CAR AC C A 



A^ricul 

 twre. 



Cacao. 



Caraccas. the productions of the soil for the riches which its 

 bowels denied. The luxuriant vegetation of its val- 

 lies might well inspire the most sanguine hopes ; and, 

 in the hands of a people trained to habits of regular 

 industry, would soon have become a source of am- 

 pier and more substantial wealth than could ever be 

 derived from the mines of Mexico and Peru. But 

 the Spaniards, intent as they were on riches, were 

 too indolent, or too unskilful to reap the full benefit 

 t,f their situation ; and though agriculture flourishes 

 more in Caraccas than in any other of the Spanish 

 provinces, it is at this day so imperfect as scarcely 

 to raise the one-thousandth part of the produc- 

 tion which this favoured country might be easily 

 made to yield. 



Cacao, an indigenous production of this part of 

 America, naturally attracted their first attention. 

 It was soon adopted as one of their most fa- 

 vourite aliments ; and in the mother country the 

 relish for chocolate became so strong, that it was re- 

 garded as even more indispensable than bread. Plan- 

 tations of cacao were accordingly multiplied in Ca- 

 raccas, and the congenial soil, answering the fondest 

 wishes of the planters, yielded crops of this valuable 

 fruit no less excellent than abundant. To the mer- 

 chant the best recommendation of cacao is, that it 

 comes from Caraccas ; but even there its qualities 

 vary in different provinces. The cacao of Oriuco is 

 superior to that of other places, and weighs twenty 

 per cent, more than an equal quantity of any other. 

 Next to that is the cacao of the coast, which is pre- 

 ferred to that of the interior. The plantations of 

 cacao are all either to the north of the chain of 

 mountains which coast the sea, or in the interior 

 country. Two principal crops of them are gathered 

 in a year ; one about St John's day, the other to- 

 wards the end of December. The cacao ripens, how- 

 ever, and is gathered during the whole year. But 

 in all seasons the planters of Caraccas endeavour, as 

 far as possible, to collect their crops only at the wane 

 of the moon, imagining that the nuts are then more 

 solid, and less liable to spoil. Some of them, how- 

 ever, ridicule this practice, as no less inconvenient than 

 absurd ; because, if the harvest continue only during 

 the fifteen days of the moon's decline, much of the 

 ripe fruit must be left rotting on the tree, and a 

 great loss would thus be incurred by suspending the 

 harvest during the moon's increase. More attention 

 is paid to the culture and preparation of cacao in the 

 eastern part of Terra Firma, than in any other part 

 of the world ; and to this attention, as much perhaps 

 as to the excellence of the soil, must we ascribe that 

 superiority which the cacao raised here possesses over 

 that of every other country. 



Till the year 1744, cacao was the only article of 

 cultivation in Caraccas. At that time two indivi- 

 duals introduced the culture of indigo, which, in spite 

 of strong prejudices against it, succeeded so well, 

 that all new plantations were now prepared for in- 

 digo. The vallies of Aragoa, where it was first cul- 

 tivated, exhibited an unexampled and astonishing ra- 

 pidity of increase. Over immense plains, lying till 

 then in a state of nature, plantations of indigo rose 

 as if by enchantment. And the concourse of culti- 

 vators gave ri^e to many new villages, and restored 



Indigo 



others from a state of ruin to the elegance and im- Caraec 

 portance of cities. The culture of indigo has ex- ^" TY"* 

 tended from the vallies of Aragoa to the south-west A ncu '- 

 as far as Varinas. None of it appears on the coast, tu 

 nor eastward of the town of Caraccas to ihe gulf of 

 Paria, nor southward to the Oronoko. To enter in- 

 to a detail of the process by which indigo is prepared, 

 would be here out of place. We may only observe, 

 that the inhabitants of Terra Firma, instead of sus- 

 pending it in sacks, after fermentation, dry it under 

 sheds. This method, though tedious, is favourable 

 to the quality of the indigo. It thus acquires greater 

 hardness and lustre, and its weight, in proportion to 

 bulk, is considerably more than that of indigo dried 

 in the sun. In packing this commodity, likewise, 

 the Spaniards have adopted a better method than 

 that which is usually followed. Instead of putting 

 it into barrels, they pack it in sacks of coarse linen, 

 over which a calf's hide is so hermetically sewed as 

 to be quite impenetrable. These packages, which 

 are called ceroons, possess great advantages over 

 barrels. They are more solid, more convenient for 

 transportation, nor are they liable to any damage 

 from the rough usage which they may encounter 

 on their conveyance from the place of manufacture 

 to any European port, or from the carelessness and un- 

 skilfulness of carriers in their subsequent circulation. 



Cotton, though long known in Caraccas, was so Cotton. 

 much neglected, that, previous to the year 1782, a 

 hundred plants formed about the proportion of the 

 largest plantation. The success of the indigo plan- 

 tations, affording a sufficient proof that the soil of 

 that country was not adapted exclusively to the cul- 

 ture of cacao, at length induced some planters to 

 pay attention to the cultivation of cotton ; and 

 their success was so flattering, that the cotton plant 

 soon occupied a considerable portion of the vallies of 

 Aragoa,^ Valencia, Araure, Barquisimeto, Varinas, 

 Cumana, and several other places in the provinces of 

 Caraccas. As the cotton is destroyed by frequent 

 or heavy rains, the coast from Cape de la Vela to 

 Cape Paria, which attracts the clouds, is improper 

 for its culture, and, of course, no cotton plantations 

 are there to be found. In the dependencies of Ca^- 

 raccas, cotton is planted only in the months of May 

 and June ; because, as the plants blossom always in 

 November, those planted in July and August would 

 be surprised by the blossoming season before they 

 had reached their natural growth, and had acquired 

 the consistency necessary to perfect fructification. 

 Contrary to the practice of the French colonies, who 

 plant their cotton trees in a quincunx form, the Spa- 

 niards of Caraccas plant on straight lines, drawn 

 with a cord, and separated by a space of seven or 

 eight feet. The holes to receive the seed are four 

 feet distant from one another, and into each are 

 thrown five or six grains, not more than the half of 

 which generally rise. The worms, so destructive to 

 the cotton-plant in other countries, never attacked it 

 in the vallies of Aragoa until the year 1802, and then- 

 appearance was probably occasioned by the abun- 

 dant rains which fell in the four preceding years. 

 Though less skilful, perhaps, in the culture and pre- 

 paration of their cotton than the English, French, 

 and Dutch, the Spaniards at least pack it more COD- 



