TEJtlllTOET AND POPULATION. 
137 
Hiou of Veaezuela and I^ew Grenada has also placed in the 
'itids of one people the greater part of the quinquina 
exported from the New Continent. The temperate inoun- 
*wns of Merida, Santa Fc, Popayan, Quito, and Loxa, 
poduee the finest qualities of this febrifugal bark hitherto 
iiown. I might swell the list of these A'aluable productions 
7 the coffee and indigo of Caracas, so long esteemed in 
commerce ; the sugar, cotton, and flour of Bogota; the ipeca- 
oanha of the banks of the Magdelena ; the tobacco of 
annas ; the Cortex Angostur® of Caroni ; the balsam of 
jPO plains of Tolu ; the skins and dried provisions of the 
tanos ; the pearls of Panama, Eio Ilacha, and IMarguerita ; 
od finally, the gold of Popavan, and the platinum, which is 
o\v here found in abundance but at Choco aiulBarbacoa: 
ot eonlormubly with the plan I have adopted, 1 shall confine 
•^olf to the old Capitania-General of Caracas. 
Ovving to a peculiar disposition of the soil in Venezuela, 
^ 'e three zones of agricultural, pastoral, and hunting-liu 
j^^ucceed each other from north to south along the coast in 
.'c direction of the equator. Advancing in that direc- 
V® be said to traverse, in respect to space, 
p ® clifierent stages through which the human race has 
^ t''® lapse of ages, in its pirogi’css towards cul- 
ation, and in laying the foundations of civilized society. 
region of the coast is the centre of agi’icultural in- 
®‘cy ; the region ol the Llanos serves only for the pas- 
ana of the animals which Europe has given to America, 
re»' fi''® there in a half-wild state. Each of those 
je^'°os includes from seven to eight thousand square 
th >. farther south, between the delta of the Orinoco, 
] ® f^^ssiquiare, and the Eio Negro, lies a vast extent of 
cov*^ large as France, inhabited by huntmg nations, 
Ur thick forests and impassable swamps. The 
at p, pf^ons of the vegetable kingdom belong to tlie zones 
Qj ‘'oh extremity ; the intermediary savannahs, into which 
l54s’ mules were introduced about the year 
fhe t’ food for some nrillions of those animals. At 
froTri ■''■hen I visited Venezuela, the annual exportation 
ttiul fo the "West India Islands amounted to 30,000 
o®» 174,000 ox-hides, and 140,000 arrobas (of twenty- 
