112 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



83° Fahr. is exceeded by that of some spots on the same coast and on the llanos, 

 the heat is rendered more oppressive by its moist atmosphere and sultry nights, 

 when the glass seldom falls more than five or six degrees. 



Till recently La Guaira had no harbour of any kind, and in 1821 all but one 

 of the twenty ships riding at anchor in the roadstead were dashed to pieces on 

 the rocks during a fierce storm. But at present a pier and some other improve- 

 ments afford a little shelter to a few vessels, which here ship coffee in exchange 

 for provisions, furniture, and other wares. 



La Guaira is distant only two miles in a straight line from Caracas, capital 

 of the republic ; but in this short space the route has to scale the îSilla heights 

 to an altitude of no less than 3,000 feet. For three centuries a tortuous mule- 

 track was the only link between Caracas and its seaport, and this track is even 

 still utilised during the coffee harvest by most of the surrounding planters. But 

 since 1883 the two places are connected by a railway, 23 miles long, which 

 surmounts the Catia pass, and which has a gradient of about 100 feet to 

 half a mile, and some curves with a radius of not more than 150 feet. 



Caracas has preserved the name of the Indian tribe which formerly occupied 

 this upland valley of the coast range. According to the local records the first 

 houses were here erected by Diego Losada in 1567, and in 1595 the settlement 

 was captured and plundered by Sir Francis Drake. Although Caracas stands 

 on somewhat uneven ground, the central parts, at a mean altitude of 3,000 

 feet, are level enough to be laid out in the usual chessboard fashion. A few 

 public buildings break the uniformity of the city, which is constructed of light 

 and low houses, as a precaution against earthquakes, such as that of 1812, when 

 12,000 of its inhabitants were buried beneath the ruins. 



A reservoir fed by the Rio Macareo supplies sufficient good water to Caracas, 

 which, as the political and intellectual centre of Venezuela, possesses a university, 

 a library, a historical museum, and some hospitals. These advantages, combined 

 with a delightful climate, attract numerous residents, but owing to wars and 

 earthquakes, the population has greatly fluctuated during the present century. It 

 fell from 50,000 before the catastrophe of 1812 to 35,000 about 1850, since which 

 time it has increased to 73,500 in 1891. 



Besides the railway connecting it with its seaport, Caracas has a few other 

 lines radiating in the direction of the Atlantic, the Oiinoco, Lake Maracaibo, and 

 Colombia. One of these lines, running east to the town of Petare and its coffee 

 plantations, will eventually be continued to Santa Lucia, on the Eio Tui. Another, 

 crossing the Rio Guaire, and connected by branches with the coal-mines of Alta- 

 gracia, with the Rio Chico, and with Fnerto Carencro, is intended to cross the 

 llanos in the direction of Soledad, on the Orinoco, over against Bolivar. A 

 third line advancing southwards will connect Caracas with the plantations of El 

 Valle ; while a fourth, ascending south-westwards towards Antimano and Los 

 Teques, is to be carried by steep inclines, tunnels, and viaducts over the mountains 

 separating the Tui basin from that of the Lake of Valencia. This line, 116 miles 

 long, traverses, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet, one of the most picturesque and 



