60 



tity, almost equal to the produce of Guadalotipe 

 and Martinico both together, must appear so 

 much the more considerable, as it is only since 

 1784, that a respectable citizen, don Bartho- 

 lomew Blandin, endeavoured to introduce this 

 branch of culture on the coasts of Terra Firma. 

 Mr. Depons, in his statistical account of the 

 Capitania-general of Venezuela, having been able 

 to give information respecting the state of com- 

 merce and agriculture only as far as the year 

 1804, it will not be uninteresting to add some 

 documents more recent, and not less exact. 

 The finest coffee-plantations are now found in 

 the savannah of Ocumare, near Salamanca, and 

 at Rincon, in the mountainous countries of Los 

 Mariches, San Antonio Hatillo, and Los Budares. 

 The coffee of the last three places, to the East 

 of Caraccas, is of a superior quality ; but the 

 trees bear a smaller quantity, which is attributed 

 to the height of the spot, and the coolness of 

 the climate. The greater plantations of the 

 province of Venezuela, as Aguacates, near Va- 

 lencia, and Rincon, yield in good years a pro- 

 duce of three thousand quintals. In 1796 the 

 total exportation of the province was only four 

 thousand eight hundred quintals, and in 1804, 

 ten thousand; yet it began in 1789^. The 



* I obtained the following information from the custom- 

 house at La Guayra : 



