360 
VOYAGE TO LA GUAYRA. 
which commands a magnificent view of the highest Eummita 
of the Cordilleras. A procession was on the point of setting 
out from the convent of San Francisco, when it was perceived 
that the blaze on the horizon was caused by fiery meteors, 
which ran along the skies in all directions, at the altitude of 
twelve or thirteen degrees. 
Chaptee XI. 
Passage from Cumana to I.a Guayra. — Morro of New Barcelona. — Cape 
Codera. — Road from La Guayra to Caracas. 
On the 16th of November, at eight in the evening, we 
were under sail to proceed along the coast from Cumana to 
the port of La Guayra, whence the inhabitants of the pro- 
vince of Venezuela export the greater part of their produce. 
The passage is only a distance of sixty leagues, and it usually 
occupies from thirty-six to forty hours. The little coasting 
vessels are favoured at once by the wind and by the currents, 
which run with more or less force from east to west, along 
the coasts of Terra Firm a, particularly from cape Paria to 
the cape of Chichibaeoa. The road by land from Cumana 
to New Barcelona, and thence to Caracas, is nearly in the 
same state as that in which it was before the discovery of 
America. The traveller has to contend with the obstacles 
presented by a miry soil, large scattered rocks, and strong 
vegetation. He must sleep in the open air, pass through 
the valleys of the TTnare, the Tuy, and the Capava, and cross 
torrents which swell rapidly on account of tile proximity 
of the mountains. To these obstacles must be added the 
dangers arising from the extreme insalubrity of the country. 
The very low lands, between the sea-shore and the chain of 
hills nearest the coast, from the bay of Mochima as far as 
Coro, are extremely unhealthy. But the last-mentioned 
town, which is surrounded by an immense wood of thorny 
cactuses, owes its great salubrity, like Cumana, to its barren 
soil and the absence of rain. 
In returning from Caracas to Cumana, the road by land is 
