794 



VENEZUELA. 



collected reached 28,987,522. Aside from the 

 Federal revenue, the Caracas city dues, and 

 taxes in individual States collected in 1883, 

 summed up 13,500,000 francs. 



Army and Navy. The regular army has a 

 strength of 2,545 men, consisting of eight bat- 

 talions of foot, one company of horse, and one 

 of artillery, with 240 officers. In times of war 

 the militia is enrolled. The navy is restricted 

 to two small steamers and two schooners, 

 mounting together eight guns. 



Public Works, During the six years from 

 1879 to 1884, the public exchequer handed 

 over to the Minister of Public Works 59,030,- 

 086 francs, which were spent as follows: First 

 three years, 33,137,156 francs; second three 

 years, 25,892,930 francs. For buildings, bridges, 

 embellishments, statues, streets, and surveys, 

 13,585,383 francs; and for railroads, high- 

 roads, telegraphs, hydraulic works, canals, ir- 

 rigation, drainage, and mines, 12,307,547 francs. 



Wages. Common laborers are paid one 

 hundred to one hundred and forty francs a 

 month, if they find themselves; or fifty to 

 eighty francs if they receive board and lodg- 

 ing; skilled laborers earn from one hundred 

 and twenty francs monthly, upward, and 

 found ; ox-cart drivers, having their own 

 teams, earn from eight to ten francs a day, but 

 only four if they have to be furnished with a 

 team ; common day-laborers receive, without 

 board and lodging, four to five francs daily; 

 domestic servants receive eighty to one hun- 

 dred francs a month ; carpenters, blacksmiths, 

 tanners, saddlers, journeymen rope-makers, 

 masons, common mechanics, and coachmen, 

 earn from six to ten francs a day; composi- 

 tors, printers, and bookbinders are paid, with- 

 out board and lodging, 5 to 12 francs a day. 



Colonial Produce. In 1873 there were under 

 cultivation with colonial produce altogether 

 279,407 hectares; in 1875 there were 296,999 

 thus exploited; and in 1883 341,199, of which 

 138,900 were devoted to coffee- culture, 24,596 

 to that of cocoa, 39,300 to sugar-cane, 6,300 

 to tobacco, 2,000 to cotton, 650 to indigo, 

 11,300 to manioc, 27,500 to Indian corn, and 

 39,260 to other cereals, 37,353 to bananas, 

 1,660 to fruits and vegetables, 4,530 to wheat, 

 and 850 were bearing cocoanut-trees. The 

 increase in ten years was consequently 61,792 

 hectares, or about 22 per cent. 



Stock-Farming. There were in 1873 within 

 the limits of the confederacy 1,389,802 head of 

 cattle, 1,128,273 goats and sheep, 93,800 horses, 

 47,200 mules, 281,000 asses, and 362,597 swine. 

 In 1876 these had increased respectively to 

 2,158,267, 2,309,418, 192,815, 156,020, 519,820, 

 and 660,112; in 1883 to 2,926,733, 3,490,565, 

 291,603, 247,703, 658,764, and 976,500. 



Dairy products and lard amounted in 1883 

 to 27,036,579 francs. 



Mining. Venezuela abounds in minerals, such 

 as gold, copper, silver, coal, iron, sulphur, lead, 

 tin, petroleum, porcelain-clay, and asphaltum. 

 Tho province of Guayana is a veritable El Do- 



rado ; the Aroa copper-mines are also very pro- 

 ductive, while Tachira has its petroleum-wells, 

 and in the neighborhood of Carapano silver and 

 argentiferous lead are mined. There are be- 

 ing worked in Guayana fourteen gold-mines, 

 the richest being El Callao. The latter crushed 

 in 1882 22,405 tons of quartz, and secured 105,- 

 396 ounces of gold, worth 10,150,585 francs. 

 The Bolivar copper-mines of Aroa, commonly 

 called New Quebrada, are worked by English- 

 men with English capital, but find it difficult to 

 make money at the present low copper prices. 

 A railway connects the mines with Tucacas, 

 and there is an iron steamer running semi- 

 weekly between Tucacas and Puerto Cabello. 

 The ore-shipments of the New Quebrada Min- 

 ing Company were 10,500 tons in 1880, worth 

 2,300,000 francs; 17,200 in 1881, worth 3,800,- 

 000 francs; 17,500 in 1882, worth 4,000,000 

 francs; and 30,000 in 1883, worth 6,037,951 

 francs; together, 75,200 tons in four years, 

 representing a value of 16,137,951 francs. 



Fisheries and the Chase. The product in 1883 

 was: Turtles and fish 45,220,878 kilogrammes, 

 worth 22,577,981 francs; shell-fish and sponges 

 1,465 kilos, worth 8,668 francs; game 25,958,- 

 840 kilos, worth 22,979,420 francs; and isin- 

 glass, 12,274 kilos, worth 47,909 francs; to- 

 gether, 45,613,978 francs. 



Sericulture. Successful experiments were 

 made on the hacienda La Cuadra, by Selior 

 Kadelli, in silk- worm breeding, and, as the 

 climate on the plateaus of Venezuela seems to 

 be eminently adapted for sericulture, a gentle- 

 man familiar with the subject of silk-produc- 

 tion, Mr. A. Ernst, was requested by the Gov- 

 ernment to write a series of essays on the 

 growing of silk. These essays were published, 

 dating from June 19, 1884, in the Caracas 

 " La Nacion " newspaper. 



Railroads. In 1884 there were in operation 

 164 kilometres of railway, as follow: From 

 La Guayra to Caracas, 38 ; from Tucacas to the 

 New Quebrada copper-mines aforenamed, 90; 

 from La Ceyba to Mendoza, 21 ; from Cara- 

 cas into the valley of Caracas, 6 ; and from 

 Maiquetia to Macuto, 10. There were then in 

 course of construction 434 kilometres, and 380 

 projected and actually under contract. . There 

 were being built from Puerto Cabello to Va- 

 lencia, 54 ; from Caracas to Santa Lucia, 60 ; 

 the unfinished track between La Ceyba and 

 Mendoza, 20; from Caracas to Antimano, 10; 

 from Santa Cruz to La Tria, 90; and from 

 the Orinoco to the Yuruari mines, 200. Un- 

 der contract, to be built without delay, there 

 were from Caracas to Los Teques, 30 kilome- 

 tres ; from there to Guatire, 45 ; and to the 

 Colonia de Guzman Blanco, 105; from Coro 

 to La Vela, 12 ; from Cojoro to Maracaybo, 

 155; and a line of 13 kilometres for the pur- 

 pose of avoiding the Orinoco rapids. 



Telegraphs. There were in operation in 1883 

 about 1,832 kilometres of telegraph lines. A 

 cable connects the Venezuelan system with 

 that of Colombia, the latter, at Buenaventura, 





