(6s) 
* 
It differs, however, very much from the descriptions I have found in 
various books. It was not boiling or in the least warm. Only 
some half dozen or so places were soft and we could run across all 
hut one of them. In that one we found an alligator just “awash.” 
The surface had the appearance of immense mushrooms or bub¬ 
bles forced up from below. Where they met, the crevices were 
filled with water. There were a number of little islands in the 
lake covered with most luxuriant verdure and many large trees. 
All the surroundings of the lake, though covered with pitch nearly 
a foot deep, are well wooded. This lake is supposed to be the 
residt of the deposits of wood brought down by the Orinoco, 
which have been converted by heat, etc., into pitch, which oozes 
up from below at this and many points around the island. 
We next visited La Guayra on the coast of Venezuela. It is the 
seaport of Caracas. By the direct road from La Guayra to Car¬ 
acas you have to ascend 5,000 feet, and come down 2,000 feet in 
order to reach the place. Thus Caracas is 3,000 feet above the 
sea and very prettily situated with extensive views in three direc¬ 
tions. A railway was then in course of construction to connect 
with La Guayra. This is a great coffee growing country but 
owing to the expense of getting it to the coast it is hard to find a 
market. The best coffee is grown at the greatest height, the only 
limit being not to get so much in the clouds that there will not be 
sun enough to ripen it. 
As with about all the Spanish speaking countries, stability of 
1 government is the one thing needful. President Blanco has done 
a great deal to cultivate a national feeling. lie has a parliament 
where the representatives meet and discuss the affairs of the coun¬ 
try. But after all he is dictator. He is the one man of whom all 
the other aspirants stand in awe. He has established a very hand¬ 
some portrait gallery of all those who took a prominent part in the 
struggle for independence. He has erected public buildings, mon¬ 
uments and statues and laid out public gardens, and these latter 
are very beautiful. The people of the country arc said to be ex¬ 
ceedingly honest and hospitable; that a person may travel from 
one end of it to the other with a bag of gold without the slightest 
fear of robbery. But the politicians, as they are called, are the 
disturbing element. The climate here during six months of the 
