CUM 



496 



CUM 



Cumana, a nd from which they are distributed both by sea and 

 land. About four hundred thousand hard dollars are 

 annually exported for this clandestine traffic. The po- 

 pulation, which consists of one half whites and the 

 other half people of colour, amounts to 14,000. Con- 

 caption del Pao is 55 miles from Cumana, and contains 

 a population of 2300 souls, who live comfortably on the 

 productions of the soil. The air and water are good, 

 but the heat is excessive, and the inundations frequent. 

 The population of the government of Cumana is esti- 

 mated at 80,000 souls, (tv) 



CUMANA, the capital of the government of the same 

 name, is situated on a dry and barren soil, about a quarter 

 of a league from the sea, and about 53 feet above its 

 level. It was built by Gonzalo Ocampo in 1520, and 

 is the oldest city in Terra Firma. The river Mansana- 

 res surrounds the city on the south and west, and sepa- 

 rates the town from the suburbs, which are inhabited by 

 tlieGuayqueris Indians. The city is muchmore than four 

 times as large as it was fifty years ago, and the ancient 

 scite of the town has been so crowded with buildings, 

 that the inhabitants have been under the necessity of 

 building on the left bank of the Mansanares, to the 

 west of the Indian suburbs. This new town commu- 

 nicates with the city by a bridge; and in 1803, a church 

 was erected for its particular accommodation. The 

 first street that was laid out Was called Einparan, after 

 the governor of that name, who, in the war between 

 1793 — 1801, admitted neutral vessels into the har- 

 bours in opposition to the order of his superiors, — a re- 

 sistance which gave prosperity to the province, and was 

 amply rewarded by his Catholic Majesty. The houses 

 are low and slightly built, owing to the sufferings which 

 have been experienced from frequent earthquakes. The 

 earthquake of December 1797, threw down almost all 

 the stone edifices, and rendered the rest uninhabitable. 

 The earthquake of November 1799, produced a varia- 

 tion in the needle of 45°. Humboldt imagines, that 

 these earthquakes are owing to the proximity of Cuma- 

 na to the Gulf of Coriaco, which appears to have a com- 

 munication with the volcanoes of Cummucuta, which emit 

 hydrogen gas, sulphur, and hot sulphureous water. The 

 town is defended by a fort situated on a hill, which ex* 

 tends along the eastern side of the city. It is garrison- 

 ed by 231 regulars, and a company of artillery. There 

 is only one parish church in Cumana, (excepting the 

 one already mentioned,) which is situated to the south- 

 east of the city, near a demolished fort. There are two 

 monasteries, one belonging to the order of St Dominic, 

 and the other to that of St Francis. 



The river Mansanares is so shallow, that it is navi- 

 gable only for small craft. Merchant vessels anchor 

 upon what is called the Placer, a sand bank, which 

 lies West from the river about a league from its mouth, 

 and opposite to a stream called Bardones. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary to load and unload the vessels with the 

 assistance of lighters. The port, hoAvever, has the ad- 

 vantage of beinc well sheltered from inclement wea- 

 ther. 



The population of this town consists principally of 

 White Creoles, who are remarkable for their natural 

 abilities, and their attachment to their native soil. Com- 

 merce, navigation, the fisheries, and agriculture, are 

 the general sources of their subsistence. An immense 

 quantity of salted fish is shipped to the Caraccas and 

 other neighbouring cities, and also to the Windward 

 Islands, from which they bring back iron implements 

 of agriculture, provisions, and contraband goods. The 



Catalonians, and some of the Canary Islanders, carry 

 on the chandlery and retail trade. The principal ar- 

 ticles of commerce, besides those already noticed, are 

 cacao nuts and the oil which they afford. Medicinal 

 plants, and a variety of aromatic herbs, might form 

 an important article of commerce, if the inhabitants 

 were able to prepare them. Population 24,000. West 

 Longitude 64° 9' 45", and North Lat. 10° 27' 37". See" 

 Depon's Travels in the Caraccas, passim ; Humboldt's 

 Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain ; Thom- 

 son's Alcedo ; and Peuchet's Dictionnaire Commercante 

 dela Geos;raphie, &c. («>) 



CUMBERLAND is the county which forms the 1 

 north western extremity of England : it is situated be- 

 tween the latitudes of 54° 6' and 55 a 7i' north, and be-« 

 tween the longitudes 2° 13' and 3° 30' west from Lon- 

 don. Measured in a north-easterly direction, from St 

 Bees-head to Buttern Burn, its length is 58 miles ; but 

 if a line be drawn from its north-eastern to its south- 

 ern point, its length is nearly 80 miles. Its greatest 

 breadth is 40 miles ; but this is only in a small part. 

 Its mean breadth in a north-west direction is 30 miles. 

 It is bounded on the east by Northumberland for 51 

 miles, from which county its dividing limits, with the 

 exception of the river Irthing, for a very few miles, 

 are artificial ; and on the same quarter by Durham, 

 from Which its dividing limits are entirely artificial. On • 

 the west it is bounded by the Irish sea, for the space 

 of 67 miles : on the north by Scotland and the Solway 

 Frith for 30 miles : the Scotch dyke and the river Lid* 

 del form the limits between it and Scotland on the land- 

 side : on the south it is bounded by Westmoreland for 

 the space of 48 miles, from which it is partly separat- 

 ed by Ullswater and the river Eamont ; and on the 

 same direction it is bounded by Lancashire for 2 1 miles, 

 from which it is separated by the river Duddon. The 

 whole circumference of Cumberland is 224 miles ; and 

 It contains 1516 square miles, or 970,240 acres; of 

 these, it is computed, that the mountainous districts oc- 

 cupy 342,000; that 470,000 are enclosed and under 

 cultivation ; but the number of enclosed and culti- 

 vated acres is fast increasing ; that about 1 50,000 acres 

 are in low commons, great part of which are capable 

 of improvement ; and that the lakes and waters occu- 

 py 8000 acres. The form of the county is very irre- 

 gular ; on the west it projects into the Irish sea, with 

 a convexity like a long-hooked beak, the point of which 

 descends to the detached part of Lancashire. It is di- 

 vided into five wards: Cumberland-ward, Eskdale- 

 ward, Leath-ward, Allerdale-ward above Derwent, and 

 Allerdale-ward below Derwent. The natural divisions 

 are into the low or arable, and the mountainous : 

 Of the mountainous districts, there are two divisions, 

 one of which bounds the east side of the county, and 

 is the highest part of the English Apennines: the other 

 division of mountainous district occupies the south- 

 western part of the county, forming high, steep, and 

 craggy hills, of romantic shapes. The first moun- 

 tainous district is composed of strata of different kinds 

 of stone, and is rich in coal, lead, and lime : the se- 

 cond mountainous district is destitute of these, but 

 affords, in great abundance, the beautiful blue slate 

 which is used for covering houses : black lead is also 

 found in this district. In front of the first mountain- 

 ous division, a tract of low ground, of considerable 

 breadth, is stretched, partly cultivated, and partly 

 heathy common, which is watered by the Eden, and a 

 great number of small brooks : as this tract approaches 



