immense plains, hitherto desert, were soon covered with this plant, which was speedily followed by cotton, sugar, tobacco, coffee, &c., but notwithstanding the aptitude of the soil, and the genial nature of the climate, agriculture still languishes in these fine regions, partly from want of enterprise, and active industry, and partly from a too great confidence in the prolific nature of the soil.
Besides the articles before mentioned, the forests of Venezuela produce every species of timber fit for the purposes of the joiner, the cabinet-maker, the carpenter, or the shipwright. Cedar is used for their door-posts, window-frames, tables, &c. Black, red, and yellow ebony are common. Mahogany, brasiletto, and all sorts of ornamental woods are abundant, so much so that the workman would be puzzled in his choice of the finest; but the immense forests which overspread the chain of mountains, remain unexplored, and continue to be the receptacles of ferocious animals and venomous reptiles.
The lakes of Venezuela are not numerous, for we can hardly give that appellation to the sheets of water produced by the periodical swell of the Orinoco, or the rains, and which are generally without any depth; the lake of Valencia has been already described.
The rivers of Venezuela are more numerous than in any other part of Spanish America. Every valley has its stream, and though many of them are not of sufficient size to be navigable, yet all afford ample supplies of water to irrigate the plantations on their banks. The principal of these, which run from the mountains of Caraccas and Coro into the Caribbean sea, are the Guiges, Tocuyo, Aroa, Yaracuy, and the Tuy.
The Guiges falls into that sea sixteen leagues west of the city of Coro; the Tocuyo discharges its waters twenty-five leagues east of the Guiges or Gaigues; its source is fifteen leagues south of the town of Carora, at the distance of nearly one hundred miles from the ocean; and it is navigable as far as the village of Banagua, at the distance of forty leagues from its mouth; its banks furnishing abundance of timber of the largest size, and fit for every kind of building. The Aroa rises in the mountains, west of the town of St. Felipe, and enters the ocean near Burburata bay. The Yaracuy is another river which enters the Caribbean sea, near the latter; and the Tuy discharges itself into the sea, thirty leagues east of La Guayra; it rises in the mountains of St. Pedro, ten leagues from the capital, and being joined by the Guayra, becomes navigable, and serves to transport the produce of the cultivated plains or valleys of Aragoa, Tacata, Cua, Sabana, Ocumara, Santa Lucia and Santa Teresa, through which it passes, and which particularly abound in cacao of the best quality.
The rivers which rise on the southern side of the chain, and flow to the Orinoco, are the Guarico, which receives some of the branches of the Apure, and then following a course parallel to that river, enters the Orinoco a short distance eastward of it. The islands formed by the junctions of the Apure and Guarico are three in number; the first, near the town of St. Fernando de Apure, is called Isla de Blanco; the second, which is very large, and is north of the Indian town of Santa Barbara, is named Isla del Apurito; and the third, which is between the mouths of the Guarico and Apure, is the Isla de las Garzitas. The Guarico, which is a very fine river, is joined near its confluence with the Orinoco, by the Rio Mancapra, which flows through the plains of Calabozo. The Iguane, the Cachivamo, and several others which fertilise the vast uninhabited plains of the Orinoco, flow into that river west of the junction of the great Apure. Most of these swell in the month of April, and continue to overflow their banks during three or four months, covering the low lands in their neigbourhood; they abound in alligators and fish. The Portughuesa, which is formed by the union of the two rivers, the Pao and the Barquisimeto, flows through the greater part of Venezuela, and joins the Apure forty miles north-west of its mouth.
Commerce.– The relation of the commercial undertakings of these provinces will necessarily comprehend those of all the governments of Caraccas, the produce of each being nearly the same.
The settlement of the Dutch at Curaçoa, in 1634, first roused the inhabitants of Caraccas to exert their minds in agricultural pursuits: cacao and hides were soon exported in sufficient quantities to answer the purposes of carrying on an exchange trade with the Dutch for such articles of European produce as were necessary to the colonists of Venezuela. This trade became so brisk, that the mother country thought it time to interfere; edicts were issued to suppress it, and two vessels were freighted from Spain with merchandise for the colony, for which enormous duties were charged: the Dutch accordingly commenced a contraband trade, and so greatly undersold the Spanish merchants, that they were left until 1700, in quiet possession of the traffic. From 1700 to 1730, the merchants of Spain endeavoured to revive their speculations, but the activity of the Hollanders was so great, that they were undersold in every article; at this period, the annual produce of the Caraccas in cacao alone was 65,000 quintals (of 1600 ounces to each quintal); the exports through the royal custom houses amounted to 21,000, so that the Dutch received the remaining 44,000 quintals in their smuggling vessels. The court of Madrid viewing this decrease of its revenues, resolved to put a stop to the intercourse of the foreigners by forcible methods, and confiscations of property, fines and punishments were inflicted on every person discovered engaging in commerce with the Dutch. Notwithstanding these measures, the contraband trade still continued, and the means taken not being found to answer the proposed end, it was at last suggested that a company should be created to monopolize the whole export and import trade of the captain-generalship. This was accordingly done, and such was the vigilance of the members of this company, that the unlawful trade was soon destroyed, and they succeeded by their constant supplies, and by purchasing every article which could be turned to account, in giving complete satisfaction to the colonies. In 1742, this mercantile body, known by the appellation of the Caraccas and Guipuscoa Company, obtained an exclusive grant of the monopoly of the trade; but in consequence of the discontent which this concession raised in the minds of the colonists, a board was appointed, composed of an equal number of members of the company and of planters, the governor-general being president; this board was to regulate the prices at which the planters and company should respectively exchange their merchandise, at the same time permitting the cacao growers to export one-sixth of their cacao to Spain, on their own account in the company's ships. To prevent all irregular supply, ten armed vessels were built, carrying 86 guns and 518 men, and 102 men were equipped on shore, to guard the harbours.
Immense warehouses were constructed at the different ports, and advances of money without interest were made to the cultivators. Flourishing villages arose in every direction, and the land was converted from immense marshes and forests to smiling plantations. In 1735, 65,000 quintals of cacao were only exported, whilst in 1763, the amount of this article increased to 110,650 quintals. Cattle multiplied rapidly in the vast plains on the south, and hides were added to the other objects of the export trade. From this time the duties paid at the various custom houses, was so great, that Caraccas was no longer supplied with remittances from Mexico, to defray the expences of its government. But with all these advantages, which lasted only a short time, the directors of the company assumed powers foreign to the intentions under which their grant was conferred, they became corrupt; and such was the state of the trade from the abuses they daily committed, that, in 1778, the court of Madrid opened the ports of Venezuela and Spain reciprocally to each other. New regulations were adopted, and the trade of the colony gradually increased till 1796, when it experienced a check from the operations of the maritime warfare so vigorously carried on by Great Britain at that period. At present it is not in a very flourishing state, owing to the dreadful struggle which has existed between the mother country and her colonies.
Capital.– The capital of Venezuela is Caraccas, which is also the metropolis of the captain-generalship, and has already been described. Coro is the principal place of the province of that name, and is situated in 11° north-latitude, and 72° 30' west-longitude, on an isthmus which divides the gulf of Venezuela or Maracaybo, from the Caribbean sea: it was founded in 1527, and was the second settlement made by Europeans on this coast.
Coro was considered, for a long while, the capital of Venezuela, till in 1576, when the governor transferred his residence to Leon de Caraccas, since which time no person of high rank, excepting the bishop, remains at Coro.
This city is placed on a dry sandy plain, covered with Indian figs or plants of the cactus family; it is supplied with fruit and vegetables from some fertile plains three leagues distant.
The inhabitants, who amount to 10,000, are in general not rich, possessing little activity or enterprise; many of them pride themselves, on account of being descended from the conquerors of the country. Some trade is carried on among them with the West India islands in mules, hides, goats, coarse pottery ware, cheese, &c. which are all brought from the interior. Their chief commercial relations are with Curaçoa, from which island, they are distant only a day's sail.
Coro contains but few negroes, as the laborious work is performed by the Indians who inhabit the suburbs. Such is the scarcity of water, that the city is supplied from a distance of two miles, by means of mules and asses, laden with that necessary aliment.
The streets of Coro are regular, but the houses are mean, and the city is not paved, its public buildings being a church, and a small convent of Franciscans. The local government is lodged in a council, of which the commandant of the place is president.
Its port lies open from north to north-east and neither its accommodations, nor the commodities it trades in, are sufficient to render it a place of much resort.
