247 



as irritating the nervous system ; the fruit there- 

 fore of that orchideous plant is entirely neglected 

 in the province of Caraccas, though abundant 

 crops of it might be gathered on the humid and 

 feverous coast between Porto Cabello and Ocu- 

 mare ; especially at Turiamo, where the fruits 

 of the epidendrum vanilla attain a length of eleven 

 or twelve inches. The English and the Anglo- 

 Americans often seek to make purchases of va- 

 nilla at the port of La Guayra, but the merchants 

 procure with difficulty a very small quantity. 

 In the valleys that descend from the chain of 

 the coast toward the Caribbean sea, in the pro- 

 vince of Truxillo, as well as in the missions ot 

 Guyana near the cataracts of the Oroonoko, a 

 great quantity of vanilla might be collected ; the 

 produce of which would be still more abundant, 

 if, according to the practice of the Mexicans, 

 the plant were disentangled from time to time 

 from the creeping plants, by which it is entwined 

 and stifled. 



In making known the actual state of the 

 cacao-plantations in the province of Venezuela ; 

 discussing the connection that is observed be- 

 tween the produce of those plantations, the hu- 

 midity of the air, and it's salubrity ; we have 

 mentioned the hot and fertile valleys of the Cor- 

 dillera of the coast. This tract of land, where 

 it stretches on the West toward the lake of Ma- 

 racaybo, displays a remarkable variety of scenery. 



