Venezuela

by Leonard V. Dalton

The British-built and owned La Guaira-Carácas railway accomplishes the climb in about 23 miles, the ruling gradient being 1 in 27 to the head of the pass at 3,200 feet, whence it descends 200 feet to the city. The chief feature of the line is the small radius of the curves, some of which are so sharp that it has been said that the guard at the rear of the train can whisper to the driver. For much of the distance there is a splendid view over the Caribbean, and as the line climbs higher up into the gorge the train is often only a few feet from the edge of precipices, with a vertical drop in some cases of over a thousand feet. De Lesseps said that there was only one dangerous part of the line, but that that extended from La Guaira to Carácas. The whole is a fine piece of engineering, and, notwithstanding the theoretical risks, there has never been an accident to a passenger train, thanks to the energetic management and splendid system of vigilantes, or watchmen, ever on the lookout for landslips as well as for faults in the permanent way.

Carácas stands on the north bank of the River Guaire, on the inner slope of the coastal cordillera. The northern part of the city is thus higher than the southern. Founded in 1567 by Diego de Losada, its equable climate at the elevation of 3,000 feet and the fertile valley in which it lay soon attracted the Government away from Coro, on the hot, barren plains near the Gulf of Venezuela. The minimum temperature recorded in an average year may be as low as 48° F. (this, of course, at night), but, in general, days and nights are mild, and only in the middle of the year is the air uncomfortably warm at any time of the day. The population was estimated as 90,000 in 1904, and suburbs bring the total to over 100,000. It would be obviously unfair to institute a comparison between a city of this size and any of the better known capitals of Spanish-American republics, but, considered purely on its own merits, the capital of Venezuela has much to commend it, and undoubtedly exerts a peculiar fascination over most of those who visit it.

PLAZA BOLIVAR: VALENCIA.

The streets are narrow, though the one-storey buildings make this hardly noticeable, and are paved in the outer parts of the city with cobbles, in the centre with cement. Though most of the private or business houses have one storey only, this does not apply to the public edifices, and the distribution of these is as casual as in London. As is usual, the principal square or plaza occupies the centre of the town, and round it are grouped the cathedral, Federal Government offices, Palace of Justice, Archbishop’s palace, the Casa Amarilla (containing the archives), the G.P.O., and the principal hotel (the Klindt) of the city. The centre of the plaza gardens is occupied by an equestrian statue of Bolivar in bronze. The Capitol is south-west of the Plaza Bolivar, and is a large building in semi-Moorish style, divided by a central patio into two main portions. The southern part is occupied by the two Chambers of the Legislature, while the northern houses the Executive. Part of the Executive Palace, as it is called, is occupied by the Salón Elíptico, containing portraits of famous patriots and statesmen of Venezuela, conspicuous among the dark-haired Spanish or Venezuelan types being the Irishman O’Leary. The dome is decorated with a picture of the battle of Carabobo, and the roofs of the wings with representations of those of Pinchincha and Boyacá, while to the east is a large picture of the Congress of Angostura. The offices of the various departments are on the first floor. Among the remaining buildings of note we may mention the University, an imitation-freestone gothic structure south of the Capitol, the Municipal Theatre, the Pantheon, and the presidential residence (Miraflores).

On the hill of El Calvario west of the city is the Observatory and the Independencia Park, from which a fine view of the city can be had in the afternoon. On the south of the Guaire, which is crossed by two bridges, is the Paraiso drive, with the villas of some of the wealthier residents. Here the society of Carácas drives just before sunset, and we may note, in passing, that the cabs (generally hooded victorias or small landaus) are remarkably cheap and good. One carries a walking-stick when driving to con the coachman, a tap on the right arm meaning a turn in that direction, a poke in the middle of the back “stop,” and so on. Not far from the plaza on the one hand and the Municipal Theatre on the other is the restaurant “La India,” where the youth of Carácas indulge in cakes and ale in the mornings, and chocolate (which is excellent), or less innocuous liquids after the theatre. Tea, or at least afternoon tea, is uncommon in Carácas as yet, though a growing British colony may change matters in that respect. An enumeration of the plazas and monuments could be of little service, and still less a list of the various hospitals and charitable institutions, of which there are many. On the practical side, however, it is worth noting that Carácas has two public slaughterhouses in different parts of the city.

The water supply is mainly derived from the River Macarao, about fifteen miles west of the town, whence it is brought by an aqueduct to El Calvario and there filtered; there are also reservoirs for the north of the city, deriving their supply from the streams of the Silla de Carácas. There is an excellent service of trams and telephones, both started and controlled by Britishers, and the electric supply for the former as well as for lighting the city is derived from the falls of El Encantado and Los Naranjos, on the Guaire below Carácas. A new plant is shortly to be erected at Mamo. The city also boasts a brewery, foundry, and factories for furniture-making, cigarettes, matches, &c. The remarks made in reference to the trade of La Guaira apply equally to the capital, for practically all the merchandise of the one passes first through the other.

The bottom of the Guaire Valley near Carácas constitutes economically the most important part of the Federal district, for the inner slope of the Cordillera here supports only small forest or grass, while the more accessible parts of the seaward flank are barren and useless. The sugar plantations of Juan Diaz have already been mentioned, but in the neighbourhood of Carácas there are, or were, many of these, even though the climate is sufficiently cool to have allowed the cultivation of wheat in earlier days, when the Spaniards found it, as might the Venezuelans, less costly than importation. There are fine coffee plantations also in the neighbourhood of Carácas, and the elevation would point to this as one of the best coffee districts of the country; indeed, the yield obtained on some haciendas here is said to have been as much as twenty pounds to the tree.

East and south of the Federal District lies the State of Miranda, including all the hills to Cape Codera and the edge of the Llanos as far as Uchire. The capital is Ocumare del Tuy, though this is not the largest town. Its name at the time of its foundation in 1692 was Sabana de Ocumare, but its proximity to the River Tuy led to the adoption of the present name as a distinction from Ocumare de la Costa. Coffee is grown on the hills in the neighbourhood, with cacao lower down, and sugar and beans in the valleys. The importance of the town is rather political than commercial at present, though the Central Railway may some time reach it and make a centre for the traffic from the Llanos, which lie southward.

Petare was the largest town in Miranda at the last census, having then a population of nearly 7,000. It was founded on the Guaire, some seven miles east of Carácas, in 1704, and is a locally important manufacturing town, turning out principally alpargatas, cigarettes, and starch, the last named made from yuca or manioc.