56 
VENEZUELA : 
])ing business is transacted upon the beach. The government 
lias concentrated at Ciudad Bolivar the civil and military au- 
thority. It has the only custom-house upon the entire Orinoco 
system and practically the only courts. 
The city resemhles other Spanish-American towns, for they are 
all alike, has a number of jiretty foliage-shaded squares, several 
rather imposing government buildings, a cathedral, a puldic 
market, a theater, a college, and the inevitable statues of Bolivar, 
the liberator, and Guzman-Bianco, the regenerator of Venezuela. 
The volume of business done there is enormous in jiroportion to 
the jiopulation, as it is the supply iioint and the })ort of shipment 
for a large and productive area. Within the last few years the 
exports of gold alone from that little town have been valued at 
8oh,0( )0,( )00. The ])rincipal merchants are Germans, the restau- 
rant keepers are Italians, and the lal)oring classes are negroes 
from the West Indies or Canary islands. Shii)s from all ports 
in the world land at the i>iers, and the flags of every nation may 
he seen floating from the poles on the house-tops. The manu- 
facture of cigars is extensive, as excellent tobacco is cultivated in 
the neighl)orhood, and in almost every household the women 
emjtloy their sjiare time rolling the leaves into what are known 
in the nomenclature of N(wth America as “ Wheeling stogas.” 
These are u.sed in amazing quantities by the negro roustabouts, 
and are sent down the river to Los d'aljlas, from whence they are 
carried on mule-hack 150 miles into the interior to the mines. 
The most })rofitahle mine in Venezuela, and one that is famous 
all over the world, is El Callao, situated on the borders of the 
dis])uted territory, in the state of Bolivar, al»out one hundred 
and fifty miles south of the Orinoco river. 
I suppose that the richest gold mine ever discovered Avas the 
Consolidated ^hrginia, the mine from which so many of the Cali- 
fornia mining kings drcAV their enormous fortunes. It is diffi- 
cult to calculate the output of the old Spanish mines in South 
America, hut El Callao is reckoned second to the Consolidated 
Virginia in the amount of g(fld ])roduced, and I understand that 
it has already produced more “ free gold ” than any other eA’er 
o])ened. It was Avorked Ijy the Indians long ago ; at least its 
location corresponds Avith that of a legendary de})Osit fi’om Avhich 
the saA'ages of Venezuela got much of the gold taken from them 
by the S])aniards, hut after the latter took possession of the coun- 
try its existence AA'as a matter of much doubt, until four Jamaica 
negroes hajq)ened to run across it on a prospecting tour. 
