We entered the town about six o'clock, After passing the first rows of houses, I was struck with the neatness and regularity of most of the streets, which were well paved, and far superior to any thing I had yet seen in the West-Indies. In the principal Posada, or inn, kept by a Genoese, I found every accommodation that could be here reasonably expected; and indeed for some days the constant sensation of refreshing coolness in the mornings and evenings, as well as throughout the night, was of itself a luxury which seemed to have all the charms of novelty, and left no room for petty complaints.

"Santiago de Leon de Caracas, the capital of the whole Captain Generalship of Caracas, is situated in long. 66° 46′ west, and lat. 10° 30' north, at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet above the level of the sea. The ground on which it stands slopes regularly down to the Guayra, a small river which bounds it on the south. Besides its inclination to the south, the ground slopes also to the east, and is, consequently, upon the whole, extremely well calculated for contributing to the health and convenience of a large town. After a heavy shower of rain, every street pours a muddy torrent into the Guayra, or the Anauco; but in a few minutes all is again dry, and we find the whole town suddenly rendered cleaner than could be effected by the utmost labour in any other not similarly situated.

"The streets are in general about a hundred yards apart, and as they intersect each other at right angles, the whole town is, by this means, divided into square portions, called Quadras. When one of these is left unoccupied by houses, there remains, of course, a Plaza, or open square, occupying the same space as the Quadra.

"There are several squares in Caracas; but none of them worthy of notice, except the Plaza Mayor, or great square, where the market for fruits, vegetables, fish, and other smaller articles, is held. The east side is principally occupied by the cathedral, the south by the college, and the west by the public prison. Within these is, as it were, another square, formed principally by ranges of low shops. In this square may be seen the fruits which we have been accustomed to consider as peculiar to very different climates, all brought from the distance of a few leagues. The banana, the pine apple, and the sapadillo, are mingled witn the apple, the pear, and the chesnut. The potatoe and the plantain, fresh provisions, which seem to belong to the temperate zones, and those kinds of fish which are peculiar to tropical seas, are here offered for sale on the same spot. Here, in ascending from the shore of the ocean, to these elevated and temperate regions, we experience in a short lapse of time what seems to belong only to long intervals of space; and pass in a few hours from the torrid to the - finest climates of the temperate zones."

"The population of Caracas is upwards of forty thousand, of which about one third are whites. Among the remainder are a very few Indians; but the mixture of Indian blood is general. Almost all the handicrafts are carried on by freed-men of colour, who are in general ingenious, but indolent and indifferent to the highest degree. They promise, without the smallest intention of performing, and appear perfectly unmoved when reproached with their falsehood.

"The college is the only public institution for education; and hither all the youth of Caracas of the better classes are sent for that purpose. A few common Latin authors, catechisms, and the Lives of Saints, are the chief studies. A free mode of thinking is, however, rapidly spreading among the young men, and may hereafter produce the most important effects.

"The elevated situation of the valley of Caracas, and the purity and lightness of the air, have a material effect upon the physical and moral character of the inhabitants, and distinguish them advantageously from the natives of the coast. As the original Indians here were celebrated among the surrounding tribes, the same may be affirmed of the present race of Caracas, that they are superior in activity and intelligence to the inhabitants of most of the other towns in the province."

The advantages of climate, however, have been hitherto counteracted in Caracas by moral defects, by the want of good education, and by the undue ascendency of an ignorant priesthood. To judge from the behaviour of the inhabitants in mercantile transactions, we are forced to pronounce them callous to the impressions of that Spanish honour which was once so proverbial; and rudeness, it must be confessed, is often joined in them to insincerity. Of the women, the dress and manners are exact counter-parts of those of Old Spain; and in Caracas, as in the parent-state, going to mass seems to be the grand occupation of the morning. They are in general good looking, and of pleasing address, but not exempted from those censures on domestic conduct which attach to many of their country-women in the peninsula. Music affords a favourite occupation to both sexes at CaThe frequent employment of solemn and of sprightly music in the rites of the Roman Catholic religion, is favourable to the cultivation of that delightful accomplishment; and Mr. Semple is disposed to consider it as much farther advanced in Caracas than in any city of the Anglo-American states. In no country is the pageantry of the Catholic worship more implicitly admired than here-gilded images carried in procession-churches adorned with vessels of gold and silver, and dazzling with lights-in short, whatever exhibits a brilliant show constitutes an object of the utmost interest to all ranks.

racas.

It unfortunately happens that the harbours along the whole of this coast are bad, with the single exception of the Puerto Cabello. As the road from Caracas to that sea-port leads through a picturesque country, Mr. Semple set out on a journey to visit it, accompanied by a friend. In their progress, they met several parties of Indians, chiefly young women, on the way to seek for work in the coffee-plantation near Carrcas. Their wages are between two and three reals (about a quarter of a dollar) per day,

in addition to their food: their colour was yellowish, inclining to copper; their lips were thick; and the general air of both sexes was heavy and inanimate. In a country which is destitute of roads, the produce of the soil is carried to market on the backs of men or of quadrupeds; and the Indians are accordingly accustomed, from their youth, to traverse mountains and valleys with burdens which appear suprising to an European. At Victoria, the first town of any magnitude on the road, Mr. Semple was struck with the interesting sight of wheat and sugar-canes growing close together. The wheat was green, (in January) and promised a good crop; while fields of Otaheitan sugar-canes inclosed it all around, without being separated from the corn even by a trench. Sugar is very generally cultivated in this quarter; but, in course, only for home-consumption-the rude condition of the arts of manufacture, as well as of the means of transport, rendering the idea of export a project for a future age. Not far from Victoria is Maracai, a well built town of 10,000 inhabitants, which, forty years ago, was little better than a hamlet." It stands at no great distance from the eastern end of the lake of Valencia ; a beautiful expanse of water, larger than Lochlomond, and not unlike it, either in number of islands or in the height of the surrounding mountains. So backward are the knowledge and habits of the people, that a solitary bark which our traveller descried, at a distance, on the lake, was the only vessel which had ever been known to navigate its waters with a sail-canoes only having been hitherto employed. The whole of the extensive plain of Valencia has the appearance of having formerly been under water. The town of that name contains about 10,000 inhabitants, and forms a point of communication between Puerto Cabello and the inland country. It was here that the bloodshed of last year principally took place; the inhabitants being, in a great measure, either natives of Old Spain, or immediate descendants of such, and obnoxious, consequently, to the revolutionists of Caracas. A great proportion of them has since been obliged to emigrate, an event by which the district has been deprived of its most active citizens; the Spaniards who settle in America being chiefly Biscayans and Catalans, and far superior in industry to the majority of their countrymen.

After having crossed the chain of mountains which form the bulwark of the province of Caracas against the sea, Mr. Semple reached the end of his journey at Puerto Cabello :

"Puerto Cabello stands upon a small neck of land, which has been cut through, and thus formed into an artificial island. A bridge crosses this cut, and affords entrance to the original city, which is small, but tolerably well built and fortified. The harbour is formed by a low isl and to the north-west, and banks covered with mangrove trees, which

shelter it on every side-it is deep and capacious. An excellent wharf, faced with stone, allows of vessels of a large burthen being laid close alongside of it; and as they can be easily and securely fastened to the shore, anchors are here seldom necessary. This harbour and La Guayra form a striking contrast. Here vessels lie, as in a small smooth lake, while the waves break high upon the outside of the island, and along the shore. In return for this, the worm makes great ravages in the bottom of such ships as are not coppered. In no part of the world is it more destructive; and a small vessel, left unattended, in a very few months would founder at her moorings from this cause alone. To the south-east of the town the flats are annually flooded by the rains; and the exhalations from them are very probably the cause of the destructive fevers which so frequently rage here in the summer and autumn months. Few strangers can then visit this port with impunity, or at least without great danger; and there have been instances of vessels losing the greater part of their crews in a very short time. The suburbs now exceed the town in population and extent, but still retain their low and mean appearance, and are subject to the original stipulations in case of danger. A great proportion of the houses have no upper story; and the population being almost entirely coloured, a stranger is more apt to consider the whole as a large Indian village than as part of an European settlement.”

"Thus," says Mr. Semple, " have we traversed a small but interesting portion of the Continent of America. Every where we have found a fertile soil, and, except in particular spots upon the coast, a pure and healthy air. Even the unwholesomeness of these situations is compensated by their exuberant fertility, and by the gradual adaptation of the inhabitants to the atmosphere in which they live. With little labour, man here earns an easy subsistence." "Four leagues to the eastward of Caracas, on a gentle eminence, from which springs gush forth, stands a pleasant village, originally inhabited entirely by Indians. To the westward, on the other hand, on the opposise side of the Guayra, in a small recess of the mountains, a white church tower, surrounded by huts, points out an establishment, formed by the Missionaries. All throughout the valley are plantations of sugar, coffee, and maize. The use of the plough is unknown. All work is done by the spade and the hoe, and chiefly by slaves. The lighter work is performed by Indians and free labourers, which last class is increasing rapidly. Maize and plantains form the basis of their food, to which are added beef and garlic. The maize is generally eaten in the form of cakes, being first soaked, deprived of the husk, and then ground, or rather rubbed into a moist paste, by means of a roller, and a smooth curved slab of stone. This operation falls to the lot of the women. Beef seldom exceeds two-pence sterling per pound; but pouitry is scarce and dear-a Spanish dollar being frequently the price of a common fowl. Mutton is unknown. Although this country has been colonized for nearly three centuries, the sheep has not yet been introduced upon these mountains, where it could not fail to multiply rapidly. Tho flesh of goats is used instead; which, although sufficiently palatable when young, can never be compared for flavour, de

licacy, and nutriment, with that of the sheep. The mode of cooking is entirely Spanish, oil and garlic being necessary ingredients in most dishes, and both being imported, in large quantities, for that purpose. At the close of all entertainments, great quantities of sweetmeats are used, of which the Creoles are exceedingly fond. In lieu of sweetmeats, the common people use coarse sugar, in the form of loaves, called papelon. It is also customary at feasts, even at the best tables, for the guests to pocket fruits and other articles, as I have witnessed to my great surprize. Although, generally, a sober race, on these occasions they drink liberally of strong liquors, in bumpers, to each other, or to favourite political toasts; a custom which they appear to have borrowed from the English. This they do standing up; or walking about, recurring to the table, at intervals. Meantime the ladies sit mingled with them, or in a contiguous apartment, the doors of which are open.

"Almost the whole commerce of the country is carried on by European Spaniards, and by islenos, or islanders, from the Canaries.— They buy and sell, are the merchants and the shop-keepers, in all the towns. A spirit of union, and frequently an impenetrable provincial dialect, binds them together, and gives them great advantages in all their transactions. The European, who expects to see a number of purchasers in competition, is frequently surprised to find only one or two, until the bargain being completed, the whole who were interested in it, appear. The manners of the towns, and in the interior, differ greatly, or rather they belong to different periods in the progress of society. After passing the great chain of mountains which borders all this coast, from the Gulph of Venezuela to that of Paria, we come to immense plains, devoid of trees, known by the general name of Las Llanos, or the Plains. These plains afford pasturage to innumerable cattle, the proprietors of which reside in the great towns, leaving them to the care of slaves, or people of colour. Hence a population is rapidly forming of a character wholly different from that of the immediate descendants of Europeans, or the natives of the coast. A bold and lawless race, accustomed to be always on horseback, and living nearly in a state of nature, wander over these plains. Among them are many professed robbers, who render travelling dangerous, and are already beginning to form into small bands. They live almost entirely on the flesh of cattle, without regarding to whom they belong ; killing an animal at every meal, and after satisfying their hunger, leaving the remainder of the carcase to the birds of prey and the wild animals of the desert. In the villages and small towns, thinly scattered over these plains, great dissoluteness of morals prevails. The mixture of races is a source of endless corruption; to which are joined a climate inducing indolence and voluptuousness, and the total absence of all refined methods of passing time away. The highest delight both to women and men is to swing about in their hammocks, and smoke cigarrs. Gambling to excess, and tormenting of bulls, are their principal amusements. Religion has no beneficial effect upon their morals; if they commit sins, they confess them and are forgiven. To all this is joined an apathy which is astonishing. Liveliness forms.