466 



of San Felipe Neri, were large and fine ; but 

 the luxuriance of their vegetation prevents them 

 bearing fruit. 



If the atmospheric constitution of the valley 

 be favourable to the different kinds of culture, 

 upon which colonial industry is founded, it is 

 not equally so to the health of the inhabitants, 

 and the strangers settled in the capital of Vene- 

 zuela. The great inconstancy of the weather, 

 and the frequent suppression of cutaneous 

 perspiration, give birth to catarrhal affections, 

 which assume the most different forms. A Eu- 

 ropean, once accustomed to the violent heat, 

 enjoys better health at Cumana, in the valley of 

 Aragua, and in every place where the low re- 

 gion of the tropics is not very humid, than at 

 Caraccas, and in those mountain - climates, 

 which are boasted of as the abode of perpetual 

 spring. 



Speaking of the yellow fever of La Guayra, 

 I mentioned the opinion generally adopted, that 

 this cruel disease is propagated as little from 

 the coast of Venezuela to the capital, as from 

 the coast of Mexico to Xalapa. This opinion 

 is founded on the experience of the last twenty 

 years. The contagious disorders, which have 

 exerted their ravages in the port of La Guayra, 

 were scarcely felt at Caraccas. I would not 

 disturb, by groundless terrors, the security en- 

 joyed by the inhabitants of the capital ; but I 



