714 



facilitates the transport of stores and provision. 

 He who is master of Angostura may advance at 

 will toward the north, in the steppes (Llanos ) of 

 Cumana, Barcelona, and Caraccas ; toward the 

 north-west, in the province of Varinas ; and to- 

 ward the west, in those of Cassanare, as far as 

 the foot of the mountains of Pamplona. The 

 plains of the Oroonoko, of the Apure, and of the 

 Meta, alone separate the province of Spanish 

 Guyana from the rich, populous, and well culti- 

 vated region near the seashore. The fortified 

 places (Cumana, la Guayra, and Porto Cabello) 

 scarcely protect this region from expeditions 

 landing on the northern coast. I ground these 

 statements on the configuration of the ground, 

 and the present distribution of the points of de- 

 fence. They will I think suffice to show, how 

 intimately the political security of the United 

 Provinces of Caraccas and New- Grenada is con- 

 nected with the defence of the mouths of the 

 Oroonoko; and how Spanish Guyana, though 

 scarcely cleared, and destitute of population, 

 acquires a high importance in the struggle be- 

 tween the colonies and the mother country. 

 This military importance was foreseen more 

 than two centuries ago by the celebrated Raleigh. 

 In the account of his first expedition, he often 

 recurs to the facility, with which queen Eliza- 

 beth might conquer a great part of the Spanish 



