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.