Читать книгу Spanish America, Vol. II (of 2) - Bonnycastle Richard Henry - Страница 5

The city of Caraccas, or as it is written by the Spaniards, Caracas, is the metropolis of this vast region, and has given its name, within a late period, to the whole government. It is situated in 10° 30' 15" north-latitude, and 67° 4' 45" west longitude, the highest square being elevated 2903 feet above the level of the sea, at the commencement of a fine plain or valley, which extends nine miles to the eastward, and has nearly the same breadth, through which runs the river Guayra; the site of the town is an uneven ground with a steep slope; it was founded by Diego de Losada, in 1567, and called Santiago de Leon de Caracas, in order to have a permanent settlement in the neighbourhood of some gold mines, which were imagined to be very productive. The ground is so precipitous, that the few carriages which the inhabitants possess are little used. The Anauco, the Catache, and the Caraguatu, three small streams, run through the city from north to south; the second of these furnishes the water used by the labouring classes, the rich inhabitants having that useful fluid brought from a stream about three miles off, supposed to possess peculiar medicinal qualities.

The streets of Caraccas are straight, wide, and intersect each other at right angles; the houses very handsome and spacious; there are some fine squares, and a handsome cathedral, with eight churches and five convents. This city is the seat of the metropolitan, archbishop of Caraccas, and contains a royal audience, which governs the civil affairs of the captain-generalship, and of which court the officer holding the reins of government is always president, it being in fact a sort of legislative council, composed of the governor and great state officers. The number of inhabitants of this celebrated town are stated not to exceed 20,000 at present, owing to the tremendous loss sustained by the earthquake in 1812, and to the recent sanguinary events which have taken place. The theatre of Caraccas holds from fifteen to eighteen hundred persons, and is well frequented; the female part of the audience occupy the pit, and are separated from the men. The pleasantest part of the year is during the months of November and December, when the air is cool, and the mornings very fine, but the evenings are foggy and damp. During the months of June and July, the nights are beautiful and serene; in fact, the climate during the whole year is so good, that this city may be said to enjoy a perpetual spring.

This state of the atmosphere is finely contrasted with the dreary and savage appearance of the mountains in the neighbourhood, the tremendous precipice of the Silla, or Saddle, and the confused appearance of the country on the right of the plain; which plain, called Chacao, is highly cultivated in many parts, and affords the principal objects of subsistence to the town. In it grows the plantain, the orange, the apple, the apricot, the coffee-tree, the sugar-cane, the pine-apple, the strawberry, vine, peach, quince, maize, corn, vegetables, rice, &c. and in this fertile valley, numerous herds of cattle abound, it having been computed that forty thousand head are annually brought to the market, for the purpose of being salted, and of immediate consumption.

The only inconvenience felt during this eternal spring is from the effects of certain winds, which cause the weather to prove occasionally inconstant, and produce low nervous fevers, and other disorders incident to a variable atmosphere. The yellow fever sometimes, though rarely, extends its ravages to this place, and once lasted (in the year 1696) for sixteen months, and in 1802 was fatal to the garrison newly arrived from Europe.

The season of periodical rain lasts during the months of April, May and June; but hail is seldom or ever known oftener than once in four or five years.

This capital, placed in so charming a climate, compared to many others in the same latitude, has bean subjected to a scourge, which no beauty of situation, or salubrity of the air, can ever compensate. In the year 1812 the whole city was nearly destroyed by an awful earthquake. On the 26th of March, in that year, the population of Leon de Caraccas amounted to fifty thousand souls; in a short space, even in the passing of a moment, these devoted people were reduced to thirty eight thousand, and as if an enormous mine had been exploded under the city, the earth was upheaved to a tremendous height, and twelve thousand persons were swallowed up, or perished amid the ruins of their houses.

The survivors have been ever since busily engaged in repairing the damages, and rebuilding the city, which is now rapidly advancing to its former state, and the population annually increasing.

La Guayra, a small town situated on the coast of the Spanish Main, is the port of Caraccas, in 10° 36' 19" north latitude, and 67° 6' 45" west longitude, at the foot of the chain of mountains which terminate abruptly in precipices on the coast, and which form the sides of the valley in which the capital is built. From the city to the port, it requires a journey of two hours on the mules of the country, which are very safe and swift. The road is kept in excellent repair, and is fortified by draw-bridges, thrown over the natural clefts, and by small batteries. The harbour itself is rather a roadsted than a haven, and contains a newly formed mole, protected by strong batteries. The wall of rocks rise perpendicularly from the back of the town, and forbid all access, excepting by the regular road. At La Guayra the sea is always agitated, and the vessels are laden and discharged with much difficulty; so much so, that mules are not embarked, the mulattoes and negroes carrying the cacao and other merchandizes to the vessels, by wading into the water.

The flat space on which La Guayra stands is only about 900 feet in breadth, from the precipice at the back to the sea, and the whole aspect of the place is arid, gloomy and unpleasant.

This town is surrounded on the sea side by works and batteries, some of which are very strong, and contain within their limits two streets, parallel to each other, with 8000 inhabitants.

It may be said, that this port is one of the hottest places in Spanish America; the yellow-fever had, however, only commenced its destructive ravages within ten or twelve years, before which time, it was unknown; some are of opinion, that it was brought there after the port was opened to foreign commerce, by the seamen from the United States; others, that it was caused by the overflowing of the river Guayra, which filled the cellars and deep places with water, that soon became stagnant, and exhaled putrid effluvia. However it may be, the inhabitants and strangers who reside at La Guayra, have suffered dreadfully of late years from this disorder.

The annual amount of the commerce of this port, which is the principal one of the province, has been estimated (in peaceable times) to arise to the sum of 346,600l., in the exportation of cacao, indigo, cotton, coffee and hides; and the importations of European and other goods to 511,700l. sterling in the same period.