VENEZUELA. 



453 



6. Climate and Soil. The seasons are here divided into the wet and the dry, and, as there 

 is httle variety of surface, a high temperature prevails throughout the country during the whole 

 year. The soil is fertile, producing coffee, cotton, sugar, cocoa, indigo, cassava, plantains, 

 and various medicinal plants and edible roots. The vegetation is characterized by great vigor 

 and freshness, and such is the nutritious quality of the vegetable food here used, compared with 

 that of the cereal grains of the temperate climates, that a much smaller extent of ground is able 

 to maintain a given number of persons. 



POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1 . Divisions. 

 provinces. 



Departments. 



Zulia, 

 Venezuela, 



Venezuela is divided into 4 departments, which are subdivided into 12 



Capitals. 



Maracaybo. 

 Caraccas. 



Departments. 



Maturin, 



Orinoco, 



Capitals. 



Cumana. 

 Varinas. 



2. Towns. The capital is Caraccas, which, before it was ravaged by an earthquake, in 

 1812, contained 45,000 inhabitants. It is now much reduced, but is the centre of an extensive 

 commerce. Its situation is pleasant, and being elevated, it enjoys a perpetual spring. The 

 population at present does not exceed 20,000. La Guayra, its port, has a poor harbor, and 

 is extremely unhealthy. It contains about 6,000 inhabitants. 



Maracaybo, on the gulf of the same name, with 20,000 inhabitants ; Puerto Cabello, with a 

 fine harbor, strong military works, and 3,000 inhabitants ; Valencia, a pleasant town, with a 

 delightful clitnale, and 15,000 inhabitants ; Barcelona, a great mart for the smuggling trade 

 with the English islands, with a population of 5,000 ; and Cumana, which has much declined, 

 but still contains about 10,000 inhabitants, are commercial places on the northern coast. 



In the interior, Varinas and Angostura, with 3,000 inhabitants each, are the principal towns. 

 Merida, with 5,000 inhabitants, and Coro, with 4,000, are the other most important towns. 

 It was in this region, that report placed the fabulous El Dorado, the Golden Kingdom of Ma- 

 noa, which was the object of so many expeditions in the 16th century. Here, it was asserted, 

 were more splendid cities and greater abundance of gold than even the wealthy Peru could 

 boast, and, as late as 1780, a large party of Spaniards perished in search of this golden realm. 



3. Inhabitants. The whole country is thinly inhabited, and the greater portion is occupied 

 by Indians, the whites being only about 220,000, and the blacks, 60,000. Many of what 

 are called the wild Indians or Indios bravos, dwell in villages, and raise plantains, cassava, and 

 cotton. The civilized Indians are those among whom the Spaniards have established missions, 

 and introduced Christianity. They are indolent, peaceful, and ignorant. The population may 

 in general be divided into 3 classes, corresponding to the 3 great natural divisions of the coun- 

 try. Along the shore, in the valleys, and on the mountains, agriculture and commerce are pur- 

 sued, and here the whites are most numerous. In the great plains, the inhabitants or llaneros, 

 as they are called, lead a pastoral life, raising large flocks and herds, and keeping great numbers 

 of horses, all of which abound in these natural pastures. These are chiefly Indians and mixed 

 races. In the woody and mountainous regions of the south, beyond the Orinoco, are tribes of 

 hunters, many of whom are at perpetual war with each other, and have all the characteristics 

 of savages. Of the native Indian tribes in Venezuela, the Caribbees are the ruling people. No 

 nation is stamped with a deeper brand of ferocity, the very name, converted into cannibals, 

 being applied to signify eaters of human flesh. The charge, however, appears to have been 

 exaggerated by the Spaniards, who met with a most fierce resistance, and sought to justify 

 their own atrocities by this imputation. They were long considered extinct, but they are 

 now known to be numerous on the Orinoco. They are a fine, tall race, and they shave a great 

 part of the forehead, wearing only a tuft on the crown. They have dark, intelligent eyes, a 

 gravity of manner, and an expression of sadness and even severity in their features. They 

 still retain the pride of a conquering people, who, before the arrival of the Spaniards, had driv- 

 en before them all the native tribes of that region, and in many points of their history and pre- 

 sent condition, they remind us of the Iroquois of our own wilds. Thej^ are now completely 

 subject to the missionaries ; but they still practise the barbarous custom of raising the flesh 

 along the legs and thighs. They are free, however, from the equally barbarous practice of 

 flattening the head by compression, which is general among the tribes on the Oronoco. 



