96 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



Councillor of the Holy Office for those provinces, and Captains Juan 

 Rangel, Diego de Mendoza, and Francisco de Mendoza, and three 

 daughters married to noble residents of that city, which he helped to 

 occupy and colonize. After accomplishing many mighty deeds, with 

 which he has left his fame immortalized and transmitted honor to his 

 sons, he died in the year 1595 at the age of 115 years, having held 

 honorable offices in the republic. 



Chapter XXIX 



Of the Boundaries of These Provinces, and of Other Cities Which 

 Have Been Founded in Them. 



269. These provinces of the Diocese and State of Venezuela are 

 bounded on the W. by the State and Diocese of Santa Marta, along the 

 Rio de la Hacha on the coast of the Spanish Main ; on the E. they are 

 bounded by the Provinces of the Cumanagotos and Cumana ; and on 

 the S. by Santo Tome and the Provinces of Guiana; on the WSW. 

 by the district of Merida in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe of the New 

 Kingdom of Granada. All these provinces are very fertile and abound 

 in wheat, corn, and other crops, with large cattle and mule ranches ; 

 there are rich gold mines in them. 



270. The first and most important city founded and settled in these 

 provinces was the city of Coro, which the Indians called Coriana. It 

 was founded by Capt. Juan de Ampues in the year 1528 in a plain at 

 a point 11° N., 2 leagues inland ; it has a good climate ; the air is dry 

 and wholesome. This city is the capital of the State and Diocese, and 

 contains the Cathedral, with several Prebendaries who reside there and 

 conduct services; it will have as many as 100 Spanish residents, with 

 a Franciscan convent. But it has gone downhill, and the Bishop and 

 Governor of these provinces reside ordinarily in the city of Caracas, 

 which is the largest and wealthiest in these provinces and lies at a 

 distance of 100 leagues to the E. of Coro. 



271. The city of Caracas is situated at 9° N. ; it has a marvelous 

 springlike climate ; the country is so very rich in gold that when it 

 rains, the boys search for it in the roads running in the arroyos, and 

 this is the case all through the country. Forty leagues to the E., 

 toward Cumanagoto, there are rich mines of 22i-carat gold, called 

 San Juan de Apa y Carapa, from which enormous wealth has been 

 taken, although they are not worked today for lack of labor, the Indians 

 having dwindled, which fact is a general curse in the Indies. 



272. In its territory along the seacoast, which has a hot climate, it 

 has fertile valleys and meadows for a distance of over 40 leagues. 



