717 



try in Spanish Guyana ; and Caraccas having 

 beenhithertotheseat of the supreme go vernment, 

 the port of Angostura has been treated with still 

 less favor than the ports of Cumana and Nueva 

 Barcelona. With respect to the inland trade, 

 the most active is that of the province of Vari- 

 nas, which sends mules, cacao, indigo, cotton, 

 and sugar to Angostura ; and in return receives 

 generos, that is, the products of the manufac- 

 turing industry of Europe. I have seen long- 

 boats (lanchas) set off, the cargoes of which 

 were valued at eight or ten thousand piastres. 

 These boats went first up the Oroonoko to Ca- 

 bruta ; then, along the Apure to San Vicente ; 

 and finally, on the Rio Santo Domingo, as far 

 as Torunos % which is the port of Varinas Nue- 

 vas. The little town of San Fernando de Apure, 

 of which I have given a description above -f*, is 

 the magazine of this river trade, which might 

 become much more considerable by the intro- 

 duction of steam boats. 



The left bank of the Oroonoko, and all the 

 mouths of this river, with the exception of the 

 great Boca de Navios, belong to the province of 

 Cumana. This circumstance gave rise long ago 

 to the project of building another town opposite 

 Angostura (where the battery of San Rafael is 



* A little to the west of the town of Obispos. 

 t Chap. 18, vol. iv, p. 392. 



