AIll .VDAXCE Oi' TIMBEK. 
141 
importance of the commerce of that rich couiitiy. 
■Even under the thraldom of the colonial system, the value 
®f the exported products of agi-iculture, and of the gold- 
yashings, amount to eleven or twelve millions of piastres 
'nthe countries at present united under the denomination 
the Eepuhlic of Columbia. The exports of the Capi- 
tania^Greneral of Caracas alone, exclusive of the precious 
'petals, -ivliich arc the objects of regular working, was (with 
the contraband), from five to six millions of piastres, at the 
heginning of the nineteenth century. Ciimaua, Barcelona, 
Ea Gruayro, Porto Cabello, and Maracaybo, are the most 
important parts of the coast ; those that lie most eastward 
have the advantage of an easier communication with the 
'' mgin Islands, Grundeloupe, IVIartiuique, and St. Vincent. 
^Wgostura, the real name of which is Santo Tome de Nueva 
V^ana, may be considered as the port of the rich province 
Varinas. The majestic river, on whose banks this town 
huilt, aftbrds by its communications with the j\pure, the 
-'J^eta, and the Eio Negro, the gi'eatcst advantages for trade 
"ith Europe. 
The shores of Venezuela, from the beauty of their ports, 
|he tranquillity of the sea by which they are washed, and 
the fine timber that covers them, possess great advantages 
'ii’er the shores of the United States. In no part of tjie 
^orld do we find firmer iiuchoragc, or better positions for 
he establishment of ports. The sea of this coast is con- 
?tafltlycalm, like that which extends from Lima to Guayaquil. 
,he storms and hurricanes of the West Indies are never 
mlt on the Costa Eirme ; and when, after the sun has 
passed the meridian, thick clouds charged with electricit}', 
^ecumulate on the mountains of the coasts, a pilot accus- 
tomed to these latitudes knows that this threatening aspect 
of the sky denotes only a squall. The virgin-forests near 
the sea, in the eastern pai-t of New Andalusia, present 
Valuable resources for the establishment of dockyards. The 
^ood of the mountains of Paria may vie with that ol the 
jsland of Cuba, Huasacualco, Guayaquil, and San Bias, 
he Spanish Government, at the close of the last century, 
*ed its attention on this important object. Marine engi- 
neers were sent to mark the finest trunks of Brazil-wood, 
niahogany, cedrela, and laurinea, between Angostura and 
