NO. 1 GEOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT AND STATION RECORDS 15 



of the State of Carabobo and situated on the western shore of Lake 

 Valencia, 18 miles from the sea. There are a 1,450- foot wharf at Puerto 

 Cabello and customs and shipping offices. Grace liners discharge passengers 

 at La Guaira and pick them up a day later at Puerto Cabello, allowing 

 them to visit Maracai and Lake Valencia by rail. Because of swamps in 

 the vicinity, Puerto Cabello is considered not so healthful as La Guaira. 

 From Puerto Cabello to La Guaira, a distance of 64 miles, the coast 

 trends due east with few irregularities. A mountain chain which has been 

 16 miles or more from the coast with elevations of 3,200 feet swings north 

 at Puerto Cabello to within 8 miles of the coast and increases in height 

 in an easterly direction until it culminates off Chichiriviche Point in Pala- 

 mar and Lagunita peaks, 7,438 and 7,874 feet, respectively. High moun- 

 tains, covered with green tropical and semitropical foliage and rising 

 abruptly from the sea, afford scenery of first rank. Not less than 25 water- 

 courses, all of them short, empty into the sea in this 64-mile distance. At 

 Port Turiamo, 10 miles east of Puerto Cabello, there is a small bay giving 

 excellent anchorage in 20 fathoms. 



La Guaira 



The port of La Guaira, Venezuela, is situated on a strip of level land 

 a few hundred yards wide at the foot of massive mountains, of which Mt. 

 Avila, elevation 7,070, and Mt. Naiguita, elevation 9,072, are the highest. 

 The harbor itself is entirely artificial, consisting of a breakwater behind 

 which anchorage may be had in depths to 5 5^ fathoms with reasonable 

 security from the swells which make the open roadstead beyond exceed- 

 ingly dangerous, particularly in the winter months. The bottom is fine 

 sand, or sand and shell, with coarser sand and occasional rocks in the 

 western portion of the bay. 



The prevailing current outside the breakwater is westerly, 5^ knot, 

 as the equatorial current parallels the Venezuelan coast a short distance 

 offshore. At certain seasons, particularly in the autumn, a countercurrent 

 with a 25^-knot speed occurs. Conspicuous landmarks visible from the 

 sea are oil tanks and radio tower west of the city and a fort (La Vigia or 

 Citadel) directly behind the city at an elevation of 359 feet. The port is 

 served by a railroad which connects with Caracas, the capital, 23 miles 

 inland by rail, and which extends to the end of the 680-yard breakwater 

 with spurs to warehouses at the dockside. 



No collecting was accomplished because of the heavy swell. 



