172 VALLEYS OF ARAGUA. 
In this district the travellers experienced the 
greatest kindness, more especially from the persons 
with whom they had associated in Caraccas, and who 
possessed large estates in these highly-improved and 
beautiful plains. At the Hacienda de Cura they 
spent seven very agreeable days, in a small habita- 
tion surrounded by thickets, on the Lake of Valen- 
cia. Their host, Count Tovar, had begun to let 
out lands to poor persons, with the view of render- 
ing slaves less necessary to the landholders ; and 
his example was happily followed by other proprie- 
tors. Here they lived after the manner of the rich ; 
they bathed twice, slept three times, and made three 
meals in twenty-four hours. 
The valleys of Aragua form a narrow basin be- 
tween granitic and calcareous mountains of unequal 
height. On the north they are separated from the 
coast by the Sierra Mariara, and on the south from 
the steppes by the chain of Guacimo and Yusma. 
On the east and west they are bounded by hills 
of smaller elevation, the rivers from which unite 
their streams, and are collected in an inland lake, 
which has no communication with the sea. This. 
body of water, named the Lake of Valencia, and 
by the Indians called Tacarigua, is larger than the 
Lake of Neufchatel, but in its general form has 
more resemblance to that of Geneva. The southern 
banks are desert, and backed by a screen of high 
mountains, while the northern shores are decked 
with the rich cultivation of the sugar-cane, cofiee- 
tree, and cotton. ‘‘ Paths bordered with cestrum, 
azedarach, and other shrubs always in flower, tra- 
verse the plain and join the scattered farms. Every 
house is surrounded by a tuft of trees. The ceiba, 
