CURA.0AO. 



75 



Like those of Buen Aire the plains of Curaçao are largely occupied by arid 

 wastes. Nevertheless, some sugar, tobacco, fruits, and vegetables are raised for the 

 export trade in a few glens, some naturally fertile, others rendered productive 

 by much patient labour. The Willemstad traders also forward phosphate of lime 

 obtained in Klein Curaçao, a rocky islet near Buen Aire. Other products of the 

 colony are the seeds of the diridivi-tree, used for tanning, and considerable quan- 



Fig. 26. — Willemstad. 

 Scale 1 : 48,000. 



"^m 



12° 



West oF Greenwich 



68° 56- 



Depths 



to 5 

 Fathoms. 



5 to 10 

 Fathoms. 



10 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



Mile. 



tities of salt, till recently procured by natural evaporation alone, but now more 

 rapidly crystallised by artificial processes. 



But the local traffic is of small account compared with the transit trade with 

 the Venezuelan mainland, to which Willemstad is mainly indebted for its commer- 

 cial prosperity. Here the Colombian and Yenezuelan shippers obtain the vessels 

 and crews engaged in the coasting trade, as well as the advances required to carry 

 on their operations. The Jewish and Christian bankers of Curaçao are amongst 

 the principal creditors of the Ilispano- American speculators. Like Trinidad, the 



