CARACCAS. 



Caraecai. culture of tobacco to such as apply for them. The 

 'TV*-' quantity allotted is proportioned to the abilities of 

 Ajrficul- t ^ e ' tce> and to t he number of cultivators which 

 he engages to employ. Advances of money are 

 even made to him, which are deducted from the 

 amount of the first tobacco he delivers to the exche- 

 quer. An express injunction is laid upon him, to 

 sow all the land given him with tobacco alone, and 

 to deliver to the king's officers all the tobacco which 

 he raises, without retaining a single leaf ; and he is 

 paid according to the quality. The Spaniards of 

 Caraccas give their tobacco two kinds of prepara- 

 tion : one of which they term cura seca, or the dry 

 preparation ; and the other cura negra, or black pre- 

 paration. The only distinction of the cura negra 

 consists in the degree of fermentation which it re- 

 ceives. The object of this preparation is to obtain 

 from it a juice highly esteemed in the country. For 

 this purpose it undergoes an operation which blackens 

 it, and from that circumstance it derives its name. 

 Both the cura seca and cura negra are divided into 

 three qualities, the prices of which, paid to the cul- 

 tivators by the king, are very different. In classing 

 them, great abuses take place, which the law has 

 never been able to prevent. According to a wise, 

 but ineffectual regulation, passed on the 2d of June 

 1787, the delivery, reception, weight, and qualities 

 of the tobacco, must be determined according to 

 certain forms, in presence of the factor, book-keeper, 

 administrator of the magazines, the visitor or inspec- 

 tor, the cultivator, and the commissary-general of 

 the plantations. The tobacco is classed by the in- 

 spector, who is not to be impeded in the discharge of 

 his duty. The cultivator, if dissatisfied, may appeal 

 to the assistants, whose unanimous voice can change 

 the classification ; if they are divided in opinion, they 

 refer the decision to persons of experience. Though 

 the tobacco may not have all the qualities requisite 

 to preserve it for a length of time, it is received ac- 

 cording to its class and value, provided its corrup- 

 tion does not take place within five or six months. 

 While the tobacco is weighed in presence of the 

 above-mentioned company, the steel-yard is held 

 by one of the guards nominated by the administra- 

 tion. Two invoices are made of it, and signed by 

 all the assistants. One of them remains at the fac- 

 tory, the other is consigned to the commissary-gene- 

 ral of the plantations. The cultivator is paid for 

 his tobacco at the following rates : For a quintal of 

 the cura negra, first quality, eleven dollars ; second 

 quality, ten ; third quality, seven. For a quintal of 

 the cura seca, first quality, ten dollars ; second qua- 

 lity, eight ; third quality, three. 



Low state A stranger, in travelling through this country, 

 of agricul- the most lovely and luxuriant perhaps in the world, 

 ture - is astonished to find its plantations so trifling and 



unproductive. A planter is considered rich, whose 

 annual income amounts to 4000 or 5000 dollars ; nor 

 are there twenty plantations within the captain-gene- 

 ralship of Caraccas which yield a greater revenue. 

 This is not owing to an over-minute division of pro- 

 perty ; but it is rare to see one- tenth of a plantation 

 i cultivated. It is a fact, extremely disgraceful to the 



government of Caraccas, or to the inactivity of its in- 

 uthitants, that, in this wide and fertile district there 



is raised not one-tenth part of the produce which the 

 industry of the French extorts from St Domingo, a 

 country 200 times less spacious, incomparably less t 

 watered and less fertile, and with not more than 

 one-half of the white population. 



Fivecauses are assigned by Deponsforthisbackward Causes 



state of cultivation. The first is, the number of mort- w " ic " 9" 

 ^i , , r, struct the 



gages with which every estate in Caraccas is more or improve.. 



less burdened. As the Spaniards never alienate any ment of 

 property, however poor they may be in reality, they agricul- 

 must still maintain the appearance of wealth. When turc - 

 in want of money, they borrow it at an interest of 

 5 pel- cent, on their landed possessions : loans, which 

 are the more easy, because the low state of commerce 

 prevents money from rising to a high rate. 



A still more serious evil arises from the pious le- 

 gacies and prebends with which many estates are en- 

 cumbered. These legacies, augmenting from genera- 

 tion to generation, cannot be bought up by payment 

 of the capital, but keep the planter under an obliga- 

 tion to pay regular interest, and thus deprive him of 

 the means of increasing his productions. It would 

 be infinitely more conducive to the public prosperity, 

 if all these pious donations were discharged in full, 

 even though it should be necessary to sell all or part 

 of the fast property, rather than suffer them to ac- 

 cumulate on the possessions, the annual interests of 

 which consume their revenues, and paralyse the in- 

 dustry of the most active proprietors. Adverse sea- 

 sons, which destroy two or three crops successively, 

 ruin for ever a planter, however industrious he may 

 be, who is burdened with mortgages. The debt is 

 continually augmented by expences ; chagrin over- 

 comes his activity ; his property is sequestrated, and 

 passes with the same charges to another planter, who 

 is threatened with the same fate. 



A third obstacle to culture, more pernicious, if- 

 possible, in its operation than the two former, is the 

 pride of the planters, who disdain to take any charge 

 of their plantations, which they entrust wholly to- 

 overseers. To this is added their extravagant mode 

 of living. Every proprietor has his residence in a 

 city, where his retinue of servants and household ex- 

 pences are regulated according to the revenue of the 

 plantation, which is generally calculated on the pro- 

 ceeds of the most fertile and prosperous year. The 

 expenditures, of course, almost invariably exceed the 

 receipts ; and the planter accuses the seasons or the 

 laws for the difficulties in which he is involved by 

 his own indiscretion. 



The ambition of the Spanish Americans for pub- 

 lic employments, is another circumstance which ope- 

 rates nearly in the same way as their extravagance to 

 the prejudice of agriculture. The prospect of un- 

 bounded wealth from a large and rich plantation 

 could not induce a Spaniard to relinquish his desire 

 of a military rank, a place in the finances, a judici- 

 ary office, or the cross of an order. To secure these 

 grand objects, every planter of consideration has his 

 agent at Madrid, who collects for him all the neces- 

 sary information, and takes the proper measures for 

 obtaining any place or appointment which he thinks 

 will suit the inclination of his client. Before this 

 be done, however, he must be handsomely paid ; and 

 every Spaniard in America considers a remittance o 



