SUGAR-CANE PLANTATION. 
27 
by the burning of the savannahs, or -wrapped in ruddy 
smoke. At the spot where the bushes were thickest, our 
horses were frightened by the yell of an animal that seemed 
to follow ns closely. It was a large jaguar, which had 
roamed for three years among these mountains. He had 
constantly escaped the pursuits of the boldest hunters, and 
had carried off horses and mules from the midst of enclo- 
sures ; but, having no want of food, had not yet attacked 
men. The negro who conducted us uttered wild cries, 
expecting by these means to frighten the tiger; but his 
efforts were ineffectual. The jaguar, like the wolf of Europe, 
follows travellers evon when he will not attack them ; the 
wolt in the open fields and in unsheltered places, the jaguar 
skirting the road and appearing only at intervals between 
the bushes. 
We passed the day on the 23rd in the house of the 
Marquis de Toro, at the village of Guacara, a very con- 
siderable Indian community. An avenue of carolineas leads 
irom Guacara to Mocundo. It was the first time I had 
seen in the open air this majestic plant, which forms one 
of the principal ornaments of the extensive conservatories 
of Schdnbrunn.* Mocundo is a rich plantation of sugar- 
canes, belonging to the family of Toro. We there find, 
■what is so rare in that country, a garden, artificial clumps 
of trees, and on the border of the water, upon a rock of 
gneiss, a pavilion with a mirador, or belvidcre. The view 
is delightful over the western part of the lake, the surround- 
ing mountains, and a forest ol palm-trees that separates 
Guacara from the city of Kueva Valencia. The fields of 
sugar-cane, from the soft verdure of the young reeds, re- 
semble a vast meadow . Everything denotes abundance ; 
hut it is at the price of the liberty of the cultivators. At 
Mocundo, with tw r o hundred and thirty negroes, seventy- 
seven tahlones, or cane-fields, are cultivated, each of which, 
ten thousand varas square, t yields a net profit of two 
* livery tree of the Carolinea princeps at Schiinbrunn has sprung from 
seeds collected from one single tree of enormous size, near Chacao, east 
of Caracas. 
t A tablon, equal to 1849 square toises, contains nearly an acre and 
one-fifth : a legal acre has 1344 square toises, and 1*95 legal acre is equal 
to one hectare. 
