L.

CARACAS, REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA, SOUTH AMERICA, _January 15, 1849_.

The English steamer not arriving at St. Thomas before the time appointed for the mail schooner, I found myself, as the only passenger, entire possessor of the ladies’ cabin, excepting an abundant supply of cockroaches and ants, which infest vessels long navigating these seas; but one gets accustomed to these annoyances, however frightful they may appear at first. Our schooner of ninety tons, London built, had the length of hold fitted up in a ladies’ and gentlemen’s cabin and dining saloon. She carried four nine-pounders, with first, second, and third officers, who mount the naval cap with gold band, and altogether was a miniature ship of war.

We had a strong trade-wind with a heavy rolling sea at times, which, with the unusual pitching of such a small vessel, produced upon me more effect than crossing the Atlantic. The second officer and carpenter were quite sea-sick. We made the distance, however, of four hundred and eighty miles in the short space of sixty-two hours, and I was landed on the beach of La Guayra at eight P.M. with a heavy surf rolling in, the sailors rowing with all their strength, and it really looked frightful, as the harbor of La Guayra is an open roadstead, and much exposed.

“The chain of mountains,” says Humboldt, “that separates the port from the high valley of Caracas descends almost directly into the sea, and the houses of the town are backed by a wall of steep rocks, with but a few hundred yards between the wall and the ocean.” There are two principal streets which run parallel along between the wall and the sea. The population is about eight thousand. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1819, and the ruins are still existing in many parts of the town, inclosed by front walls where lots are not occupied. There is no vegetation in the town, and with the exception of Cape Blanco and the cocoa-nut trees of Marqueta in the distance, no view meets the eye except the sea, the horizon, and the heavens. It is one of the hottest places on the globe, the air being stifling during the day, and frequently at night, as the sea breeze is less felt. Along a deep ravine or mountain torrent outside of the town, the change of air is delightful, and here may be seen groups of females and children in the morning, bathing in the cool and invigorating waters which descend from the mountains.

This curious old city of Caracas, lying on ground sloping to the valley, surrounded on all sides by a bold and lofty mountain, with its valleys abounding in sugar and coffee plantations, was partially destroyed by the great earthquake of 1819, of which many temples and buildings in ruins still tell the sad story. It is three thousand four hundred feet above the level of the sea. There are two roads, the old and new; the first is only for mules and donkeys, and is much shorter than the other, say twelve miles in length; the new road is twenty-one miles, and is winding and circuitous. At present there are no carriages running, and the only way of getting here is on horse or mule-back.

In order to reach the place you ascend about six thousand feet, and then descend to the city. I procured a mule at the hotel at La Guayra, having sent my luggage by a mule-team in the morning, and at three P.M., to avoid the excessive heat of mid-day, I started all alone, being disappointed in a companion. My ride was lonely, but the sights were majestic, the road winding zigzag, the bold and lofty mountains towering above with the most gorgeous and luxuriant growth of tropical trees, with immense fields of cactus interspersed, thirty feet in height; the precipice below, with a depth of from five hundred to one thousand feet, was awfully grand.

Towards sunset I found that my mule was unable to carry me, and I concluded I could not get to the city that evening. I stopped at a rude cabin built of cane and mud, and inquiring for a Posada, or tavern, ascertained that there was one a league further, at which I arrived with the intention of resting until morning. I found I could get no bed, but could get a horse; I was told the road was safe, yet I felt that I was incurring risk in the distracted state of the country, and, as I had heard of the robbery of a Frenchman by three negroes, I felt uneasy; I pushed on, however, and arrived in the city at about nine o’clock at night.

This city has a population of some forty thousand, composed of the native population, with full one-half or two-thirds of the half-breeds, Indian, and black. The houses are of stone, one and two stories high, covered with tile, with grated windows and no glass, as in most Spanish countries in warm climates. There are no remarkable public monuments; in the cathedral, in one of the side altars, are the mortal remains of General Simeon Bolivar, the liberator of his country. The state house and reception rooms of the president are not unworthy of this young republic; the senate chamber and house of representatives is one of the confiscated Spanish convents, where the unfortunate massacre of several members took place last year by the military, in consequence of the threat of impeachment of the existing president, Monagas. The ex-president, General Paez, had a strong party, with means to oppose the measures of the new executive, which led to the armament of vessels of war and troops on both sides, as you have seen by the public journals, and consequently exhausted the treasury, distracted commerce, and almost ruined the country.

In a recent contest, several vessels of the Paez party have been seized; and the American steamer Scourge, brought out for them, has been taken, and will be condemned. The city has been thrown into great rejoicing on the part of the existing government, to the discomfiture of the friends of the opposite side, by news from Maracaibo that the castle has been evacuated by the insurgents, who have abandoned some of their vessels and fled to New Granada. Flags were flying, drums beating, the church bells ringing, and thousands of blacks were in the streets at nine o’clock at night, crying “Viva la Republica,” “Viva la Libertad,” “Viva la Constitution,” with maddening and deafening shouts. I joined the throng at the house of the president, and found upon the Plaza about one thousand men, of mixed colors, with the black sentinels at the door, in round white cotton jackets and pantaloons, a sort of red pointed fatigue cap, and bare-footed. I entered and found the president, who is a fine military looking man, with black moustache, surrounded by his friends, who greeted him on the suspension of hostilities. I could not help thinking how little these people, without the means of education, know of real liberty, and the value of a constitution, and the respect due to a majority of voices in the popular suffrage. The present government, which is popular with the blacks and lower orders, has been obliged to make great concessions and promises, which would bring anarchy, were they not a mild and easily governed race.

The people are naturally indolent, not having the same stimulant to activity as in the cold regions of the north. Riding in the country as I do daily, on the coffee and sugar plantations, one can see how the lower classes subsist; the wild cane which grows in abundance is used with mud and straw for the sides of a cabin, the roof covered with the leaves of the palm tree, or other material; a shirt, with a pair of drawers, is their only covering; their furniture consists of an iron pot, and a jar, to contain water. Two or three bananas a day are sufficient to support life. Children up to the age of seven cost nothing for clothing. A lovely and equitable climate the year round, with a soil which, with proper cultivation, would produce anything.

The consumption of beef is greater than in any country I have yet seen; and in all parts of the suburbs are seen slaughtering-places for the cattle from the great plains, and a curious and startling sight presents itself of fences made of bullocks’ horns. Cattle in large numbers have been sold by those who feared that the government would take them for the army, or for the want of money, at two dollars per head, and delivered in the city at from three dollars to five dollars. The hides are exported, and the flesh is consumed in large quantities by all classes, particularly the lower orders; the price is as low as ten cents per six pounds. I have seen so much of it, that I have almost abandoned eating meat. There are in the country, holders of from two to three hundred thousand head of cattle on the vast plains.

I have just seen an advertisement of an exhibition at the theatre for Sunday night, called the Gran Nacimiento, or Birth of Christ, which usually takes place at this season of the year; and as curiosity led me to see the exhibition, I must describe it to you, to show the peculiar tastes of these people. There were some one thousand five hundred persons present, of all classes and colors; and among them were seen the scuttle-formed hats of the priests, and their black robes, and the white and black mantillas of the dark-eyed damsels of Caracas. The roof of the theatre over the parquette was the vault of heaven, with the mild full moon’s rays, and the twinkling of the stars, almost extinguished the light of the lamps in the carved balconies and boxes, which formed the inclosure, and extended to the roofed building in the rear, for the stage and actors. The first act represented eight children dressed as angels, after which appears Mary, and three other angels descend upon a white cloud and announce the conception; the coronation then takes place by the group of angels, with solos and duets, accompanied by the orchestra; after which appears Joseph, in oriental costume, and accompanies his spouse on a pilgrimage. King Herod and others are introduced in the performance, as well as Lucifer, from the burning pit, and his contest with the archangel Michael, who destroys him; finally comes the birth of the infant at Bethlehem, the dances of the shepherds, and the adoration of the three kings. The performers were all mulattoes and blacks.

There is a club-house and reading-room here, kept by an American, which is frequented by the foreign residents as well as the natives.

Our Minister, Mr. Shields, from Alabama, is a gentleman of talent, and a worthy representative of his nation. He occupies the house and grounds of the former president, Gen. Paez, which has protected this property from spoliation. In dining with him I made the acquaintance of two of the members of the late Congress who narrowly escaped when the attack was made upon them, and were much indebted to Mr. Shields, who secreted them in his house for some weeks until the excitement had subsided.

This is an equable and delightful climate, and more agreeable to the senses than either the extremes of heat or cold; the night and morning air is to be avoided by invalids in consequence of the vapors or clouds which sometimes descend, but during the day rise by the attraction of the sun’s rays.

L.*

DANISH BRIG OF WAR, ORNEN, ISLAND OF BEATTI, ST. DOMINGO, _January 25, 1849_.

I took the old mountain road from Caracas on mule back to La Guayra to await the Venezuelan mail schooner, bound to Puerto Cabello. I never passed over a more rugged road or one where it was more difficult for a mule to keep on his legs, for rain the day before had rendered the tortuous and winding way very slippery. I left before sunrise, and found the city enveloped in a white cloud or mist, but on arriving upon the summit of the mountain, where commences the descent to the ocean, the sun had risen in all his majesty, and dispelled the vapors upon the eminences, while Caracas was yet invisible, and appeared like an immense misty sea in the valley below.

The rollers or surf at LaGuayra are perhaps worse than any to be found after a storm, except on the African coast, and the roadstead affording no protection, most of the vessels had put to sea the day after my arrival, and I found myself in company at the hotel with the commander of the Danish brig of war, Ornen, or Eagle, who was separated from his vessel, as his lieutenant was obliged to put to sea to escape a lee shore. Being a particular friend of a Danish commander of my acquaintance, with whom I had travelled, and whose plantation I had visited at St. Croix, he invited me to join him. After the storm had abated, with the aid of surf-boats and men, who stripped and forced the boat forwards, we reached the ship’s boat, and gained our brig, bidding adieu to the frightful white-caps which had almost entirely destroyed the breakwater of the port, and produced such a deafening noise that I could scarcely sleep at night at the hotel which was near the shore.

One day’s sail brought us to Puerto Cabello, a beautiful and safe harbor, which is resorted to for repairing vessels, and for purposes of commerce, as well as safety. It is a plain Spanish town, on level ground, and has nothing remarkable to offer the traveller, except its beautiful rides in ascending the Cordillera of Mountains that runs parallel with the coast, and then winds along the banks of a beautiful small stream to the village of St. Stephen, the resort of the foreign residents in summer. Our brig had formerly visited this port when the foreigners had fears of an attack from the blacks of the country, and as the report of sixteen thirty-two-pounders, and an equipage of one hundred and two men and officers presents a formidable appearance, all passed off quietly. We were received with great hospitality on the part of the German merchants, and the commander and myself had always horses at our disposal.

I had never yet seen in any country such a luxurious growth of vegetation as presented itself along the streams in the valley of the interior. This country produces an abundance of coffee, and cacao, from which chocolate is made, and my eyes had never beheld such a variety of tropical fruits and in such profusion, as in winding along the banks of this little stream on horseback. The coffee plant; the cacao, which produces a sort of seed resembling a large bean; orange and lime trees filled with fruit; cocoa-nut trees loaded with fruit, falling in many instances without being gathered; bananas, which produce the staff of life in the absence of bread, and which, after yielding fruit, are cut down to spring up anew without culture; the beautiful and tall, broad-leafed bread-fruit trees; with the graceful palm, and an immense variety of wild trees and flowers full of beauty. It seems as if nature had been too lavish and wished to outdo herself, and that, too, to an ungrateful people who would not gather through indolence that which was forced upon them.

The new steamer Venezuela, built at Pittsburg by a New York company, for the navigation of the Oronoko river, was at LaGuayra a few days since. At Puerto Cabello I found the officers of the steamer Scourge, which was captured, and lies in the harbor. I think she was unlawfully seized under American colors, although brought out for the revolutionary party.

We sailed from Puerto Cabello to Curacoa in company with the French brig of war, Le Cygne, and arrived a little before her, taking the first and only pilot to enter that pretty harbor, with its narrow and difficult passage, which resembles somewhat, in its fortifications on each side, the entrance of Havana. We had given our salute and been responded to by sixteen guns from the fort, when our rival entered. We were soon visited by the aide-de-camp of the governor, and the officers of the Dutch transport ship and brig of war on the station, from whom we received much civility. Through the politeness of Mr. Slaugard, the governor’s aide, horses were procured for the French and Danish commanders and myself to visit the curious caves of Hatto, on the north side of the island, which to me were not very interesting, as I had seen others of like formation on a more extensive scale in other countries; but what appeared to me curious was the continual dripping and formation of stalactites from this volcanic and coral rock, considerably elevated above the level of the sea, and in a country where it seldom rains.

The island is generally arid, and has a barren appearance; an insect has destroyed within a few years almost all the cocoa-nut trees. The trees generally are of a stunted growth, and where they are exposed to the trade-winds they lean or shoot their branches in an opposite direction. The guinea corn is adapted to the soil, and is produced in large quantities. Within a few years the government has introduced the growth of the cochineal, and with success; and Mr. Slaugard accompanied us to the plantations, where we had an opportunity of seeing the production of the cochineal bug upon the cactus plant. The aloes and the tamarind fruit also produce well.

The population of the island is about twenty thousand; the town itself is situated upon both sides of the harbor, which extends back and opens into a large bay for miles in depth, and in both boroughs contains some six or eight thousand inhabitants. The houses are well built, after the Dutch style, and have the external air of freshness of color, comfort, and cleanliness; but the present race sadly represents its ancestors. Nature has withheld her bountiful hand, and I could readily contrast the difference between the people here, and those I had just left. Stern necessity obliges them to be industrious, and in all parts women, men, and children are employed in making a sort of straw or cane, into hats, cigar cases, baskets, &c. The climate is delightful, perhaps the best in the West Indies or the Spanish Main for invalids. The expenses of life are very moderate, but the hotels are miserable, with no reading-rooms or sources of amusement or instruction for a permanent residence.

The language of the common people is the Curacoa, so called, and is a composition or patois of African, Dutch, and Spanish. In families of the best class, and among the officers of government, the language of the mother country is spoken; many speak English and French. At a soirée given to the officers of the ships of war in harbor by the governor, who is a finished gentleman, and much respected, I found several young ladies quite at home in the English and French languages, and also quite proficient in music, though they had never left the island.

One of the sources of revenue of Curacoa, is its salt pans, which we took occasion to visit, upon the borders of the sea. The water from the ocean is let in in sufficient quantities; the sluices are then closed, when the process of evaporation commences, and with the strong rays of the sun produces an abundant yield.

In company with Mr. Ellis, formerly minister at Caracas, who brought out the steamer Scourge for the Paez party, I went to visit the old general, who had chosen Curacoa for a residence, that being the nearest point to the Spanish Main. He was alone and somewhat disconsolate, having heard of the capture of two of his sons, who had been sent to Caracas as prisoners of war; his fleet had been mostly taken and destroyed, and the day before we had seen a portion of the Venezuelan fleet beating to windward in passing Curacoa. He is a man of middle stature, of dark complexion, not remarkable in his appearance or manner, though he has at times when animated a fiery expression of the eye, and is sai