479 



advanced in civilization ; but it would be un- 

 just to attribute to the colonists what was the 

 effect of a jealous policy. A Frenchman, Mr. 

 Delpeche, allied to one of t he most respectable 

 families t in the country, has the merit of hav- 

 ing- first established a printing office at Ca- 

 raccas. It appears sufficiently extraordinary in 

 modern times, to see an establishment of this 

 kind, affording the greatest means of commu- 

 nication between men, follow, and not precede, 

 a political revolution. 



In a country that presents such enchanting 

 views, and at a period when, notwithstanding 

 some symptoms of popular commotions, the 

 greater part of the inhabitants seem only to 

 direct their thoughts toward physical objects, 

 the fertility of the year, the long drought, or the 

 conflict of the two winds of Petare and Catia, 

 I believed that I should find many persons well 

 acquainted with the lofty surrounding moun- 

 tains. My expectations however, were not rea- 

 lized ; we could not discover at Caraccas a 

 single person, who had visited the summit of 

 the Silla. The hunters do not climb so high 

 on the ridges of mountains; and no journies 

 are undertaken in these countries to gather 

 alpine-plants, to carry a barometer to an ele- 

 vated spot, or to examine the nature of rocks. 



* The family of the Montillas. 



