POPULATION. 171 
the blue of the sky. We rested a long while be- 
neath this vegetable arch. The trunk of the Guayra 
zamang, which grows on the road from Turmero 
to Maracay, is not more than 64 feet high and 
4 feet in diameter; but its real beauty consists 
in the general form of its top. The branches stretch 
out like the spokes of a great umbrella, and all in- 
cline towards the ground, from which they uniform- 
ly remain twelve or fifteen feet distant. The cir- 
cumference of the branches or foliage is so regular, 
that I found the different diameters 205 and 198 
feet. One side of the tree was entirely stripped of 
leaves from the effect of drought, while on the other 
both foliage and flowers remained. The branches 
were covered with creeping plants. The inhabitants 
of these valleys, and especially the Indians, have a 
great veneration for the Guayra zamang, which the 
first conquerors seem to have found nearly in the 
same state as that in which we now see it. Since 
it has been attentively observed, no change has been 
noticed in its size or form. It must be at least 
as old as the dragon-tree of Orotava. Near Tur- 
mero and the Hacienda de Cura, there are other trees 
of the same species, with larger trunks ; but their 
hemispherical tops do not spread so widely.” 
The valleys of Aragua at this time contained 
more than 52,000 inhabitants, on a space thirteen 
leagues in length and two in breadth ; making 2000 
to a square league, which is almost equal to the 
densest population of France. The houses were all 
of masonry, and every court contained cocoa-trees, 
rising above the habitations ; besides wheat, sugar, 
cacao, cotton, and coffee, indigo is cultivated to a 
great extent. 
