MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



46.5 



nion, that they are necessary to the 

 prosperity of the country. During 

 my stay at La Guayra, a vessel 

 arrived from the coast of Africa, 

 with negroes : but as she had 

 sailed previously to the passing of 

 the prohibitory law, they were 

 allowed to be landed, and were 

 sold immediately, at more than 

 three hundred dollars each, upon 

 an average. 



In general, the owners of slaves 

 are little anxious how thej' are sup- 

 ported, provided they perform the 

 usual offices, and make their ap- 

 pearance on certain occasions of 

 ceremony. This is a great source 

 of dishonesty. Whenever a slave 

 can by any means make up the 

 sura of three hundred dollars to 

 his owner, he is free. He is not 

 even obliged to give this sum at 

 once, but may pay it in single 

 dollars, or half dollars, until the 

 amount be complete. A slave has 

 also the liberty of seeking a new 

 master, and may go about to sell 

 himself. These, and other regula- 

 tions, tend, in some measure, to 

 alleviate the evils of slavery, and 

 still more to evince, by their bene- 

 ficial effects, how much preferable 

 would be its complete abolition. 



Almost the whole commerce of 

 the ..ountrj' is carried on by Eu- 

 ropean Spaniards, and by Islenos, 

 or Islanders, from the Canaries. 

 They buy and sell, are the mer- 

 chants and the shopkeepers, in all 

 the towns. A spirit of union, and 

 frequently an impenetrable pro- 

 vincial dialect, binds them together, 

 and gives them great advantages in 

 all their transactions. The Eu- 

 ropean, who expects to see a 

 number of purchasers in competi- 

 tion, is frequently surprised to find 

 only one or two, until the bargain 



Vol. LI V. 



being completed, the whole who 

 were interested in it, appear. The 

 natives of the country, so far from 

 considering this transaction of their 

 affairs by strangers as a reproach 

 to their indolence, turn it into a 

 source of national pride. " The 

 Americans," say they, " have no 

 need to go to Europe; but it 

 plainly appears, that Europeans 

 have need of us. We are not, 

 like them, obliged to hawk our 

 commodities over half the globe. 

 Our rich and abundant products 

 draw them hither, and convert 

 them into our servants." In this 

 matmer reason the Chinese, vain 

 of their supposed superiority over 

 all mankind. And in this manner 

 might argue the savages of the 

 South Seas, who behold Europeans 

 visiting them, but who never visit 

 Europe. 



The manners of the towns, and 

 in the interior, diff"er greatly, or 

 rather they belong to diff'erent pe- 

 riods in the progress of society. 

 After passing the great chain of 

 mountains which borders all this 

 coast, from the gulph of Venezuela 

 to that of Paria we come to im- 

 mense plains, devoid of trees, 

 known by the general name of 

 Las Llanos, or the Plains. Beyond 

 them are other ridges of high 

 mountains, which the traveller be- 

 holds rising gradually above the 

 horizon, like land when first dis- 

 covered at sea. These plains 

 aff'ord pasturage to innumerable 

 cattle, the proprietors of which 

 reside in the great towns, leaving 

 them to the care of slaves, or peo- 

 ple of colour. Hence a population 

 is rapidly forming of a character 

 wholly different from that of the 

 immediate descendants of Euro- 

 peans, or the natives of the coast. 



2 H A bold 



