207 



the West, ran from West to East. This current 

 upward (corriente por arriba), which we have 

 already mentioned, is very frequent during two 

 or three months of the year, from September to 

 November. It is believed to be owing to some 

 North- We st winds, that have blown between 

 Jamaica and Cape St. Antony in the island of 

 Cuba. 



The military defence of the coasts of Terra 

 Firma rests on six points. The castle of St* 

 Antony, at Cumana ; the Morro de Nueva 

 Barcelona; the fortifications of La Guayra, 

 mounting one hundred and thirty-four guns ; 

 Porto-Cabello ; fort St. Charles, at the mouth 

 of the lake of Maracaybo ; and Carthagena. 

 Porto-Cabello is, next to Carthagena, the most 

 important fortified place. The town is quite 

 modern, and the port is one of the finest known 

 in both worlds. Art has had scarcely any thing 

 to add to the advantages, which the nature of 

 the §pot presents. A neck of land stretches 

 first toward the North, and then toward the 

 West It's western extremity is opposite to a 

 range of islands, connected by bridges, and so 

 close together, that they might be taken for 

 another neck of land. These islands are all 

 composed of a calcareous breccia, of extremely 

 recent formation, and analogous to that we 

 have described on the coasts of Cumana, and 

 near the castle of Araya. It is an agglomerate, 



