NAVIGATION OF THE ORINOCO 61 



American republics came to possess those gaudy flags 

 made up of all the colours of the rainbow. 



If one strolls away from the plaza towards the south, 

 the cemetery, which is situated outside the town, can 

 be seen. It is said that this cemetery is one of the finest 

 in South America, many of the mausoleums having cost 

 thousands of pesos to build. I did not feel inclined just 

 then to tramp through the heat and dust of the plain 

 beneath to visit the last resting-place of the people of 

 Ciudad-Bolivar, so I walked towards the river, down one 

 of the steep ill-paved streets leading to the business part 

 of the town. All the principal commercial houses face 

 the river. They are owned chiefly by Corsicans and 

 Germans, who have monopolised the trade of this part of 

 Venezuela. They receive their goods and make their 

 shipments through Trinidad, although sailing-vessels and 

 sometimes steamers visit the port direct from the United 

 States. Up to quite recent times the navigation of the 

 Macareo by steamships was a monopoly, out of which the 

 presidents and high ofiicials of Caracas made money ; but 

 towards the end of last year General Castro issued a 

 decree annulling the privileges of the company which 

 owned the concession, thereby throwing open the naviga- 

 tion of the Macareo to the shipping interests of the world. 

 Unfortunately the unsettled state of the country stands in 

 the way of any enterprise in that direction. The advan- 

 tages of the route by the Macareo are so obvious to any- 

 one acquainted with the relative positions of Venezuela 

 and Trinidad, that no details need be entered into here. 

 It is sufficient to state that the few lines which have 

 tried to compete with the one from Trinidad, by using 

 the main mouth or hoca grande of the Orinoco, have 

 invariably had to shut down after a while. 



