1 8 CARACAS. 



dom to a slave wlio should offer liim three hundred dol- 

 lars ; by the voluntary bestowme'iit of liberty, which was 

 common ; and by the proclamation of 1854, they have all 

 become emancipated. The Indians we shall have occa- 

 sion to speak of, when our journeyings lead us Avhere man 

 as well as beast exists in a state of nature. 



In dress, the upper class follow the European styles ; 

 the man of modest pretensions considers himself equipped 

 when supplied with pants, camisa, which is worn outside 

 of the former, wool or panama hat, and leather sandals. 

 The children of the lower class are not inconvenienced by 

 clothing, until they have attained the age of eight or ten 

 years, when a camisa constitutes their outfit. 



Education, although provided for by law, is sadly 

 neglected among all classes. Besides the university in 

 Caracas, already referred to, there has also been founded 

 a military academy. The need of books is much felt. 

 None are printed in Venezuela, and the foreign supply is 

 small and not of the highest order. It is, however, grati- 

 fying to state that much has been done of late to meet 

 this want of the people, and that no country has contrib- 

 itted more to supply the deficiency than our own. School- 

 books, as well as others, published in the Spanish lan- 

 guage and sent out from the United States, have been 

 widely circulated, and are now doing much toward the 

 advancement of educational interests in Venezuela. There 

 are in Caracas two printing-presses, each of which issues 

 a daily newspaper on a single sheet. Much difficulty is 

 experienced in preserving records, books, or papers, owing 

 to the ravages of termites, or " white ants," as they are 

 called, which possess an insatiable appetite for literature. 

 This was more particularly bi'ought to our notice after- 

 ward at Valencia, where we found it difficult to procure, 

 for the use of our herbarium, any papers which had not 

 been more or less damaged by these voracious insects. 



