226 



cient Capituriui-general of Caraccas, to be more 

 than six millions of piastres. It is very pro- 

 bable that the consumption of the provisions of 

 Europe and of other parts of America reached 

 nearly the same amount in the peaceful times 

 which immediately preceded the revolution. 

 As nothing is more vague than the pretended 

 balances of trade founded on the custom house 

 registers, and as we are ignorant whether the 

 contraband trade with the West India Islands 

 augments the value of registered articles, a 

 quarter, a third, or a half, it is not uninteresting 

 to verify the results we have just obtained by 

 the partial estimate of the wants of the popula- 

 tion. Now it is found, by minute calculations 

 made on the spot, that the consumption of fo- 

 reign productions * in the Govierno of Cumana, 

 was, for each adult individual of the richest 

 class, inhabiting towns, but 102 piastres yearly ; 

 for an adult slave, 8 piastres ; for children, not 

 indians, less than 12 years of age, | piastre ; for 

 every adult indian, in the most civilized com- 

 munes (de doctrina), 10 piastres ; for a family of 

 indians, composed of four persons entirely na- 

 ked, such as they are found in the missions of 



* Jnforme de Don Manuel Navarete, Tesorero de la Real 

 Hacienda en Cumana sobre el estanca de tabaco ij los medio* de 

 su abolicion total (Manuscript). In this reasoning on the 

 consumption, the words foreign articles indicate all merchan- 

 dize which is not originally of Venezuela. 



