CHAPTER XXIV
SOUTH AMERICA—THE LOWLAND STATES
The eastern countries of South America are mainly lowland plains. The llanos of the Orinoco and the pampas of Plate (La Plata) River are grazing lands. The silvas of the Amazon are forest-covered. In tropical regions the coast-plain is usually very unhealthful; the seaports excepted, most of the cities and towns are therefore built on higher land beyond the coast-plain.
Venezuela.—The greater part of Venezuela is a region of llanos, or grassy plains, shut off from the harbors of the Caribbean Sea, by mountain-ranges. On account of their pleasant climate the mountain-valleys constitute the chief region of habitation. The plains are flooded in the rainy season and sun-scorched during the period of drought; they are therefore unfit for human habitation.
Coffee is cultivated in the montane region; and cacao in the lower coast lands. Almost every part of the coast lowlands is fit for sugar cultivation, and in order to encourage this industry, the importation of sugar is forbidden. As is usual in similar cases, the domestic sugar is poor in quality and high in price. Among the forest products rubber, fustic, divi-divi,[64] and tonka beans, the last used as a perfume, are the only ones of value. The cattle of the llanos, the native long-horns, furnish a poor quality of hide, and poorer beef. A few thousand head are shipped yearly down the Orinoco to be sent to Cuba and Porto Rico.
The placer gold-mines of the Yuruari country, a region also claimed by Great Britain, have been very productive. Coal, iron ore, and asphaltum are abundant. Concessions for mining the two last-named have been granted to American companies. The pearl-fisheries around Margarita Island, also leased to a foreign company, have become productive under the new management.
The means of intercommunication are as primitive as those of Colombia. Short railways extend from several seaports to the regions of production, and from these coffee and cacao are the only exports of importance. The Orinoco River is the natural outlet for the cattle-region, but the commerce of this region is small. The lagoon of Maracaibo is becoming the centre of a rapidly growing commercial region.
Caracas, the capital and largest city, receives the imports of textiles, domestic wares, flour, and petroleum from the United States and Great Britain. The railway to its port, La Guaira, is a remarkable work of engineering. Puerto Cabello, the most important port, receives the trade of Valencia. From Maracaibo, the port on the lagoon of the same name, is shipped the Venezuelan coffee. Ciudad Bolivar is the river-port of the Orinoco and an important rubber-market.