THE 
National Geographic Magazine 
VoL. VII FEBRUARY, 1896 No. 2 
VENEZUELA; HER GOVERNMENT, PEOPLE, AND 
BOUNDARY 
MTlliam E. Curtis, 
Ex-Director of the Bureau of the American Republics 
Along the Spanish main, from Trinidad to the isthmus, is a 
mixture of Florida and Switzerland, where one can find 'wdthin 
the radius of a single day’s journey any climate or scene to suit 
his taste, from a tropical jungle swai'ining with tigers and ’gators 
to mountain crests crowned with eternal snow. The Andes and 
the Cordilleras, fonning a double spinal column for the continent, 
split and scatter and jump into the sea. At the very edge of the 
ocean, within view of passing vessels, are jreaks whose snow- 
capped summits-seem to hang in the air. •The Nevada de la Santa 
ISIarta, 17,500 feet high, affords one of the most majestic spectacles 
in ail nature. Tourists are always incredulous when the peak is 
pointed out to them, for it resemliles a hank of clouds, Imt they 
are finally compelled to admit the truth of geogra]>hy, for clouds 
do not stand transfixed in the sky, unchangealile and immovalile, 
like this phenomenon. 
Between these mountains and along the coast are narrow val- 
leys of luxurious troi)ical verdure and a rich soil — valleys which 
yield three harve.sts annually and are densely populated. Coffee, 
sugar, and chocolate are the staples of the lower region, called 
tierre calicntei hoi earth) ; corn, beans, and other ])roducts of the 
temperate zone are raised upon the mountain sides, and higher, 
seven or eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, am herds 
of goats and cattle. 
