336 TRINIDAD. 



degree of north latitude, a trif urcation known by the name of 

 the Cordilleras of Nueva Granada. The easternmost chain is 

 the Cordillera of Venezuela, which traverses that republic from 

 S.S.W. to E.N.E., from Almaguer to cape Pena, or even 

 Point Galera, the north-eastern point of Trinidad. It runs, at 

 first N.N.E. from San Miguel de Mocoa to Valencia; 

 Pamplona, Merida, Truxillo, Barquisimeto, and even Valencia 

 being left on the northern or sea-coast side, and San Juan de los 

 Remedios, Casanare, with Varinas on the southern or Orinoco 

 side of the chain. From Valencia, the Cordillera runs due east, 

 and so close to the Caribbean sea that its very base is washed by 

 the surf — Maracaybo, Puerto Cabello, Caracas, Barcelona, and 

 Cumana being thereby separated by rugged mountains and high 

 table lands from the basin of the Orinoco. 



That immense basin extends from the Andes, eastward, to the 

 mountains of Pari ma and the Atlantic ; and southward, from the 

 same Cordillera to the Rio Negro. Besides a number of less 

 important streams, it is drained by the following large navigable 

 rivers, viz., — the Guarico, the Portuguesa, the Apure, Arouca, 

 the Meta, the Vichada, and the Guaviare, all coming down from 

 the Cordilleras ; and by the Ventuari, the Caura, and the Caroni, 

 which have their sources in the Parima system of mountains ; all 

 are tributaries of the mighty river. 



This short description shows that the Cordillera of Venezuela 

 has been thrown up by nature, as an unsurmountable barrier to 

 commercial communication between the basin of the Orinoco and 

 the Caribbean sea, so that either Angostura or Port-of-Spain 

 must become the great emporium of Venezuela, and the Orinoco 

 or the Gulf of Paria the outlet of the interior basin. 



Angostura — now Bolivar — is a fine river-port with deep water, 

 but about 300 miles from the Atlantic; the temperature 

 there is oppressive, though the climate cannot be said to be 

 unhealthy. The navigation against the stream is, however, very 

 tedious, principally during the overflow of the river, viz., from 

 April to October, when the currents are very strong ; whilst the 

 marsh effluvia, all along its banks, are very deleterious, par- 

 ticularly during the low- water season. There are, at the mouth 

 of the river, low islands'and sand-banks or shoals, which also 

 render the navigation intricate and even dangerous ; so much so, 

 that large vessels would not find it safe to venture, without 



