18 ALLAN HANCOCK ATLANTIC EXPEDITION REPORT 



favorable location at the mouth of the Gulf of Cariaco. Capital and port 

 of entry for the state of Sucre, it is a city of 20,000 people, or ten times 

 the population of Guanta. Coastwise vessels call regularly, and steamers 

 connect it with New York. Anchorage may be had in 16 fathoms, rock 

 bottom. 



The Gulf of Cariaco indents due east of Carenero Point for 30 miles 

 to the mouth of the Cariaco River. It is 9 miles wide opposite Laguna 

 Grande del Obispo but only 3 miles wide at its mouth, between Carenero 

 Point and Arenas Point, with 42 fathoms in the center, and anchorage 

 only at its extreme east end. There are no towns or bays of importance. 



From Arenas Point to Araya Bank the coast for 1 1 miles trends in a 

 northwesterly direction. Araya Bank lies 2^ miles off Araya Point, 

 western tip of the Peninsula de Araya, which separates the Gulf of 

 Cariaco from the open sea to the north. From Araya Bank to Morro de 

 Chacopata, also separated from the mainland by shoal water, the coast 

 turns due east again for 30 miles to form the north shore of the peninsula, 

 which narrows to less than 2 miles opposite Salinas Bight. The south 

 shore of Margarita Island parallels this coast at an average distance of 13 

 miles offshore, with Cubagua and Coche islands located in the intervening 

 channel at distances of 9 and 6^ miles offshore, respectively. 



Margarita Island 

 (Chart 7, Collecting Station A42) 

 The island of Margarita, Venezuela, lies from 12 to 15 miles off the 

 mainland coast opposite the narrow peninsula which forms the northern 

 boundary of the Gulf of Cariaco. It is the largest of the Venezuelan 

 islands, having a length of 30 miles and an extreme breadth of 17. The 

 latter figure is misleading, however, for Margarita is only 3 miles wide at 

 its narrowest point, with most of this width occupied by Lagima Grande, 

 an arm of the sea which almost separates Margarita Island into two 

 portions. Of these the eastern is the larger, having the highest mountain, 

 Cerros de la Vega, elevation 3,240 feet, at its center. It also is the center 

 of habitation, being the site of Asuncion, capital of the island, and of 

 Porlamar and Pampatar, two coastal villages. The western portion of the 

 island is massive rock culminating in Cerros de Macanao, elevation 2,304 

 feet, and lacks the cultivated valleys of the east end. The north and south 

 indentations opposite Laguna Grande are known as North Bay and 

 Mangles Bay, respectively; but, although the largest bays, they are not the 

 most frequented. Vessels call more frequently at La Mar Bay, where 

 anchorage may be had in 4^ fathoms and at Pampatar Bay, where 



