Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/158

Rh 140 VENEZUELA yellow fever in many of the coast towns. From these swamps, however, La Guaira is free, and there the yellow fever is not a regular visitant. Vegetable Products. The two chief crops grown for food are manioc and maize, the latter being generally ground coarse and baked into a kind of cakes called are2)as, which are eaten hot like the Mexican tortillas. Among other vegetable products which take an important place in the Venezuelan dietary are all kinds of tropical fruits, including several kinds of melons and pumpkins, the sugar cane (the sugar in a little refined condition, known as papclon, being a favourite article of food), the taro, sweet potatoes, various beans (including two species of Phascolus, which grow only high up in the mountains, but are highly prized everywhere), and a species of hemlock (Conium moschatum], which is eaten like celery. Of plantation products grown for export by far the most important are coffee and cocoa, next after which come tobacco and cotton. The following table (I.) shows (in thousands of ft) the variations in the export of these products in several years since 1830-31 : d H Tear. Coffee. Cocoa. a C3 o Year. Coffee. Cocoa.

I O H i

5 1830-31 11,684 7304 103 98 1864-65 28,497 8,386 548 5405 1840-41 2(5,316 7770 1212 2038 1874-75 72,263 10,725 337 4(501 1850-51 38,432 8259 1539 781 1885-86 86,115 11,268 156 273 This table clearly shows that coffee is rapidly taking a more and more important place as the leading staple of Venezuela. The only date at which the export of coffee shows a decline as compared with the previous date mentioned is 1864-65, when, it is clear, from a comparison of this column with that under cotton, that a consider able area must have been temporarily given up to the cultivation of cotton in consequence of the Civil War in the United States. As regards quantity, Venezuela held the fifth place among the coffee- exporting countries of the world on an average of the ten j^ears 1872-82. l Both coffee and cocoa are grown under the shade of ery- thrinas, the scarlet racemes of which at the flowering season impart a brilliant aspect to the plantations. Besides the products above- mentioned, sugar and indigo at one time figured largely among the exports of Venezuela ; but both of them have now almost disappeared from the list of exports, the former in consequence of the decline in cultivation, the latter because of the increasing consumption of papelon among the inhabitants. The following table (II.) shows, in thousands of acres, the extent of land under the principal crops in 1875, according to Codazzi, and in 1883 according to official estimates : Live- Stock. The number of live-stock was officially returned in 1883 as follows : cattle 2,926,733; sheep and goats 3,490,563; horses 291,603 ; mules 247,703 ; asses 658,764 ; pigs 976,500. Minerals. The principal minerals of Venezuela are gold, copper, phosphates, and coal. The rich auriferous deposits on the banks of the Yuruari lie 100 miles south-west of the principal mouth of the Orinoco. At Aroa in the north-west, about 75 miles west of Puerto Cabello, are rich deposits of copper ore. Phosphates are obtained from the islands of Orchilla and Aves, which lie to the east of the Leeward Islands of the Dutch. A large deposit of bituminous coal, said to be of very good quality, exists about 6 miles south of Barce lona, and a concession for a railway from this port to the coal- bed lias been obtained from the Government. Another extensive deposit of bituminous coal has been found on the banks of the Utare, a small stream which empties itself into the sea about 40 miles east of La Guaira. Good petroleum is refined from deposits worked near Belijoque in the state of Los Andes. Both gold and copper ore are important exports, gold ranking in this respect next after coffee. The total amount of gold exported from Giudad Bolivar from 1866 to 31st December 1886, so far as the export was controlled by the state, was 1,946,383 oz. ; but it is estimated that within that time about half a million oz. were smuggled away. During the five years 1882-86 the average annual yield was about 740,000. The field from which this yield is derived is at present one of the most promising in the world, but the frontier disputes between Great Britain and Venezuela interfere with the investment of capital for the development of some portions of it to which both Governments lay claim. Silver and tin are also met with, but neither has yet attained any commercial importance. Industry. Manufacturing industries arc in general undeveloped. Artisans from Europe and North America are now settled in all the chief towns, and cotton weaving factories have been established. 1 Ranking after Brazil, Java, Ceylon, and Hayti. The manufacturing industries most extensively pursued are the making of shoes and hats. The latter industry is chiefly in the hands of Germans. A material called jipijapa is very largely used for the making of a kind of hats in imitation of Panama straw hats. Commerce. The total value of the imports amounted in the year 1885-86 to 2,498,135, and that of the exports to 3,292,171. The principal exports, besides the plantation products and minerals already mentioned, are hides and skins, coir, and animals ; those of minor importance are starch, indigo, sugar, tonqua beans, cinchona, caoutchouc, divi-divi, cocoa-nuts, copaiba balsam, plants, and tim ber. The principal imports are manufactured articles, drugs, and wine, the last from Spain. Petroleum is imported from the United States^ though it is expected that the native supplies will soon meet the home demand. Foreign commerce is chiefly carried on with the United States, Germany, France, and England. There is also a coasting trade of considerable magnitude (value 2,382,719 in 1883). The chief seaports are La Guaira (14,000 inhabitants) and Puerto Cabello (10,145), which has the finest natural harbour in Venezuela, enclosed by a ring of coral reefs ; the next in import ance are Maracaibo (31,921), Ciudad Bolivar (10,861), Carupano (12,389), Puerto Sucre, Puerto Guzman Blanco, La Vela (the port of Coro, opposite the island of Cura9ao), and Guiria (on the Gulf of Paria). Ciudad Bolivar is 236 miles up the river Orinoco, the navigation of which by any mouth has been free to all nations since the 25th of October 1886. Communication. The total length of railways open at the end of 1886 was 144 miles, and 263 miles were then in construction. The length of telegraph lines at the same date was 2595 miles. The railways already in existence or in construction are all short lines connecting the chief seaports with the nearest important in land towns or seats of mineral production, or lines radiating to the more important towns round Caracas. The principal inland towns, besides CARACAS (q.v.), the capital (population 70,509 in 1883), are Valencia (36,145), Barquisimeto (28,198), Merida (10,747), Cala- bozo, Barinas, Nutrias, and Maturin (14,743). Population, Area, &c. The republic is divided into eight states, eight federal territories, the federal district, and two national colonies, the names of which, with their area in square miles and their population according to an official estimate for 1st January 1886, are given below : Area. Popula tion. Area. Popula tion. States Carabobo .... 2,985 167,499 Yuruari Caura 81,123 22,565 19,852 Guzman Blanco 33,890 515,418 3,008 36,500 Lara 9,297 245,439 166 137 Los Andes .... Zamora 14,720 25,212 317,195 245,457 Armisticio .... Delta 7,151 25,:i47 3(i 13 198 9 60 45 70 078 Bolivar Bermudez .... Territories 88,701 32,243 57,169 285,377 Colonies Guzman Blanco Bolivar. . . . 214 9 1,599 Altn Orinnpn 1 Amazonas . . j~ 119,780 38,340 594,197 2,198,3-20 yrmriQ Vnrnm i !1 n,l !),&amp;gt;]( i include the disputed tracts of territory. The population of Caura in the preceding table is included in that of the state of Bolivar, the popu lation of Armisticio and Delta in that of the states of Bolivar, Zamora, and Los Andes, and of the colony of Bolivar in that of the state of Guzman Blanco. The agricultural colonies are under the administration of a governor subordinated to the ministry of progress (del fomcnto). The pure white population is estimated at only 1 per cent, of the whole, the remainder of the inhabitants be ing Negroes (originally slaves, now all free), Indians, and mixed races (mulattos and zambos). Religion, Education, tt-c. The Roman Catholic is the religion of the state, but liberty of worship is guaranteed by law. So far as legislative enactment goes, elementary education is now well pro vided for ; but in the year ending 30th June 1886 the total number of common, municipal, and private schools was 1957, and the num ber of pupils 99,466. There are also two universities (Caracas and Merida), 19 federal colleges, and various other public and private institutions for higher education. The standing army consists of about 2800 men, but every male subject between eighteen and forty- five has to be enrolled in the national militia. The monetary system of Venezuela is that of the Latin convention, the franc being represented by the bolivar. The French metric system of weights and measures is likewise the legal system ; but the old weights, the libra = 1-014 lb avoir., the quintal =101-4 ft avoir., and the arroba = 25 35 ft, are also in use. Finance. The revenue, which is chiefly derived from customs duties, amounted in 1885-86 to 1,093,644 and the expenditure to 1,239,400. The public debt, of which the external portion alone amounted in 1878 to nearly 11,000,000, including arrears of in terest, was reduced in 1881 to a total of 4,000,000 by the issue of new bonds in place of all the old ones, both external and internal. At the end of 1886 the external debt amounted to 2,680,850, bearing interest at 4 per cent.