30 Travels and Adventures 



cannon, which seem more fit subjects for a curio 

 museum, or to be used in some mimic theatrical repre- 

 sentation, than to be of any service in modern warfare. 

 These are the first and almost only objects of interest 

 the situation affords for the traveller. The harbour 

 being commodious enough to admit of ships coming to 

 land, we dispense with the services of the black boat- 

 man and walk on shore. Mr. Conn, the excellent British 

 Consul, is always ready to welcome visitors, but the 

 very ordinary and somewhat neglected appearance of 

 the town does not offer much temptation to voluntarily 

 stay long in Puerto Cabello. The harbour affords 

 excellent convenience for the exportation of coffee, 

 minerals, and other products of a large tract of country, 

 and a large amount of business is done. Everyone 

 here seems to be as much on the alert to turn a penny 

 as the people of Caracas are to display a new suit or a 

 bonnet. Two small public parks, both crowded with 

 gorgeous flowering plants, give one an idea of the 

 almost spontaneous vegetation of these parts. In one 

 of the gardens are twelve magnificent palms, each 

 towering to a height of nearly one hundred feet, speci- 

 mens of exquisite beauty, enough to make the least 

 covetous wish that they could be transported just as 

 they are to Hyde Park or Kew Gardens. The only 

 pity is that the last time the people of Venezuela 

 indulged in a revolution, a quantity of the bullets 



