68 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



municipality, ostensibly for the upkeep of the roads and 

 streets and for other expenses incidental to towns. 

 Little of the revenue, however, is ever spent in improv- 

 ing, or even in keeping in order, the towns and the roads 

 connecting them, even the streets remaining unswept for 

 weeks and sometimes months. Too many men make a 

 living out of politics in most of the Spanish-American 

 republics to allow of a decent portion of the revenue of 

 the country being spent in improvements. It is true that 

 in many cases the taxes I have just enumerated are not 

 paid in their entirety. It is not very difficult to make 

 arrangements with the officials whereby only a portion of 

 the tax is paid, the deal being a private one in which the 

 authorities at Caracas are ignored. In a country like 

 Venezuela, where the import duties are out of all pro- 

 portion to the value of the articles on which they are 

 imposed, the incentive to smuggle is exceedingly power- 

 ful. The tariff, or arancel as it is called, enumerates nine 

 classes of merchandise of which Class 1 only is free : 

 Classes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 pay respectively 10, 25, 

 75 centimos, 1 bolivar and 25 centimos, 2 bolivares and 

 50 centimos, 5 bolivares, 10 bolivares, and 20 bolivares.^ 

 All duties are collected on the gross weight including 

 package, and the figures mentioned above are for each 

 kilogram. The importation of coffee, cocoa, cocoanut oil, 

 starch, and salted beef is prohibited ; so is the importa- 

 tion of salt, the procuring and disposal of which from 

 various deposits on the northern seaboard is a government 

 monopoly constituting a source of considerable revenue, 

 now collected by the Bank of Venezuela in repayment of 

 debts contracted by the rulers of the country. 



There are several extensive salt-pans in Venezuela, 

 ' These figures are from the Arancel issued at the end of 1900. 



