142 
AJSU^HAXCE OF TIMUER. 
the mouth of the Orinoco, as well as on the banks of the 
Gulf of Paria, commonly called the Golfo triste. It was 
not intended to establish docks on that spot, hut to hew the 
weighty timber into the forms necessary for ship-building, 
and to transport it to Caramie, near Ca^iz. Though trees 
fit for masts are not found in this country, it was never- 
theless hoped that the execution of this project would con- 
siderably diminisli the importation of timber from Sweden 
and Norway . The experiment of forming this establish- 
ment was tried in a very unhealthy spot, tho valley of 
Quebranta, near Guirie; I have already adverted to the 
causes of its destruction. The insalubrity of the place 
would, doubtless, have diminished in proportion as the 
forest (el monte virgen), should have been removed from 
the dwellings of the inhabitants. Mulattos, and not 
whites, ought to have been employed in hewing the wood, 
and it should have been remembered that the expense of 
the roads farastraderos), for the transport of the timber, 
when once laid out, would not have been the same, and that, 
by tlie increase of the population, the price of day labour 
would progressively have diminished. It is for ship-builders 
alone, who determhie the localities, to judge whether, in 
tho present state ot things, the freiglit of merchant-vessels 
bo not lar too high to admit of sending to Europe large 
(|uantities of roughly-hcAvu wood; but it cannot bo doubted 
that A^enezucla possesses on its maritime coast, as well as 
oii the banks of the Orinoco, immense resources for ship- 
building. Tlio fine ships which have been launched from 
the dockyards ot the Havana, Guayaquil, and San Bias, have, 
no doubt, cost more than those constructed in Europe; but 
from the nature of tropical wood, they possess tho advan- 
tages of hardness and amazing durability. 
The great struggle during which Venezuela has fought 
for independence, has lasted more than twelve years. That 
period has been no less fruitful than civil ' commotions 
usually are in heroic and generous actions, guilty errors, 
and violent passions. The sentiment of common danger 
has strengthened the ties between men of various races, 
who, spread over the plains of Cumana, or insulated on tho 
table-land ot Cundinamarca, have a physical and moral or- 
ganization as different as the climates in which they live- 
