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The culture and population of the plains 

 augment as we advance toward Cura and 

 Guacara, on the northern side of the lake. 

 The valleys of Aragua contain more than 52,000 

 inhabitants, on a space of ground thirteen 

 leagues long, and two wide. This is a relative 

 population of two thousand souls on a square 

 league, which equals almost that of the most 

 populous parts of France. The village, or rather 

 the small town of Maracay, was heretofore the 

 centre of the indigo plantations, when this 

 branch of colonial industry was in it's greatest 

 prosperity. In 1795, seventy tradesmen had 

 established shops in a population of six thousand 

 inhabitants. The houses are all of masonrv, 

 and every court contains cocoa-trees, which rise 

 above the habitations. The aspect of general 

 wealth is still more striking at Maracay, than 

 at Turmero. The anil, or indigo, of these pro- 

 vinces has always been considered in commerce 

 as equal, and sometimes superior to that of 

 Guatimala. This branch of culture has since 

 1772 followed that of cacao, and preceded the 

 cultivation of cotton and coffee. The predilec- 

 tion of the colonists has been alternately fixed 

 on each of these four productions; but the 

 cacao and coffee are now the only important 

 branches of commerce with Europe. In the 

 most prosperous times the fabrication of indigo 



