142 ABUNDANCE OF TIMBER. 



the mouth of the Orinoco, as well as on the banks of the 

 Gulf of Paria, commonly called the Golfo triste. It was 

 not intended to establish docks on that spot, but to hew the 

 weighty timber into the forms necessary for ship-building, 

 and to transport it to Caraque, near Cadiz. Though trees 

 lit for masts are not found in this country, it was never- 

 theless hoped that the execution of this project would con- 

 siderably dimmish the importation of timber from Sweden 

 and Norway. The experiment of forming this establish- 

 ment was tried in a very unhealthy spot, the valley of 

 Quebranta, near Guirie; I have already adverted to the 

 causes of its destruction. The insalubrity of the place 

 would, doubtless, have diminished in proportion as the 

 forest (el monte virgen), should have been removed from 

 the dwellings of the inhabitants. Mulattos, and not 

 whites, ought to have been employed in hewing the wood, 

 and it should have been remembered that the expense of 

 the roads (arastraderos), for the transport of the timber, 

 when once laid out, would not have been the same, and that, 

 by the increase of the population, the price of day labour 

 would progressively have diminished. It is for ship-builders 

 alone, who determine the localities, to judge whether, in 

 the present state of things, the freight of merchant-vessels 

 be not far too high to admit of sending to Europe large 

 quantities of roughly-hewn wood; but it cannot be doubted 

 that Venezuela possesses on its maritime coast, as well as 

 on the banks of the Orinoco, immense resources for ship- 

 building. The fine ships which have been launched from 

 the dockyards of the Havana, Guayaquil, and San Bias, have, 

 no doubt, cost more than those constructed in Europe; but 

 from the nature of tropical wood, they possess the advan- 

 tages of hardness and amazing durability. 



The great struggle during which Venezuela has fought 

 for independence, has lasted more than twelve years. That 

 period has been no less fruitful than civil commotions 

 usually are in heroic and generous actions, guilty errors, 

 and violent passions. The sentiment of common danger 

 has strengthened the ties between men of various races, 

 who, spread over the plains of Cumana, or insulated on the 

 table-land of Cundinamarca, have a physical and moral or- 

 ganization as different as the climates in which they live 



