16 ALLAN HANCOCK ATLANTIC EXPEDITION REPORT 



Caracas 



Caracas, the capital, is a city of 216,418 inhabitants located behind the 

 coastal range at an altitude of 3,500 feet. It may be reached by road or 

 railroad, the distance in either case being several times the airline distance 

 of 9 miles. The climate is much more moderate than that of La Guaira 

 and the city considerably more healthful. Caracas possesses all the cultural 

 adjuncts of a capital city — university, museum, observatory, cathedrals, 

 and government buildings. From Caracas railroads lead to Puerto Cabello 

 to the west and Santa Theresa and Guarenas to the east. There is an 

 auto road to the shores of Lake Valencia, where the only collecting station 

 in the locality was established. 



Venezuela East of La Guaira 



East of La Guaira the coast continues in an easterly direction for 40 

 miles to Maspa Point. The mountain range which parallels the coast 

 becomes higher at Mt. Naiguita, elevation 9,072 feet, after which the 

 main ridge may no longer be seen from the sea because of foothills. Mt. 

 Caculo, elevation 7,430 feet, is visible 8 miles inland from Chuspa Bay, 

 which lies just west of Maspa Point. 



Centinela Island, elevation 70 feet, lies 15 miles northeast of Maspa 

 Point. 



From Maspa Point to Cape Codera, a distance of 13 miles, the coast 

 dips slightly to the south of east while preserving the same general char- 

 acter. Between Cape Codera and Morro de Barcelona, however, it recedes 

 more definitely in a broad arc for a distance of 81 miles and all traces of 

 hills vanish. The only conspicuous landmark in this distance is Morro de 

 Piritu, elevation 1,568 feet, lying 8 miles east of Unare Point, which 

 itself is located on an island in a lagoon at the mouth of the Unare River. 

 The 5-fathom' curve extends 3 miles off Unare Point, and the 100-fathom 

 mark is 24 miles offshore, or halfway to Tortuga Island. With the excep- 

 tion of Tortuga Island, 48 miles north of Unare Point, the only offshore 

 obstruction in this distance is the Piritu Islands, lying 5 miles off the 

 coast and 15 miles west of Barcelona Bay. 



Tortuga Island 



(Chart 6, Collecting Stations A20-A23, A43-A44) 



The island of Tortuga lies about 45 miles northeast of Cape Codera 



on the coast of Venezuela. It is a small island, 12 miles east and west by 



5 miles north and south, and gives the impression of being even smaller 



