SAN FEKNANDO. 89 



was a small steamer, that had come i;p from Angostura, 

 ■with a party of Venezuelian officials, and was lying at 

 anchor in the river. A shrill whistle from the craft as we 

 approached, breaking the stillness of the morning, as it 

 resounded through the half-wakeful town and the deep 

 forest, was a strange sound to hear in these wild regions 

 of the Llanos. The position of San Fernando, at the 

 junction of two great rivers, whose tributaries, taking 

 their rise in the littoi'al chain wpon the north, and among 

 the snowy peaks of Colombia upon the west, traverse so 

 large a territory, and its easy communication Avith the 

 coast by a water-course that is navigable for the largest 

 vessels, aflbrd to the town imusual commercial facilities. 



San Fernando, far removed from the centre of volcanic 

 action, has rested secure from the devastating shock of 

 convulsive ISTature, but has witnessed other scenes scarcely 

 less dreadful than those of the earthquake. During the 

 season of 1855-56 it was visited by that terrible scourge, 

 cholera, which, confining its ravages almost exclusivel}^ to 

 those whose mode of life and sanitary habits are so con- 

 ducive to contagious diseases everywhere, swept off nearly 

 all the lower and laboring portion of the inhabitants. 

 Buildings stood partially erected ; the forge was aban- 

 doned ; shops were closed ; and work of all kind ceased 

 on account of an unanswered call for labor. Sewinsr- 

 machines were introduced, and even then it was with the 

 greatest difficulty that the people could be su2)plied with 

 clothing. Although more than a decade of years has 

 since j^assed, still the equilibrium of the labor and capital 

 elements has not yet been restored. The population is, 

 however, slowly increasing, and at present is estimated 

 at about four thousand. In 1859, during one of the politi- 

 cal convulsions we have so often had occasion to refer to, 

 the town agam suflered a serious calamity, in being sacked 

 and one-half of it being destroyed by fire. It has again 



