Where midst its dark foliage1 the golden orange glows?
Thither2, thither let us go.”
Goethe.
To Young America:
“Smart,” as the world over, you are acknowledged to be—in which opinion I most heartily3 concur5, having myself spent among you the best part of my life—permit me to call your attention to one important fact which has escaped your notice thus far, or rather that of your teachers, namely, a better acquaintance with that vast and glorious portion of our great continent lying at your very portals, South America—a region of which you have only a faint idea from the meagre information supplied by your School Geographies and occasional newspaper correspondents, but in fact a land of wondrous7 exuberance8 and untold9 natural wealth, which offers you a field of enterprise worthy10 of the founders11 of the States of California and Oregon, and the Territories of Montana, Arizona, and Colorado.
It is a fact that while Europe, situated12 as it is far beyond our own hemisphere, has always sent her very best men to represent her in the South American States, and to explore{x} and report upon every thing worth knowing, this country, America par6 excellence14, has sent none as yet but broken down and quarrelsome politicians, who, according to the statements of some of the leading periodicals of this country,[1] are absolutely incompetent15 to fill their post with credit to the nation they represent. To my own personal knowledge I can testify as to the class of men sent afloat to Venezuela, one of whom had previously16 been master of a tug-boat on the Orinoco and Apure rivers, but through political influence at home was suddenly enabled to emerge from that obscure though honorable calling to that of a diplomatic functionary18, although it is but fair to state that his social status in that country was in no wise improved by his change of vocation19. When his term of office expired, with the change of administration at headquarters, he was duly replaced by another, whose conduct was so disgraceful[2] that his countrymen resident in the Republic petitioned the Government at home to remove him forthwith, which was granted, but only to replace him by another—since deceased—who, I am informed, was the only drunken man seen in the streets of the capital.
Thanks to the unaided efforts of a missionary22 gentleman, Rev17. Mr. Fletcher,[3] the magnificent empire of Brazil has lately been brought to the notice of the people of the United States, who, quick to appreciate the commercial advantages offered by a foreign country, when fully23 demonstrated to them, have already established a line of steamers between New York and{xi} the principal ports of the Empire. Outside of this the people of this enterprising country have only had occasional glimpses of the vast continent of South America, from the notes of casual travellers and the official reports of Lieuts. Page, Herndon, and Gibbon, of the navy, who confined their observations principally to the practicability of navigating24 the two great rivers Amazon and La Plata, already surveyed by their respective governments and explored from end to end by several European travellers. It is to be hoped, however, that the eminent25 naturalist26, Agassiz, who lately visited the former river with reference to a particular branch of science, will give us the result of his explorations as clearly, and relieved of the technicalities of scientific lore13 so common among naturalists27, as the distinguished28 artist Church, who several years ago penetrated29, “on his own hook,” to the heart of the Andes, has presented the grand and beautiful ridge31 on canvass32 to the eyes of admiring thousands who have gazed upon his admirable paintings, thus familiarising the outside world with that picturesque33 region, and earning for himself a name second to none in the estimation of the artistic34 world.
North Americans cannot longer ignore that great section of our continent which, during thirteen years, warred to the knife against her powerful antagonists35, Spain and Portugal, for the possession of those political principles proclaimed years before by their own Great Republic; for it is a fact, that while most of the European nations hastened to acknowledge the independence of the South American States, the United States of America were the last to recognize them; and if we of the South have not been as successful in the{xii} establishment of Republican Institutions as our brethren of the North, the fault is not ours, but is to be attributed to the “peculiar36 institutions” implanted on our soil by its fanatical and remorseless conquerors38, so utterly39 inimical to enlightened educational development.[4]
And now look, on the other hand, to the host of distinguished names that figure among the European representatives and explorers in the various sections of South America, and the advantages gained by the countries they represent. At the head of all stands the illustrious Humboldt, who was the first to penetrate30 that comparatively unknown region at the time (1799), and to lay open her wondrous treasures before the civilized40 world. Any eulogistic41 comments upon this truly great man are superfluous42: the world is filled with his fame, as radiant as the celestial43 spheres above, which he overran likewise with his penetrating44 mind, and after devoting nearly three quarters of a century to the study of the Universe, he died only a few years ago at the advanced age of ninety-two, in the full enjoyment45 of his mental faculties46. His works are the grandest monument of the nineteenth century.
To Prussia we are indebted for the services of another resolute47 explorer, Prince Adalbert, who fearlessly penetrated to the remotest parts of Brazil, and the botanists49, von Tschudi, Karzten, and Moritz, who have enriched the European{xiii} museums and conservatories50 with the treasures of our Flora51. Other parts of Germany have sent no less distinguished individuals in the persons of Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, and the great naturalists, Narterer, Spix, and von Martius, all of whom have given to the scientific world the result of their explorations in works of enduring fame. France ranks next in distinguished names, such as La Condamine, D’Orvigni, Jussieu, St. Hilaire, Bonpland (the companion of Humboldt), Depons, Lavayesse, Webber, Liais, etc.; and Great Britain, with her Parishes and Fitzroys, who surveyed and carefully sounded every estuary52, bay, and inlet which lie between the Plata and the Bay of Valparaiso, with the celebrated53 naturalist, Darwin, as co-laborer; Sir Robert Schumbourgh, the discoverer of that vegetable wonder, the Victoria Regia, and the hitherto unknown sources of the great river Orinoco, the lake of Parime, supposed in the seventeenth century to be the abode54 of a mighty55 and resplendent Indian king—El Dorado—the gilded56, from whom that veritable land of gold, as it has subsequently been demonstrated, took the name[5]—with other equally enterprising naturalists and explorers, such as Waterton, Wallace, Bates, Vigne, Markham, and Spruce. Through the efforts of the two last named, England has succeeded in transplanting and successfully cultivating{xiv} in the mountains of India the various species of cinchona trees indigenous57 to the Andean range of mountains, that yield that invaluable58 drug, quinine; while another enterprising Englishman undertook to stock Australia with the Alpaca sheep of the same region, at the risk of his life and fortune.
Thus England, France, and Germany have secured the monopoly of the South American trade, with total exclusion59 of this country, which has to pay cash for what the former obtain in exchange for the produce of their manufactories. All these nations, moreover, appoint permanent representatives, chosen from among their ablest diplomats60, and keep them there as long as they choose to remain, to enable them to become thoroughly61 acquainted with the people and the peculiarities62 of the country, endearing themselves to the inhabitants by their munificent63 hospitality and courtly demeanor64. Even distant and snow-bound Russia has sent to South America her commissions of savants and maintains there, as well as Sweden, competent representatives, whose duty it is to report to their respective governments on the progress of affairs and the resources of those countries.
I shall not close the list of European travellers and naturalists, with whom I am acquainted, without adding those of Holland and Belgium, viz., Mr. Langsberg, for many years Minister Plenipotentiary from the former country to Venezuela, Baron65 Ponthos, and Messrs. Linden and Funk, who, by their united efforts, have contributed to enlighten their countrymen respecting the source from whence India-rubber emanates66, and the kind of trees that yield the valuable{xv} Calisaya and Angostura barks; what plants yield the fragrant67 Vanilla68 and Tonka beans, the healing balsams of Copaiva, Tolu, and Peru; and how indigo69, cacao, and coffee are raised. “Does cotton grow in Venezuela?” “Are there any railroads in Chile?” are questions which have respectively been addressed to me and to the accredited70 Minister of the latter flourishing republic to the United States by persons enjoying the greatest advantages of education in this country. Now, it is a well-known fact to European merchants that the cotton raised in Venezuela ranks among the finest in the world; and as regards railroads, Chile possesses some of the most admirable works of the kind, due to the skill of North American engineers.
But no wonder that so little is known here about South America, when one of the standard School Geographies and most recent publications describes the products of Venezuela in these few lines:
“Its principal products are the woods and fruits of the forest and the cattle of the plains.”
“Exports.—The principal exports are the tropical fruits, which grow without cultivation71; and hides, cattle, horses, and mules73.”
Any one would be led to suppose, from the perusal74 of the above quotations75, that the country at large is “in a state of nature,” and that the inhabitants themselves are no better off than “the cattle of the plains,”
“Where at each step the stranger fears to wake
The rattling76 terrors of the vengeful snake;
Where crouching77 tigers wait their hapless prey78,
And savage79 men more murderous still than they.”
—The Deserted80 Village.
{xvi}
These things are only found in the depths of the primeval forest, or amidst the labyrinths81 of rivers that traverse the vast extent of prairie land or llanos which form the subject of this book. These are the grazing grounds as well as military school of the republic: the agricultural portion lies north of this region, amidst the great chain of mountains, which, detaching itself from the main Andean trunk in New Granada, or Colombia, as it is now called, runs eastward82 along the shores of the Caribbean Sea. The products of this region consist principally, as the school-book quoted above states, in the tropical fruits, not collected at random83, as might be inferred from the above meager84 statement, but through the most careful cultivation, as a contemporary English traveller in that country rightly describes it in a few lines.
“July 11th.—Having got our passports, we started at about 3 P.M. for San Pedro, distant about six leagues. The first three leagues lay through the beautiful valley of Chacao (Caracas). Everything bore the appearance of great prosperity. The road was as good as any in Europe. The hedges were beautifully clipped; hardly a foot of ground could be seen that was not in a high state of cultivation. The plantations86 were numerous and in good order, and the long chimneys and black smoke showed that even in this remote valley steam was rendering87 its thousand-handed assistance. We crossed and recrossed the Rio Guaire several times before we arrived at Antimano, some two leagues distant from Caracas. We met several herds88 of wild cattle, being driven towards Caracas by the llaneros in crimson89 or blue ponchos90, mounted on high-picked saddles, with their constant companion, the{xvii} lasso, plaited into their horses’ tails, and the long cattle-spears in their hands. The cattle were magnificent-looking animals, and reminded me of the breed that one sees in the bull-rings of old Spain. Coffee is more cultivated in the valley of Chacao than any other crop, and it contributes in no small degree to the beauty of the scenery.”[6]
Besides coffee this country produces the famous Cacao and indigo of Caracas, sugar-cane, and cotton of superior quality, tobacco hardly inferior to that of Cuba, especially the celebrated Varinas and Guacharo kinds, rice, Indian-corn, and most of the cereals of northern latitudes91, according to the elevation92 above the sea level; and as to the products gathered “in a state of nature,” such as sarsaparilla, India-rubber, Piassaba, Vanilla, and Tonka beans, cabinet and dye-woods, their name is legion, and would require a separate volume devoted93 to that particular branch of scientific research, which the reader can find admirably compiled in the works of Humboldt and Bonpland, St. Hilaire, Sir Robert Schombourgh, Codazzi, and others.
Now it is my purpose to introduce the young American reader to a country—
“Where maidens’ love as close, as sweet will twine94,
As cling the tendrils of their native vine,”
and which hitherto seems to have been a sealed book to the future “Merchant Princes” of the great North. Humboldt describes it thus, in 1802:—{xviii}
VENEZUELA.
“Caracas is the capital of a country nearly twice as large as Peru, and now little inferior in extent to the kingdom of New Granada. This country, which the Spanish government designates by the name of Capitania-General de Caracas, or the United Provinces of Venezuela, has nearly a million of inhabitants, among whom are sixty thousand slaves. It comprises, along the coasts, New Andalusia, or the province of Cumana (with the island of Margarita), Barcelona, Venezuela, or Caracas, Coro, and Maracaibo: in the interior the Provinces of Barinas and Guiana; the former situated on the rivers of Santo Domingo and the Apure, the latter stretching along the Orinoco, the Casiquiare, the Atabapo, and the Rio Negro. In a general view of the seven United Provinces of Tierra Firme, we perceive that they form three distinct zones, extending from East to West.
“We find, first, cultivated land along the sea-shore, and near the chain of the mountains on the coast; next, savannas95 or pasturages; and finally, beyond the Orinoco, a third zone, that of the forests, into which we can penetrate only by the rivers which traverse them. If the native inhabitants of the forest lived entirely96 on the produce of the chase, like those of the Missouri, we might say that the three zones, into which we have divided the territory of Venezuela, picture the three states of human society; the life of the wild hunter, in the{xix} woods of the Orinoco; pastoral life in the savannas or llanos, and the agricultural state, in the high valleys, and at the foot of the mountains on the coast.”[7]
And yet this favored region can be reached in from twelve to fifteen days by sailing packets between Philadelphia and La Guaira; or, should your fast habits require it, we can avail ourselves of the Brazilian line of steamships97 which will leave us at St. Thomas, where we shall meet the little steamer plying98 regularly between both points, the whole voyage being thus accomplished99 in eight days. As we are not in a hurry, however, to get through our journey, we will, for the sake of convenience and diversified100 amusement, follow the example of the above-mentioned traveller, Sullivan, who, in company of a friend, made the trip before us in a commodious101 yacht by the way of the West India Islands; but having no craft of our own, we may be permitted to borrow from the New York yacht squadron one of their idle cutters, which can thus be better employed than in cruising round well-known fashionable retreats during a few months of summer, and exposed for the rest of the year to the hard knocks of a wintry climate. This is the best season to visit the tropics, as well as the West Indies, when there is no fear of the dreaded102 vomito or sweeping103 hurricanes.
Hardly a day passes without coming in sight of some lovely isle104 of the Caribbean sea, which, like the “Queen of the Antilles,”—Cuba—rises from amidst the placid105 waves, crowned with perpetual wreaths of fragrant orange-blossoms{xx} and stately palms. Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, Sta. Cruz, Antigua, Granada, Barbadoes, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Tobago, and Trinidad, rise one after another in quick succession. When we reach the last named and most lovely of all, on the eastern extremity106 of Venezuela, we have the choice of either penetrating at once into the field of our adventures by entering one of the numerous outlets107 of the Orinoco, which here pours out its tribute to the mighty Atlantic through a hundred mouths; or, following the line of coast to the westward108, we may reach a point near the fertile valleys of Aragua, where well-trained horses for the sport and hardy109 llaneros to guide us, await our arrival. We shall thus have an opportunity of contemplating110 and admiring that stupendous chain of mountains (fit offspring of the mighty Andes further west), which seems as if thrown up by Titanic111 force as a barrier against the encroachments of the fierce Atlantic.
Endless are the beauties and points of interest presented by this splendid chain of mountains; its varied112 climes, from the scorching113 heats of the tierra caliente on the sea level to the frigid114 blasts of winter at higher elevations115; its silvery springs and roaring cataracts116; its unrivalled vegetation and glittering veins117 of precious metals. The trade winds and currents are in our favor, which will enable us to reach La Guaira in a couple of days, passing in quick succession some minor119 ports, such as Rio Caribe, Carupano, with its silver-bearing mountains in the distance, the island of Margarita, famous for its pearls, as the name implies; its fisheries, and the gallant120 defence made by the inhabitants against the{xxi} combined attacks of the Spanish hordes121; Cumana, for its delicious grapes and pine-apples, its salubrious climate, and the purity of the sky, which enabled the immortal122 Humboldt to watch in wonderment the great meteoric123 shower in 1799, which he compared to a brilliant display of fire-works; Barcelona, noted124 only for its hides, and the Monagas brotherhood125, who were for many years the terror of the country.
The coast, as we approach La Guaira, is lined with plantations of sugar-cane, cacao and cocoa-nuts, two articles often confounded in English spelling, but widely different in themselves. The former grows on a moderately-sized tree, with large, glossy126 leaves, while the latter is the product of a palm, remarkable127 for the height it attains128, and the prodigious130 size of its fruit, in bunches that few men can lift from the ground. The cacao nuts, on the contrary, grow in pods, resembling large cucumbers, of a rich chocolate color outside, filled with oblong nuts enveloped131 in a white, sub-acid pulp132, very agreeable to the taste especially of parrots, monkeys, and squirrels, who destroy great quantities of the pods for the sake of the pulp, so that they require constant watching to protect them from these pests.
A cacao plantation85 is one of the handsomest orchards133 that can be seen, shaded as they are by another tree of large proportions, the erythrina, a leguminous plant with crimson flowers, which you may have noticed in greenhouses at home, though much reduced in size, as it never attains there more than a few feet above the boxes on which they are raised as an ornament135 to the garden in summer. The rapidity with which these trees grow in the tropics is astonishing, for in{xxii} eight or ten years, the time required to reach its maximum growth, they attain129 the size of the largest denizens136 of the forest. Observe how their tops glow with the fiery137 hue138 of their blossoms, for this is the season when they exchange their leaves for flowers, the only instance of a plant shedding its leaves in these latitudes, with the exception of the ceiba or silk cotton tree, which the author of Amyas Leigh has so admirably described as growing close to where we are journeying just now.
Here the cordillera rises considerably139 above the connecting mountains, attaining140 a height of thirteen thousand feet in the peak of Naiguata, which you may perceive peeping through the clouds yonder, and the next one eleven thousand in the Cerro de Avila, both forming what is called the Silla, or Saddle of Caracas, at the foot of which stands La Guaira, the principal port of the republic, but the vilest141 anchorage in the world. Here ends our yacht excursion; trusting in future to the nimble-footed mule72 or to the thumping142 stage coaches for the rest of the journey.
Despite its wretched shipping143 facilities, La Guaira carries on a very active trade with foreign marts, as is attested144 by the number of English, French, German, and Italian merchants, with a few Americans, residing here, forming, as it were a truly foreign colony. The heat, as you perceive, is intense, owing to the proximity145 of the barren mountain-base, which leaves room scarcely for a loaded mule to turn round in the narrow and crowded-up streets. On this account, I presume, La Guaira is very healthy, for not even the Asiatic cholera146 could obtain a footing here—excuse the pun—when{xxiii} it decimated the capital in 1853. Cases of vomito occur from time to time; but these are more the exception than the rule; so it does not follow that all hot places in the tropics are unhealthy, for Carupano, Margarita, Cumana, La Guaira, and Coro, which are within the isothermal line of greatest heat—owing, doubtless, to the dry, stony147, or sandy soil on which they stand—are among the healthiest spots in Venezuela. However, we shall soon be out of this sultry place, and amidst the glories of a temperate148 climate. For this purpose we will hire mules at one of the posadas or hotels, to ascend149 the mountains on our way to Caracas, the capital of the republic, giving the preference to the old road, which is much shorter and more picturesque than the new one for carriage travel. Let us hear first the enthusiastic English tourist describe this route, as I may be accused by some of partiality towards my own country.
“The ascent150 is very precipitous, and the road rough and narrow, but the view of the boundless152 ocean on one hand, and the magnificent range of mountains on the other, was very grand. The road rather reminded me of the Great St. Bernard, though the resemblance would not bear analyzing153. The sensation of rising gradually into the cooler strata154 of air was most delicious; and at length, being suddenly enveloped in a cloud, I felt actually cold (a novel sensation I had not experienced for several months), and was not at all sorry to put on my jacket. There is no mountain in the tropics where you rise as immediately and suddenly from the stifling155 heat of the Tierra Caliente to the delicious temperature of an European sunrise in spring, as the Silla of Caracas.{xxiv}
“On the road from Vera Cruz to Mexico, when the traveller arrives at the height of four thousand feet, beyond which the fever never spreads, he is upwards156 of thirty miles from the sea, whereas, on the road up the Silla at that height the ocean lies immediately at his feet, and he looks down upon it as from a tower. So perpendicular157 is the face of the Silla towards the sea, that any large boulder158 or mass of rock becoming detached high up the mountain and bounding down its face, would fall clean into the ocean. About half way up the mountain, we crossed a deep cleft159 in the mountain called the Salto—a jump—on rather a rickety old draw-bridge. The bridge is commanded by a ruinous old town, called Torre Quemada, or the Burnt Tower, a name it derives160 from its being placed just at the height where the traveller, descending161 to La Guaira, first encounters the stifling exhalations from the Tierra Caliente. About nine o’clock we stopped to breakfast at La Venta, an inn some five thousand feet above La Guaira. Here, in a perfectly163 European atmosphere, we lay out in the grass, and gazed down upon the ocean and the town of La Guaira; we could just distinguish the Ariel, looking the size of a walnut-shell, hoisting164 her white sail, and standing165 away for Porto Cabello, where we were to meet her, unless we returned to Trinidad via the Rio Apure and the Orinoco.”
Both sides of the road are lined with Maguey plants, or varieties of the Agave genus, improperly166 called aloes and century-plants, from a mistaken notion that they only blossom once in a hundred years. The most beautiful of these is the cocuy, with thick glossy leaves of a clear emerald color, from{xxv} six to eight feet, and a flower-stock from twenty-five to thirty feet in length. I believe it is the same species that yields the famous beverage167 of the Mexicans, called pulque, which some compare to fermented168 animal juices. A much more agreeable drink is obtained here by distillation169 from this plant, and its leaves turned to better account by scraping out the fine fibres they contain, from which most beautiful hammocks are made in various parts of the country, besides ropes, coffee-bags, twine, etc., etc. A fortune is in store for some Yankee genius who will invent the proper machine for dressing170 these leaves and getting the fibres. The other varieties are the cocuiza brava, or common century-plant (Agave Americana), with serrated leaves, on which account it is very useful for making hedges, and the cocuiza dulce, with perfectly smooth leaves, containing the strongest fibres and usually cultivated for that purpose. The pith of the flower-stock is also turned to account in various ways, especially for making the best kind of razor-strops.
Were you as much a lover of plants as I am, I would invite you to descend162 with me to one of those lovely glens formed by these mountains. There, amid moss171-covered rocks and sparkling rivulets172, I would point out to you those singular orchidac?ous plants usually called air-plants, because they obtain their nourishment173 from the moist air that surrounds them,—not a bad idea,—those lovely daughters of Flora and Favonius, so rich in perfume as well as color, but whose principal charm consists in their caricaturing most living objects in nature, from the “human form divine,” as in man-orchis (O. mascula) to the bumble-bee, often deceived by a perfect{xxvi} representation of his species (Ophris apifera). Thus we count among our floral treasures “angels,” “swans,” “doves,” “eagles,” “pelicans,” “spiders,” “butterflies,” “bumble-bees,” and even a perfect infant in its cradle, was found by Linden in the mountains of Merida. The celebrated Flor del Espiritu Santo (Peristeria elata) is another of this class. It is there only that are found those two most beautiful species of cattleya (C. Mossi? and C. Labiata), so highly prized by plant collectors, from all nations, and here called Flor de Mayo, or Mayflower, because it blossoms principally in the month of May. Great favorites are they with us also, and no court-yard is deemed sufficiently174 ornamented175 at Caracas without one or more baskets of these lovely plants, the stump176 of a tree, or any rustic177 basket filled with bark or moss, being sufficient support for them. In the same manner the curious Butterfly-flower (Oncidium papillio) is raised along with the others, often deceiving persons unacquainted with it, with a perfect representation of the insect whose name it bears; and if you should visit with me some of the cacao plantations in the tierra caliente, I would point out to you two equally exquisite178 plants of the same family attached to the rough stems and branches of the Erythrina, namely, the Swan-flower (Cycnoches ventricosum) and the Vanilla, both filling the air with the same perfume, but in different form, the former through its swan-like flowers, in clusters of three, five, and even seven, and the latter through its ripened179 pods—so well known to perfumers and confectioners—as the blossoms of this last, though quite large and handsome, are destitute181 of perfume.{xxvii}
But to return to our mountain ride, for it is time that we should be prepared to behold182 a still more glorious view from the summit, than the one just described by Sullivan: “After a regular Spanish breakfast of chocolate and fried eggs, for which, in as regular Spanish custom, we were charged about ten times the proper amount, we continued our ascent, and gained the seat of the Saddle, a hollow between the two peaks, called the Pummel and Croup,[8] about ten o’clock. The summit of the pass called Las Vueltas, is a smooth undulating grass-land, somewhat like the sheep-downs of Sussex. The bold rocky peaks on either hand, stretching in a serrated ridge as far as the eye could reach, were very fine. I could scarcely fancy myself to be only ten degrees north of the equator, and actually on or rather only eight thousand feet above the isothermal line of greatest heat, which passes through Cartagena, La Guaira, and Cumana.
“We had left far below us all the tropical flora, and were amongst English ferns and English blackberries; and I actually discovered one familiar friend, a dandelion. From the summit of Las Vueltas, you first get a magnificent view of the valley of Chacao, lying some four thousand feet below you, with the city of Caracas in the centre of it. I don’t think the view from that height is so fine as some thousand feet lower down, where it certainly beats any view I have ever seen. It is finer in my opinion than the first coup118 d’?il of the Vega and city of Granada{xxviii} from the Ultimo Suspiro del Moro, where the degenerate183 Boabdil el Chico, both in mind and body, turned to take one last fond look at the luxurious184 abode of his chivalric185 ancestors and wept bitterly, though too late, at his own cowardice186 and duplicity, which had almost without a blow surrendered to the “curs of Nazareth” the splendid heritage of nearly seven centuries, and which was never but in imagination to return to the true sons of the Prophet. It is also finer than the Valley of Chamouni or Martigny, from the Tête Noire, but I think it bears more resemblance to the Vega of Granada.”
Observe how regularly laid out, at right angles to each other, the streets are; the area of the city is great for the number of inhabitants (sixty thousand), most of the houses being built one story high, and occupying in consequence a large space, on account of the earthquakes, which are of frequent occurrence all along the Andean range. As we approach the suburbs, you may notice some of the ruins still remaining of that dreadful catastrophe187, which, in 1812, levelled this beautiful city to the ground, burying beneath the débris twelve thousand of the inhabitants, just as they had assembled in the magnificent churches of that time to render homage188 to the day, Holy Thursday. Since then the city has been rebuilt, it is to be hoped on more solid basis.
Caracas claims the honor of having given birth to several distinguished individuals, among others to Bolívar and Miranda, two of the greatest champions of South American independence; to Rosio, the Jefferson of Venezuela;to Andres Bello, a great poet and publicist; and to the eminent surgeon and physician, Dr. Vargas, one of the Presidents of the Republic.
The climate of Caracas has often been called a perpetual spring. “What can we conceive to be more delightful189 than a temperature which in the day keeps between 20° and 26°,[9] and at night between 16° and 18°, which is equally favorable to the plantain, the orange tree, the coffee tree, the apple, the apricot, and corn? José de Oviedo y Ba?os, the historiographer of Venezuela, calls the situation of Caracas that of a terrestrial paradise, and compares the Anauco and the neighboring torrents190 to the four rivers of the Garden of Eden.”[10]
The hotels, Sullivan describes as being as good as any in Europe. “You might travel from one end of Old Spain to the other without finding anything to be compared to them, either as regards cleanliness or the civility of the landlords.” But as here I am at home, you are most cordially invited to our mansion191 at the end of the Calle del Comercio, where you may verify for yourself the truth of the statements concerning the climate and productions of this fertile valley. We may at once enter the garden, which occupies nearly the whole square, where, after our rough ride, we can refresh ourselves with the fruits of the season.
Here, as you perceive, you find growing side by side the refreshing192 orange and the luscious193 apple, the pomegranate{xxx} and the peach; the banana, the citron, the guava, the sapodilla, and papaw tree, all of them eminently194 tropical fruits, with the pear, the grape-vine, and other productions of temperate regions. Unsurpassed by any, not even by the famous Mangosteen of the Spicy195 Islands, you have here the delicious Chirimoya, or cherimoyer, as pronounced by Anglo-Saxons, and which I can only liken to lumps of flavored cream ready to be frozen, suspended from the branches of some fairy tree amidst the most overpowering perfume of its flowers; for it is in bearing all the year round, as indeed are most of the fruit trees you see about this garden, and consequently you may at all times enjoy the advantage of refreshing the inner as well as the outer man with a “wilderness of sweets.” Markham,[11] who has tasted both the chirimoya and mangosteen in their native habitat, gives the preference decidedly to the former, and says of it: “He who has not tasted the chirimoya fruit has yet to learn what fruit is.” “The pineapple, the mangosteen and the chirimoya,” says Dr. Seeman, “are considered the finest fruits in the world. I have tasted them in those localities in which they are supposed to attain their highest perfection—the pineapple in Guayaquil, the mangosteen in the Indian Archipelago, and the chirimoya on the slope of the Andes, and if I were called upon to act the part of a Paris, I would without hesitation196 assign the apple to the chirimoya. Its taste indeed surpasses that of every other fruit, and Haenke was quite right when he called it the masterpiece of nature.{xxxi}”
The numerous varieties of hot-house grapes, which in your variable climate of the north require so much skill and attention to perfect their growth, here thrive without the least care, and the vines which you see struggling here and there among the trees for some kind of support, proceed from cuttings which I brought over six years ago from one of the best regulated establishments in Connecticut.
Here, too, the stately Mauritia-palm of the Orinoco, the date-palm of the burning Sahara, the royal-palm of Cuba (Oredoxa Regia), and the oil-palm of Africa (Eleis guinensis) commingle197 their majestic198 crowns with the dense199 foliage of the mango tree of India, the aromatic201 cinnamon tree of Ceylon, the bread-fruit tree of Otaheite, and the sombre pines and cypress202 of northern regions, forming the most effective protection to the shade-loving magnolia and the delicate violet of your native woods.
Swarms203 of tiny and brilliant humming-birds flutter amid masses of highly-scented orange blossoms that perfume the air around us. Any one unacquainted with that bijou of the feathered tribe, would mistake it at first sight for some of the metallic-colored beetles204 which dispute with them the nectar of the fragrant flowers, so brilliant is the lustre205 shed by both. “For that peculiar charm which resides in flashing light combined with the most brilliant colors, the lustre of precious stones, there are no birds, no creatures that can compare with the humming-birds. Confined exclusively to America—whence we have already gathered between three and four hundred distinct species, and more are continually discovered—these lovely little{xxxii} winged gems206 were to the Mexican and Peruvian Indians the very quintessence of beauty. By these simple people they were called by various names, signifying ‘the rays of the sun,’ ‘the tresses of the day-star,’ and the like.”[12]
You may have noticed in your conservatories at home a well known creeper called the passion-flower, on account of a fancied similarity in the arrangement of its inflorescence with the instruments of torture employed in the martyrdom of the Saviour207, such as the crown of thorns, the three nails, the hammer, and even the spots of sacred blood round the pillar of agony. The plants of this genus are general favorites with northern horticulturists only on account of the beauty and delicious aroma200 of their flowers, for they bear no fruit with you; but here, this constitutes their principal merit, especially that of the granadilla, which you may perceive intertwining its graceful20 vines amongst yonder arbor208 set up for its support. Huge watermelon-like fruits hang from its delicate tendrils as if suspended by a thread; cut open one of them; you will find it filled with a nectarian juice, which, when crushed in the mouth, regale209 your palate with the compound flavor of the strawberry and the peach. Other varieties of passion-flower—of which there are many though less pretentious210 in size than the granadilla—bear fruit equally rich in flavor. Unfortunately, not all fructify211 in the same locality, as they require different degrees of temperature, and maybe of atmospheric212 pressure, also, to ripen180 their fruit, which they cunningly obtain for themselves by “squatting{xxxiii}” of their own accord higher up or lower down the mountains, as the case may be.
I could still point out to you many other delicious fruits in this garden were they in season, such as the tuna or Indian-fig, borne by the nopal, a species of cactus213, on the fleshy, downy stems of which the cochineal insect is reared for those most valuable crimson and scarlet214 dyes “which far outshine the vaunted productions of ancient Tyre;” and the pitahaya, of the same family of plants, notable for the size and effulgence215 of its flowers. “It begins to open as the sun declines, and is in full expanse throughout the night, shedding a delicious fragrance216, and offering its brimming goblet217, filled with nectarious juice, to thousands of moths218, and other crepuscular219 and nocturnal insects. When the moon is at the full in those cloudless nights whose loveliness is only known in the tropics, the broad blossom is seen as a circular dish nearly a foot in diameter, very full of petals220, of which the outer series are of a yellowish hue, gradually paling to the centre, where they shine in the purest white. The numerous recumbent stamens surround the style, which rises in the midst like a polished shaft221, the whole growing in its silvery beauty under the moonbeams, from the dark and matted foliage, and diffusing222 its delicious clove-like fragrance so profusely223 that the air is loaded with it for furlongs round.”[13]
I well remember one night when a distinguished foreigner, General Devereux, who rendered the patriot224 cause so marked a service by bringing over the Irish Legion to{xxxiv} assist this country in her struggle for independence, honored me with a visit while keeping bachelor’s hall in this—to me then—earthly paradise. The Queen of Night was shining in all her glory, and the air redolent with the perfume of many exquisite flowers, among others that of the pitahaya just described, while the stillness that reigned225 around the spot, added to my youthful dreams of fairy lands I had lately visited across the seas, made me feel a particular pride about our mansion in the capital. Although the old hero was perfectly blind—as will be recollected226 by many who knew him in the United States where he resided afterwards—I could not resist the wish to invite him to take a stroll about the garden. As we passed close to the flowers of the pitahaya, the gallant old soldier stopped suddenly, and seizing me by the hand with an emotion that made me feel the deepest sympathy for the blind man, said: “How happy you must be here, my young friend, surrounded as you are by plants that shed such heavenly perfume!” But when we passed a bower228 of English honeysuckles, which was my special favorite, as I had planted it with my own hands, his emotions were indeed those of a man who felt as though everything on earth was lost to him—sweet home, friendly associations, the world itself in fact, and that he was only a wandering spirit in a strange sphere.
This, my good companion, reminds me too that such, more or less, is my own situation in this my native land, subject as it has been for years to political convulsions more disastrous229 to the peacefully inclined, than those subterranean230 fires which agitate231 the soil from time to time. Therefore{xxxv} our rambles232 in the capital must be of short duration, and following the route already pointed233 out by the traveller Sullivan, we will proceed on our journey towards the fertile valley of Aragua, stopping for the night at Las Adjuntas, a village delightfully234 situated at the foot of another lofty range of mountains which separates this from that of Caracas, near the junction235 of two mountain streams that form the Rio Guaire which passes near the capital.
Should you ever be troubled with nervousness or dyspepsia from too close application to business, or even be threatened with that more serious complaint of cold climates, consumption, don’t let your Doctor bother you with physic, nor delude236 yourself with a trip “down South,” Cuba, or even Europe; all this may at best prolong a miserable237 existence a little longer; instead of that, come here at once; bring plenty of books to while away the dolce far niente of this quiet place; or if you are a sportsman, your gun and fishing tackle; when sufficiently convalescent to undergo the fatigues238 of the journey, buy or hire horses for yourself and a good peon or guide, and start for the llanos, where you will have to rough it out as I did some years ago, and I guarantee you a radical239 cure.
At Las Adjuntas we have the choice of two roads, one for carriages, made at great cost since Sullivan’s visit to the country, and the other one right over the mountains; as this is by far the most picturesque of the two and the one described by him, we will follow on his footsteps, if you wish to enjoy the glorious scenery, of which he says;
“Next morning, at 3 A.M., our faithful mozo roused us,{xxxvi}—at San Pedro—and we found our mules already saddled. The morning was very cold, and a cloak was by no means disagreeable. As far as I could make out by the light of a most glorious moon, San Pedro must be a very picturesque and flourishing village. We continued ascending240 through a thickly-wooded, mountainous path, for about three hours, when we found ourselves along the summit of the mountain, here called Las Cocuizas. Here the scenery was truly magnificent. The road wound along the summit of the Sierra, giving alternate views of the valley of the Tuy, with the distant valley of Aragua on the one hand, and the valley of Ocumare bounded the snow-capped mountains that separate the valleys from the plains on the other. Out of the main valleys narrow little glens wind, and nestle up into the mountains, till lost to view. Their rounded sides, and the emerald brilliancy of nature’s carpet with which they were clothed, reminded me of some of the glens of the Cheviots.
“That morning’s moonlight ride along the summits of the sierra of Las Cocuizas was certainly one of the most enjoyable I ever remember. It was almost like magic, when as the sun began to approach the horizon, the perfect stillness of the forests beneath was gradually broken by the occasional note of some early riser of the winged inhabitants, till at length, as the day itself began to break, the whole forest seemed to be suddenly warmed into life, sending forth21 choir241 after choir of gorgeous-plumaged songsters, each after his own manner, to swell242 the chorus of greeting—a discordant243 one, I fear it must be owned—to the glorious sun; and when the morning light enabled you to see down{xxxvii} into the misty244 valleys beneath, there were displayed to our enchanted245 gaze zones of fertility embracing almost every species of tree and flower that flourishes between the Tierra Caliente and the regions of perpetual snow. It certainly was a view of almost unequalled magnificence. We were riding amongst apple and peach trees that might have belonged to an English orchard134, and on whose branches we almost expected to see the blackbird and the chaffinch; while a few hundred yards below, parrots and macaws, monkeys and mocking-birds were sporting among the palms and tree-ferns of a tropical climate. I consider that this view alone would repay any lover of fine scenery for all the troubles and risks of crossing the Atlantic, for I do not know where one to be compared with it is to be found in Europe.”
This mountain takes the name of Las Cocuizas from the abundance of Agave plants growing here, and which impart such peculiar aspect to the landscape as we descend towards the bed of the Tuy, at the foot of the mountain. Here we must stop to breakfast and pass the sun before we proceed on our journey along the Tierra Caliente not far from our resting-place.
“We found the pretty village of Las Cocuizas,” proceeds Sullivan, “situated at the entrance of a delicious little glen, down which warbled the waters of the Tuy. The Venta, in fact nearly the whole village was shaded by one enormous saman-tree,[14] which to the dusty and wearied traveller gave it a most enticing246 appearance; neither did it disappoint our{xxxviii} expectations, for a cleaner room and a better breakfast better cooked and better served, I never wish to taste. This venta at Las Cocuizas is most enchantingly situated at the foot of the mountain and at the entrance of the valley of the Tuy, which is there a mere247 glen; one side is entirely shaded by this enormous tree, and the other overhanging the Tuy, which with its rocky bed and thickly-wooded, precipitous banks, reminded one very much of some of the tributaries248 of the Tweed. The venta would be a charming place to stay at for a few days’ angling in the Tuy, which I believe is very good.”
After leaving the venta of Las Cocuizas, we wade249 through the waters of the Tuy—no bridge being provided here—and proceed along a well graded road for carts and carriages skirting the base of another ridge of mountains until we reach the village of El Consejo, where the great valley of Aragua, seventy miles in length, properly commences. And now we are in the great coffee region, “the garden of Venezuela” as it is very aptly called by common accord. As we ride towards the town of La Victoria, where we shall stop for the night, we pass several extensive plantations of that delicious shrub250, shaded like the cacao by those stupendous erythrinas which you might mistake for a primeval forest, were it not for the uniformity of their growth and dazzling blossoms. Nothing in your vaunted system of cultivation in the North can excel the care bestowed251 upon these plantations, which must be kept in the best order to yield handsome returns; but as we cannot stop to visit one of these just now, you will permit me to{xxxix} repeat what the traveller often quoted before, says in regard to the region we are traversing:
“The valleys of Aragua are the most thickly populated and the most highly cultivated of all the districts of Venezuela. The level of the valley is two thousand feet below the valley of Caracas, consequently the heat much more intense. Coffee is now the chief article of exportation from Venezuela, the fluctuating price of which has of late years been very injurious to the country. The berry grown is of a superior quality, and fetches a much better price than the Cuban or Brazilian coffee, though not quite so high as that grown in Jamaica. Some of the coffee and sugar estates we passed were on the largest scale, employing as many as two hundred slaves,[15] besides the same number of laborers252. A coffee plantation, either in blossom or when the berry is ripe, is the most beautiful culture in the world. The plant itself, with its regular shoots like a miniature tree, and red berries, is one of the most graceful shrubs253 I know; and as between the rows of coffee-trees they usually plant plantains and bananas, these with their enormous clusters of yellow fruits and their leaves of some six or eight feet in length, add greatly to the effect, and give the country the appearance of a large fruit garden. Moreover, as it is necessary to plant the mango, and other large fast-growing trees, to protect the ripening254 berry from the deluging255 rains and scorching heats, whenever you pass a coffee plantation, even in the hottest day in the midst of summer, when the whole face of the country is parched256 up and of an unhealthy brown{xl} color, the eye is continually refreshed by the cool, verdant257 appearance of these shaded gardens.”
I may add that the coffee of Venezuela is of various qualities, according to whether it is raised in Tierra Caliente or Tierra Fria, id est, coffee of the low, warm valleys, or coffee of mountainous districts; this last is superior to the former, and bears in consequence the highest price in the market. Again, café trillado, and café descerezado, which means coffee dried in the berry as it is gathered, and husked afterwards by a tread-mill composed of a heavy wooden wheel revolving258 in a circular trough of masonry259; and coffee deprived at once of its pulpy260 covering by machinery261 as soon as it is picked, dried afterwards in the sun upon extensive platforms of masonry called patios262, and passed through different sets of machinery to deprive the grain or bean of the adhering shell and pellicle. The coffee thus prepared is superior in quality to that which is trillado for want of means on the part of the planter to put up the expensive works required for this operation, and therefore bears a higher price.
Interspersed263 with these plantations are others of no less importance to the industry of these valleys, such as indigo, cotton, indian-corn, wheat and tobacco, all of them requiring the same share of careful cultivation and intelligent management. “The road we were following,” continues Sullivan, “was so well kept and so well wooded, and the hedges so neatly264 clipped, that I could hardly sometimes help fancying myself riding down some country lanes in England. We followed one lime hedge, which enclosed a coffee plantation,{xli} for upwards of two miles. It was the most perfectly kept hedge I had seen in any country; it was four or five feet high and about three feet thick, and throughout its whole length, I don’t believe there was a single flaw through which a dog could have forced its way. Several slaves were employed in trimming it. In fact, in this climate, where the growth of all inanimate nature is unceasing, and so rapid, it must employ several hands continually to keep it in such beautiful order. The scent151 of the lime as we approached it from some parched country we had been crossing previously, was most delicious.”
As there is nothing to interest us in the towns along this route, we will pass by San Mateo, La Victoria and Turmero, all of them pleasantly surrounded by plantations until we reach Maracay, the point of our destination. On our way thither, we come up with that giant of the vegetable world, the Saman de Güere, so well described by Humboldt in his Travels, and subsequently by Sullivan. As their statements are corroborative265 of the facts given elsewhere by me respecting these enormous but most graceful mimosas, I will here use the language of the last mentioned traveller about that of the hacienda de Güere.
“Soon after leaving Turmero we caught sight of the far-famed Saman de Güere, and in about an hour’s time arrived at the hamlet of Güere, from whence it takes its name. It is supposed to be the oldest tree in the world, for so great was the reverence266 of the Indians for it on account of its age at the time of the Spanish conquest, that the Government issued a decree for its protection from all injury, and it has{xlii} ever since been public property. It shows no sign whatever of decay, but it is as fresh and green as it was most probably a thousand years ago. The trunk of this magnificent tree is only sixty feet high by thirty feet in circumference267, so that it is not so much the enormous size of the Saman de Güere that constitutes its great attraction, as the wonderful spread of its magnificent branches, and the perfect dome268-like shape of its head, which is so exact and regular, that one could almost fancy some extinct race of giants had been exercising their topiarian art upon it. The circumference of this dome is said to be nearly six hundred feet, and the measure of its semicircular head very nearly as great. The saman is a species of mimosa, and what is curious and adds greatly to its beauty and softness is, that the leaves of this giant of nature are as small and delicate as those of the silver willow269, and are equally as sensitive to every passing breeze.”
And now for the most picturesque of all the towns on our long ride, Maracay, not on account of any architectural display about its buildings, for it has no pretensions270 of this kind, but for its many gardens, each house being literally271 embowered in the choicest productions of the tropics in the way of fruits, such as orange, lime and lemon trees, both sweet and sour; caimito or star-apple, a creamy and luscious fruit growing upon one of the most beautiful trees with which I am acquainted; the same might be said of two other fruit-trees cultivated in these gardens, the mamon and cotopriz; both bearing great bunches of an oval fruit the size of a pigeon’s egg, olive-green in the former,{xliii} and bright yellow in the latter, containing a kernel272 enveloped in a sweet, sub-acid pulp; bread-fruit trees of two kinds and accordingly distinguished as fruta de pan and pan de palo, bread-fruit and bread-tree—the former being a large pulpy and greenish fruit very like an Osage orange but larger, containing great numbers of chestnut-like seeds, which roasted or boiled taste very much like bread, and the latter a fruit precisely273 like its congener in appearance, but destitute of seeds, which assimilates it still more to the “staff of life” when boiled or baked, for it is beautifully white and compact inside.
In addition to the foregoing, these gardens offer you a fine display of other tropical trees no less esteemed274 for their grateful shade and their delicious fruits, such as sapotes and sapodillas, both elegant in form as well as in bearing; and so is also the splendid mamey apple-tree (mamea Americana) bearing great quantities of large, round and heavy fruits, brown outside, and golden-yellow within, from which marmalades and other delicacies275 are made by the charming Maracayeras.
The family to which the famous chirimoya belongs (anonaci?) have also three other representatives hardly inferior to that “master-piece of nature,” viz.; the guanábana (anona muricata) or sour-sop—an ugly name in English for such fine fruit—from which a most cooling drink is made, and still finer ices; the custard-apple, which needs no further explanation than its name to recommend it; and the ri?on, (anona squamosa) also a custardy kindney-like fruit, hence its name.{xliv}
Butter being expensive, and difficult to keep in this climate, nature has provided a substitute for it in the fruit of the fine tree (Persea gratissima), consecrated276, as the name implies, to Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Dana?; thus showing the wisdom of the botanist48 over the less cultivated English settlers of the Caribean islands, who call it alligator-pear, I presume, from the fact of its being indigenous to a country abounding277 in saurian reptiles278, although I am of opinion that a creature of this sort would rather prefer a more substantial morsel37 in the shape of a fat Briton, to a fruit which is well adapted to the taste of demigods. In shape it resembles a large pear, but the interior of its rind is lined with a marrow-like substance of a yellowish color, which assimilates very nearly to butter, the place of which it supplies at the breakfast-table. It is, in fact, vegetable-butter, and many prefer it to the ordinary kind.
The extensive family of leguminous or pod-bearing trees also grace these gardens with three additional members remarkable for fine foliage and useful products, such as the algarroba, with hard-shelled pods, containing a number of brown, round seeds or beans—also very hard, enveloped in a farinaceous and very nutricious fecula; a fine aromatic resin279, good for varnishes280, exudes281 from the trunk and branches of this tree, and a still finer one can be extracted from its horny pericarp by infusion282 in alcohol or other extractive medium; guamos (Inga) of various kinds, with pellucid283 pods one and two feet in length, containing a row of beans enveloped in white, cottony pulp, most grateful{xlv} to the taste; and the unrivalled tamarind, either as regards beauty of foliage, brilliancy of blossoms, or the delicacy284 of its acidulous285 pulpy pods; these are candied either in a green state or when fully ripe, affording in the latter case a most refreshing drink to the fever-stricken in this climate, when made into a decoction. In blossom, the tamarind-tree is one of the most charming objects to behold, for amid its feathery, dark-green foliage, somewhat similar to that of the hemlock286, issues a profusion287 of golden-yellow branches of delicate flowers, almost dazzling to the eyes.
The coco-palm, although far away from the sea-coast, its native habitat, also flourishes in great perfection, contributing not a little to the splendor288 of the vegetation in these truly tropical gardens, with its glorious crown of monster leaves. And last, though not least, the plantain and banana claim here the supremacy289 which everyone accords them over all productions of the tropics. A few plants of each only are sufficient to supply a whole family with bread, vegetables, fruit, and preserves of various kinds. “We might be surprised,” observes Humboldt, “at the small extent of these cultivated spots, if we did not recollect227 that an acre planted with plantains produces nearly twenty times as much food as the same space sown with corn. In Europe, our wheat, barley290, and rye cover vast spaces of ground; and in general the arable291 lands touch each other whenever the inhabitants live upon corn. It is different under the torrid zone, where man obtains food from plants which yield more abundant and earlier harvests. In those favored climates the fertility of the soil is proportioned to{xlvi} the heat and humidity of the atmosphere. An immense population finds abundant nourishment within a narrow space covered with plantains, casava, yams, and maize292.”[16]
Well has the immortal bard293 of the Torrid Zone[17] sung the marvellous exuberance of this plant in the following lines, which I regret to be unable to translate.
“Y para tí el banano,
Desmaya al peso de su dulce carga.
El banano, primero
De cuantos concedió bellos presentes
Providencia à, las gentes
Del Ecuador feliz con4 mano larga;
No ya de humanas artes obligado
El premio rinde opimo;
No es á la podadera, no al arado,
Deudor de su racimo.
Escasa industria bástale cual puede
Robar á sus fatigas mano esclava;
Crece veloz, y cuando exbausto acaba,
Adulta prole en torno le sucede.”
Silva á la Zona Tórrida.
Water being abundant throughout these gardens by the provident294 care of the inhabitants in bringing it in flowing streams from a great distance, they present at all times of the year, even during the driest months of summer, the perpetual spring-like verdure which constitutes their principal charm. Not far from here is the fine lake of Tacarigua or{xlvii} Valencia, which by its gradual but marked evaporation295, is constantly adding to the already extensive area of fertile land nowhere to be found like it in the wide world, and which doubtless extorted296, even from an Englishman, the following confession297:
“It is a great pity Venezuela is so much out of the high roads of travel, and that the inconveniences, for Europeans, of getting at it, are so great. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful country, as regards climate, scenery, and productions, in the world. The inhabitants are intelligent, civil, and honest; and although there is no excessive wealth in the country, there is, on the other hand, no great poverty, and actual want is unknown, where beef can be procured298 to any amount for a half penny a pound, and plantains and bananas almost for nothing. The inns are excellent, and travelling perfectly safe. You may, on the sides of its precipitous valleys, in a few hours, ascend from the productions of the torrid zone to those of the frigid. You may, if you like, dine off beefsteak and potatoes, cooled down with French claret or real London stout299; or, if you prefer it, you may, in imitation of Leo X. and the Emperor Vitellius, feast your guests on joints300 of monkey and jaguar301, and have your entremêts of parrots’ tongues and humming-birds’ breasts washed down with sparkling pulque, tapped from the graceful maguey growing at your very door. In fact, there is no luxury you cannot enjoy at a moderate expense. Servants are cheap; and you can buy a horse for five shillings, though it will cost you fifteen to have him shod! The shooting on the llanos and in the mountains,{xlviii} according to all accounts, is very grand. The woods are filled with jaguar and ocelot, to say nothing of snakes, and the plains with deer and wild cattle.
“If any kind fairy were to offer me the sovereignty of any part of the world out of Europe, with power to rule it as I choose, my choice would certainly fall on Venezuela. I am fully convinced it only wants a government strong and stable enough to ensure the necessary protection to capital and property, to render it one of the most flourishing countries in the world. I look back upon the few weeks I spent there as amongst the most enjoyable I ever passed; and if ever any opportunity was to offer of revisiting that delicious country, I should do so with pleasure. Any traveller, wishing to judge for himself, has only to go by the West India steamer to St. Thomas, where he meets the sailing-packet for La Guaira, which he reaches in four or five days; and with a few letters of introduction, or even without any, hospitality will meet him on all hands, and he will never feel a moment hang heavy on his hands.”[18]
And now, seated under the refreshing foliage of these paradisaical gardens, rather than expose you to the dangers of a demi-savage country, I will recount to you the adventures of a former journey, and the peculiarities of a still more wonderful region.
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foliage
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thither
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heartily
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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concur
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par
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wondrous
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exuberance
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untold
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worthy
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founders
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situated
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lore
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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incompetent
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previously
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rev
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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19
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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20
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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21
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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22
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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23
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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24
navigating
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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25
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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26
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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27
naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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28
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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29
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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30
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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31
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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32
canvass
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| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
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33
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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34
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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35
antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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36
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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37
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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38
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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39
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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40
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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41
eulogistic
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| adj.颂扬的，颂词的 | |
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42
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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43
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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44
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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45
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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46
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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47
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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48
botanist
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| n.植物学家 | |
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49
botanists
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| n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 ) | |
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50
conservatories
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| n.（培植植物的）温室，暖房( conservatory的名词复数 ) | |
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51
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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52
estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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53
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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54
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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55
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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56
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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57
indigenous
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| adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的 | |
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58
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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59
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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60
diplomats
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| n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人 | |
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61
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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62
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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63
munificent
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| adj.慷慨的，大方的 | |
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64
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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65
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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66
emanates
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的第三人称单数 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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67
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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68
vanilla
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| n.香子兰，香草 | |
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69
indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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70
accredited
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| adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
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71
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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72
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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73
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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74
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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75
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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76
rattling
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|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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77
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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78
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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79
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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80
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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81
labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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82
eastward
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|
| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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83
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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84
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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85
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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86
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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87
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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88
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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89
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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90
ponchos
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| n.斗篷( poncho的名词复数 ) | |
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91
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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92
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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93
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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94
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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95
savannas
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|
| n.（美国东南部的）无树平原( savanna的名词复数 )；（亚）热带的稀树大草原 | |
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96
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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97
steamships
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| n.汽船，大轮船( steamship的名词复数 ) | |
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98
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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99
accomplished
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|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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100
diversified
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|
| adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域 | |
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101
commodious
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|
| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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102
dreaded
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|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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103
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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104
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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105
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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106
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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107
outlets
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| n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店 | |
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108
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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109
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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110
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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111
titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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112
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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113
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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114
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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115
elevations
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| （水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升 | |
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116
cataracts
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| n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障 | |
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117
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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118
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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119
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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120
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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121
hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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122
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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123
meteoric
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| adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的 | |
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124
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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125
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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126
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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127
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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128
attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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129
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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130
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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131
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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133
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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134
orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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135
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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136
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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137
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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138
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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139
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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140
attaining
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|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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141
vilest
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|
| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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142
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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143
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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144
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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145
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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146
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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147
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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148
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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149
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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150
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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151
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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152
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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153
analyzing
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| v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析 | |
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154
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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155
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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156
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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157
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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158
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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159
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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160
derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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161
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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162
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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163
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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164
hoisting
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| 起重，提升 | |
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165
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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166
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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167
beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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168
fermented
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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169
distillation
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| n.蒸馏，蒸馏法 | |
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170
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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171
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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172
rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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173
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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174
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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175
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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176
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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177
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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178
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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179
ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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180
ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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181
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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182
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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183
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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184
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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185
chivalric
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| 有武士气概的，有武士风范的 | |
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186
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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187
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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188
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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189
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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190
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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191
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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192
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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193
luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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194
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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195
spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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196
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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197
commingle
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| v.混合 | |
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198
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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199
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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200
aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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201
aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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202
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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203
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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204
beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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205
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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206
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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207
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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208
arbor
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| n.凉亭；树木 | |
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209
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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210
pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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211
fructify
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| v.结果实；使土地肥沃 | |
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212
atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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213
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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214
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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215
effulgence
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| n.光辉 | |
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216
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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217
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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218
moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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219
crepuscular
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| adj.晨曦的；黄昏的；昏暗的 | |
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220
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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221
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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222
diffusing
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| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
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223
profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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224
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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225
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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226
recollected
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|
| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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227
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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228
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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229
disastrous
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|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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230
subterranean
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|
| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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231
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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232
rambles
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|
| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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233
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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234
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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235
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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236
delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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237
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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238
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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239
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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240
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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241
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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242
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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243
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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244
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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245
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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246
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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247
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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248
tributaries
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| n. 支流 | |
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249
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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250
shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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251
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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252
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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253
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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254
ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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255
deluging
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| v.使淹没( deluge的现在分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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256
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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257
verdant
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| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
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258
revolving
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|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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259
masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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260
pulpy
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| 果肉状的，多汁的，柔软的； 烂糊； 稀烂 | |
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261
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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262
patios
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| n.露台，平台( patio的名词复数 ) | |
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263
interspersed
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|
| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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264
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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265
corroborative
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|
| adj.确证（性）的，确凿的 | |
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266
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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267
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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268
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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269
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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270
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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271
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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272
kernel
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| n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心 | |
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273
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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274
esteemed
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|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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275
delicacies
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|
| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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276
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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277
abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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278
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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279
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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280
varnishes
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| 清漆的面（尤指木器或金属制品上的）( varnish的名词复数 )； 光泽面； 罩光漆 | |
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281
exudes
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| v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的第三人称单数 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情 | |
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282
infusion
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| n.灌输 | |
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283
pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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284
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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285
acidulous
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| adj.微酸的；苛薄的 | |
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286
hemlock
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| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
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287
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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288
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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289
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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290
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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291
arable
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| adj.可耕的，适合种植的 | |
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292
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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293
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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294
provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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295
evaporation
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| n.蒸发，消失 | |
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296
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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297
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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298
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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300
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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301
jaguar
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| n.美洲虎 | |
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