120 



puted for indigo at least at a fourth or fifth of 

 the annual exportation. To form an idea of the 

 immense riches arising from agriculture in the 

 Spanish colonies, we must recollect, that the 

 indigo of Caraccas, the value of which amounted 

 in 1794 to more than six millions of franks, was 

 the produce of four or five square leagues. In 

 the years 1789—1795 near four or five thou- 

 sand freemen came annually from the Llanos to 

 the valleys of Aragua, to assist in the culture and 

 fabrication of indigo. They worked during two 

 months, by the day. 



The indigo plant impoverishes the soil, where 

 it is cultivated during a long series of years, 

 more than any other. The lands of Maracay, 

 Tapatapa, and Turmero, are looked upon as 

 exhausted ; and indeed the produce of indigo 

 has been constantly decreasing. Maritime wars 

 have caused a stagnation in the trade, and the 

 price has fallen in consequence of the frequent 

 importations of indigo from Asia. The East 

 India company now sells at London * more 

 than 5,500,000 pounds weight of indigo, while 

 in 1786 it did not draw from it's vast possessions 

 more than 250,000 pounds. In proportion as 

 the cultivation of indigo has decreased in the 

 valleys of Aragua, it has increased in the pro- 

 vince of Varinas, and in the burning plains of 



* For example, in 1810. See Colquhoun, Append, p. 23, 



