After Upata the main road to Guasipati crosses the Orinoco-Cuyuni watershed, and winding all the way across open savannahs on which are grazing large herds of cattle, with villages here and there, finally enters the capital of the Roscio district, about fifteen hours’ continuous riding from Upata. Needless to say, the journey from San Felix is not necessarily one of two long stages, and those who do not mind putting up with the discomforts of small posadas may take four or five days over the journey.
In 1891 Guasipati had a population of over 3,000, and was then and subsequently the centre of the balatá industry, large quantities of the gum being obtained from the neighbouring forests. Unfortunately, the local operators adopted the extravagant and lazy habit of cutting down the trees in place of tapping them, and the source of supply has consequently retreated into the forests away from the town. For this and other reasons, notably the decreased activity in the goldfields, Guasipati has of late years decreased in size, but it is still the district capital, with the chief courts and registry offices, and possesses a fine plaza and church, hotel, telegraph office, and numerous stores.
While the botanical and zoological resources of the region have proved, as is usual, more satisfactory in the long run than mineral wealth, the principal attraction and chief source of revenue was originally, and to some extent still is, the gold of the El Callao region to the south of Guasipati. The town of that name lies some twenty-five kilometres, or three hours’ ride, from Guasipati, on the right bank of the River Yuruari. The town is built on and around the site of the famous mine of the same name, which is said to have been worked by Indians in very early times. The hills above the town are covered with dense tropical vegetation, the second growth which has replaced the former forests, whose trees supplied the fuel used in working the mines. The commencement of recent work and the discovery of the various alluvial and reef deposits is attributed to more than one source, but the most probable story is that which follows:—
The Spanish monks had a station at Tupuquen, on the left bank of the river some four miles above El Callao, and prospectors from this settlement followed up the rich alluvial valley of a small tributary known as the Mocupia, founding there the settlement of Caratal, where there are still many prospecting shafts working free gold from a depth of about 20 feet, with the ruins of various mills erected at a later date, during the boom of the early eighties, including that of the notorious Callao Bis. From Caratal the prospectors spread over the surrounding country and found numerous rich deposits, the chief being El Callao, about two miles from Caratal. In 1842 a Brazilian named Pedro Ayares visited Tupuquen, and recorded the existence of auriferous sands in the river, but primitive washings were not established there till 1849, when good returns were obtained. After many years of prospecting and handwork the El Callao company was formed, and a mill was erected, yielding the following results:—
| Year. | Tons crushed. | Gold produced. | Average per Ton. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oz. | Oz. | ||
| 1871 | 315 | 3,219·60 | 6·25 |
| 1874 | 3,963 | 17,187·68 | 4·33 |
| 1876 | 12,419 | 42,542·05 | 3·42 |
| 1878 | 9,673 | 49,638·88 | 5·13 |
| 1881 | 24,978 | 72,254·62 | 2·89 |
| 1884 | 30,936 | 177,055·16 | 5·72 |
| 1886 | 73,708 | 118,040·20 | 2·45 |
| 1889 | 57,301 | 52,971·35 | 0·91 |
| 1892 | 52,910 | 31,945·27 | 0·60 |
paying in dividends, from 1871 to 1892, 48,332,200 francs, or £1,933,288. Since that time little of importance has been done, and at the present time the mine is practically shut down, after having been involved in endless lawsuits.
That there is good reason to suppose that the region contains vast mineral wealth can hardly be denied, in view of the widespread indications of gold, so general that it is almost a daily occurrence to see men, women, and boys setting out with pan, pick, and shovel, carried on a donkey’s back, to try their fortune at some fresh alluvial discovery. A big rush of men took place to the Venamo Valley, on the borders of Guiana, in December of last year, and the field there is now being opened up, some sixty or seventy miles southward of Callao, and accessible by water only. One of the chief drawbacks to development of any part of the district is the high cost of transport—the freight from San Felix by ox-cart is 9 cents per lb., or over £30 per ton—and this is followed by a scarcity of labour, which is almost entirely derived from West Indian coloured settlers and immigrants, often of a very low type, so that it is necessary to pay B6.00 per day for the lowest class of unintelligent manual labour, and up to B16.00 for skilled (i.e., indifferent fitters’) work. These difficulties may, and doubtless will, be overcome in time; but the country moves forward slowly, if at all, and the early attempts at working the mines appear to have been too careless and unsystematic to offer much encouragement to immigration of a good class of settler. Mills were put up on any rich strike, and when that was worked out the company died, without any attempt to find any other sources of ore. Among many companies that have been thus floated from time to time may be mentioned the Nacupai, Chili, Potosi, Union, Victory, and Choco. Practically the only mine now worked regularly is the Goldfields of Venezuela, which has absorbed many of the old companies and employs modern methods under the direction of a superintendent of many years’ experience of the peculiarities of the country.
Outside the forest-clad hills of the auriferous territory there are immense stretches of savannah, which are divided up into ranches, and have been found excellent for cattle-breeding, though as yet the horses raised there are of very indifferent quality; the stocks are small, however, and much extension is possible in the industry, which is hardly so important at the present time as the cultivation of sugar. Many plantations and mills are to be found in the eastern districts of Bolivar, and the large quantities of rum and papelon (raw sugar) produced give a good return, the local demand for these commodities being considerable.
There are still some ruins, and in some cases modern villages, to mark the sites of the old Spanish settlements, among which may be mentioned Tupuquen, Carapo, Sicapra, and Cura; the last named must once have been a place of considerable importance, as near by are traces of a bridge over the Yuruari, the only one on record, and of a brick and tile factory. It is said to have been the port for small trading boats coming up the Essequibo and the Cuyuni from Dutch Guiana; the old Dutch bells found near by are adduced as evidence in support of this statement. The place is now entirely abandoned and in ruins.