VENEZUELA 145 



This Republic is bounded on the south by Brazil, on the north 

 by the Carribean Sea, east by the Atlantic, British Guiana, and 

 Brazil, and west by Colombia; it is 700 miles north and south, 

 and 650 miles west and east. It has a population of 2,600,000. 



The area of Venezuela is variously given between 394,000 and 

 ■600,000 square miles, but the larger figure includes territory 

 whose possession is not definitely settled, or which has only 

 been approximately surveyed. 



The great Llanos or plains are a marked physical feature of 

 Venezuela. At one time they were the home of great herds 

 of cattle and horses. They are covered with rich natural grass, 

 with some wooded areas, and the general elevation above sea- 

 level is about 400 ft. Due to the flat and uniform surface, 

 the Llanos are inundated in the rainy season from the waters 

 of the Orinoco, to the exent of thousands of square miles, or 

 •connected with a network of connecting channels. 



It is a magnificent cattle rearing country, and at the present 

 time possesses about 2,000,000 head, mostly small and wiry. It 

 is a country that should easily run 20,000,000. It has already 

 ■exported frozen beef, and promises to increase its shipments. 



• The plains are thickly studded with low trees, and the Orinoco, 

 the great water highway of Venezuela, is fringed in its lower 

 course with magnificent evergreen forests. Venezuela is the 

 home of the cow-tree, which yields large quantities of nutritious, 

 thick milky juice. Countless herds of cattle once were sup- 

 ported on the grassy Llanos, but there has been a gi'eat decrease 

 in the numbers through the murrain and other causes. The 

 Llanos or pampas occupy a fourth of the country lying between 

 the Orinoco and the northern mountains, with undulating plains 

 of long grass broken by numerous clumps or belts of low-sized 

 trees. It is almost unnecessary to say that the lower lying 

 portion of Venezuela consists of unhealthy swamps with luxu- 

 riant vegetation, accompanied by tropical fevers. The Llanos 

 liave the rainy season in the summer months. 



In the province of Apure the pastures are abundant all the 

 -year, a great number of horses, mules, and asses feeding on the 

 plains. The most elevated part, in the province of Trujillo, 

 has declivities with fine, well-wooded valleys, and between them 

 rseveral plains descending in gentle slopes, covered with fine 



