Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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If The Government
Would Order The Capitania-General Of Caracas To Be Carefully Examined
During A Series Of Years By Men Of Science, Well Versed In Geognosy
And Chemistry, The Most Satisfactory Results Might Be Expected.
The description above given of the productions of Venezuela and the
development of its coast sufficiently shows the importance of the
commerce of that rich country.
Even under the thraldom of the colonial
system, the value of the exported products of agriculture and of the
gold-washings amount to eleven or twelve millions of piastres in the
countries at present united under the denomination of the Republic of
Columbia. The exports of the Capitania-General of Caracas alone,
exclusive of the precious metals which are the objects of regular
working, was (with the contraband) from five to six millions of
piastres at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Cumana,
Barcelona, La Guayra, Porto Cabello and Maracaybo are the most
important parts of the coast; those that lie most eastward have the
advantage of an easier communication with the Virgin Islands,
Guadaloupe, Martinique and St. Vincent. Angostura, the real name of
which is Santo Tome de Nueva Guiana, may be considered as the port of
the rich province of Varinas. The majestic river on whose banks this
town is built, affords by its communications with the Apure, the Meta
and the Rio Negro the greatest advantages for trade with Europe.
The shores of Venezuela, from the beauty of their ports, the
tranquillity of the sea by which they are washed and the fine timber
that covers them, possess great advantages over the shores of the
United States. In no part of the world do we find firmer anchorage or
better positions for the establishment of ports. The sea of this coast
is constantly calm, like that which extends from Lima to Guayaquil.
The storms and hurricanes of the West Indies are never felt on the
Costa Firme; and when, after the sun has passed the meridian, thick
clouds charged with electricity accumulate on the mountains of the
coasts, a pilot accustomed to these latitudes knows that this
threatening aspect of the sky denotes only a squall. The
virgin-forests near the sea, in the eastern part of New Andalusia,
present valuable resources for the establishment of dockyards. The
wood of the mountains of Paria may vie with that of the island of
Cuba, Huasacualco, Guayaquil and San Blas. The Spanish Government at
the close of the last century fixed its attention on this important
object. Marine engineers were sent to mark the finest trunks of
Brazil-wood, mahogany, cedrela and laurinea between Angostura and the
mouth of the Orinoco, as well as on the banks of the Gulf of Paria,
commonly called the Golfo triste. It was not intended to establish
docks on that spot, but to hew the weighty timber into the forms
necessary for ship-building, and to transport it to Caraque, near
Cadiz. Though trees fit for masts are not found in this country, it
was nevertheless hoped that the execution of this project would
considerably diminish the importation of timber from Sweden and
Norway.
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