MOLASSES AND STILLS 129 



for two whole months during which I was his guest, my 

 friend Jose Gregorio would pour doleful jeremiads in 

 my ear because he was not the possessor of a still. No 

 work of human hands, and he had been to Ciudad-Bolivar 

 and had seen the river steamers and the ice-factory, 

 appeared to excite his admiration to the same extent a& 

 the invention for turning harmless molasses into the fiery 

 liquid that makes some men foolish and happy, and 

 others quarrelsome and murderous. Without rum no 

 fiesta ^ is possible in Venezuela, and as Jose Gregoria 

 used to say, one may pay his peons off on feast-days if 

 he only happen to have a still. ' And to think,' he told 

 me pathetically, ' that I managed to get an alamhiqtie 

 after you left in 1898, only to lose it the first day we made 

 rum.' Then he related how the Virgin had lent an ear 

 to his earnest prayers, and had blessed La Prision with 

 an abundant tonca-bean crop. He had gone to Ciudad- 

 Bolivar and had bartered his beans for a small distilling 

 apparatus. After weeks of navigation against the strong 

 current of the Orinoco and the still stronger one of the 

 Caura, he had at last had the satisfaction of mooring his 

 hongo with its precious cargo to the old tree which is 

 the anchorage at La Prision. To the thrumming of the 

 cuatro and the singing of extempore verse in honour of 

 the occasion, the alambique was installed in a corner 



' Usually a day dedicated to some particular saint. Anyone who is 

 sceptical on the subject of saints would do well to consult a Spanish 

 calendar. Such a one will be surprised to learn how many authentic saints 

 have lived and died within the last 1900 years. The days dedicated to the 

 more important saints are public holidays. As a result of this arrangement 

 scarcely a week occurs during which it is possible to get men to work for 

 six days consecutively. The memory of the deceased gentlemen who have 

 been canonised is preserved by gambling and drinking. In a country where 

 killing is not murder, and no capital punishment exists, most of the killing 

 takes place on feast-days. 



K 



