65 



what heavy and coppery, and that of Caraccas, 

 in sulphuric acid, in order to compare them: 

 and the solution of the former appeared to me 

 of a much more intense blue. 



Notwithstanding the excellence of the pro- 

 ductions, and the fertility of the soil, the agri- 

 cultural industry of Cumanacoa is yet in it's 

 first infancy. Arenas, San Fernando, and Cu- 

 manacoa, bring into commerce only three thou- 

 sand pounds weight of indigo, the value of which 

 in the country is 4500 piastres. Hands are 

 wanting, and the feeble population is daily di- 

 minishing by emigrations to the Llanos. These 

 immense plains yield abundant nourishment to 

 man, on account of the easy multiplication of 

 cattle, while the cultivation of indigo and to- 

 bacco demand particular care. The produce of 

 this latter branch of industry, too, is uncertain, 

 depending on the wintry season being more or 

 less prolonged. The labourers are dependent 

 also on the royal administration, which fur- 

 nishes pecuniary advances ; and here, as in 

 Virginia * and Georgia, the culture of aliment- 

 ary plants is preferred to that of tobacco. It 

 had been recently proposed to the government, 

 to purchase, at the King's expense, four hun- 

 dred negroes; and to distribute them among 

 the planters, who would be able to return the 

 advance of the purchase in two or three years e 



* Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, p. 306 and 388. 

 VOL. III. F 



