368 COCOA CHAP. 



It is, however, to be expected that under the reign 

 of President Gomez, Venezuela and its cocoa industry 

 will make greater progress. 



President Gomez has shown himself not only a soldier 

 of uncommon bravery, but also, as Governor of the 

 Federated Districts, a statesman of great capacity and 

 strict reliability. 



. As regards cocoa, a great thing has already been 



done by this President, viz. the abolition of the heavy 

 export duties. 



The cocoa plantations are almost wholly confined to 

 the coast, being situated in the littoral region from the 

 sea up to an elevation of about 1500 feet. In the 

 interior no cocoa is grown except along the banks of 

 the Orinoco river. 



A rough sketch of the cocoa-growing regions of 

 Venezuela is given in Fig. 115. 



As the most famous area may be regarded the 

 region between La Guayra and Puerto Cabello. Here is 

 grown the pure Criollo, the " Criollo legitimo," as the 

 Venezuelans call it ; and the places situated here as 

 Chichiriviche, Cepe, Chuao, Choroni, Ocumare, Turiamo, 

 and Patonemo are well known for their very superior 

 produce, which may be considered the finest in the 

 world. 



Also west from Puerto Cabello, round San Felipe, 

 and along the Eio Yaracuy, cocoa is cultivated which 

 yields very fine qualities. This is also the case south 

 of the Lake of Valencia, near Guigue. 



East from La Guayra, Rio Chico forms an important 

 centre ; the cocoa grown here along the Rio Tuy 

 and along the coast between the mouth of this river 

 and the place Piritu is no longer Criollo, but a 

 fine Forastero ; or, as they call them in Venezuela, 

 " Trinitario " varieties, namely, Cundeamor and 

 Angoleta types. The produce is very fine, though not 

 so superior as that of the Criollo of the parts above 

 mentioned and situated more eastward. 



The produce of the whole western part of Venezuela 



