Venezuela

by Leonard V. Dalton

THE SIERRA NEVADA AND CATHEDRAL OF MÉRIDA.

Although Trujillo is the capital of the State and Motatán the present terminus of the La Ceiba Railway, it is in Valera that most of the important commerce of the State is carried on, a fact due, on the one hand, to the more advantageous position of the town in regard to the fertile valley of the foothills, on the other, to its age in comparison with Motatán, regarded as only the temporary terminus. Sugar and coffee estates, bearing evidence of prosperity in their appearance, occupy the valley in which the town of Valera lies, and the produce of these, as well as that from the regions around, passes through the hands of the merchants of the place on its way to Maracaibo. There are some hot springs near by, but so far Valera has acquired no fame as a health resort. There is a good water supply from mountain streams far up the valley, brought to the town through cisterns and mains, arranged by its energetic citizen Señor Antonio Braschi, who, like many of the prospering merchants and professional men of Trujillo, Zulia, and Mérida, claims Italy as his mother country.

The La Ceiba Railway was built with the aid of Venezuelan capital, and is controlled by a local board of directors, though the actual construction of the line was carried out by French engineers. It is proposed to replace the wooden bridges by those of iron and to effect other improvements in the permanent way which will tend to avoid the occasional stoppages of the past.

Not far to the west of Valera are the towns of Betijoque and Escuque, both of considerable antiquity, situated in richly fertile valleys; near the former there are well-known oil-springs, so far not exploited, while the coffee of Escuque is of specially fine quality.

From the streets of Trujillo the hills can be followed with the eye to a pass, of threatening appearance when covered with heavy clouds, far to the south-east the Páramo de la Cristalina. Over this lies the way to Boconó, one of the most picturesquely situated towns in Venezuela in its fertile valley, which produces at different altitudes sugar, coffee, and wheat.

Following the road northward from Trujillo, down the valley and then up the cuestas (sharply zigzag roads up steep ascents), we come to Santa Ana, or Santana, a place famous in the history of the revolution as the meeting-place of Bolivar and Morillo after the declaration of the armistice. A column outside the town commemorates the event. It has little attraction to-day, save as a half-way house to Carache, being a small village situated on a cold and misty limestone ridge between two deep valleys.

Carache, beyond it, is near the north-east boundary of the State, and near also to the northern end of the Andine region proper. The dry valley in which the well-built little town stands seems fit to support only goats, a few cattle, and some cotton, but the hills and valleys round grow wheat, sugar, and coffee, giving business to more than one merchant in the town. From the bare hills behind the town a glimpse may often be obtained through the clouds of the Lake of Maracaibo far below the west, while over the clouds to the south are the peaks of the Cordillera, a splendid prospect on a suitable day.

North-west of Carache is an almost unexplored area, extending down the flanks of the Sierra del Empalado to the lake shore, one day, perhaps, to be visited and developed, but as yet hardly known save to those who cut dividive in the forests.