The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-23 00:00:00

CARA c.kB

The following extract from the account of this
part 'of flx. world, which is beginning to rise into
an object of interest :to great Britain, as given
l)y Itobert Semple, Esq. is the more entitled to
attention, as it conies front an author win; in his
Travels in Spain, befcre` Buotiaparte made his
atrocious attempt upon that country, predicted
that it was likely that then would be made the
most formidAle stand against France in his proH
gress of Lis continental usarpatien. -
" For about a mile,- lie says; " the road con-
' finues along the shore until .we reach Mac:tau, a
neat and pleasant village- Close upon the sea,,,
where most of the richer inhabirants of LaGuayra
have houses. Here the minnitains, recede a little
from the shore, and leave a small -opening, cer-
,tainly'betteradapted for the situation of the port
than.the bpot upon 'which it' has been built.
1 have little doubt that dtlacuta will one day sur-
pass 'La Guayili in 'size, as at now does in neatness
and regularityo.r , Having passed through Macuta,
the road turns• to the left, and we immediately
begin to ascend. 'The road is paved in many
parts, without which it would, in 'rainy weather,
be wholly impassable. In the steepest parts it,
• ase.ends
,by zigzags, but sometimes it is so nar-_,
row; that two loaded mules cannot liass each
other, and banks are high and steep oit, each
Side. 'We continue constantly to ascend: At
tlse height. of abont a thous:and feat, we begin to
.breathe • already a lighter ant‘
_cooler air; and,
'tarninghaek, enjoy the view of• Macuta and the,
coast beneath our feet. We see the white lreakers
along.the shore, and hear their noise, which now
sounds like a hollow murmur among' the woods
which begin to crown the steeps. Here. and there',
spots are cleared away, plantations. arc formed,
and the 'experienced eye can distinguish the va-
rious hues of the fields of coffee, sugar, or maize.
As we advance.; the steepness increases; so that
the mules, and even the 'foot traveller, can .only
proceed by
.croSiing, obliquely from side to side';
and even that is attended with difficulty after rain
or heavy dews, on account of the smooth round'
stones with which the road is paved. But the
great and enlivening change experienced in the
state of the atmosphere removes all difficulties..
Never within the tropics had 1 before breathed
so pure and so cbol.an air. Instead of the stiffing
heat of the t coast, where the slightest exertion
was attended with profuse perspiration, I walked
fast for joy,_ and thought myself in England. It
was four o'clock in the afternoon when I left La
Galayra,. and it Was now' become dark when I
reached La Yenta, or the inn, a poor house, but
well known upon the road, as being about half
way between Caracas and the Port. •It is situated
at the height of 360 U, English feet above the
-level of the sea", at which elevation the heat .is
never,loppressive. Here, having supped and
drain: large draughts of delicious cold water,. I
repaired to sleep, unmolested by heat or mosqui-
toes. At three o'clock, being a fine mtronlight
morning, we resumed Our journey, having still a
considerable distance to ascend, although the
Worst of the road was pow past. In an .hour'
we had passed the highest point of the road, and
proceeded along an uneven ridge of two or three
miles before' beginning to descend towards the
valley of Caracas. When we had passed the
ridge, and were descending towards Caracas, the
diiy began to dawn. Never had I seen a snore
interesting prospect. A -valley; , upwards of
twenty miles in length, enclosed by lofty moun-
tains, unfolded itself by degrees to my eyes.. A
snuoll river, which ran throUgh -the tehole
length of it, was marked by a li;te.of mist along
the bottom of the"valley. Beneath my feet was ,
the town of Caracas, although only its church
towers were visible, arisini above the light mist
in which it lay buried. 'We entered the town
about six o'clock. After passing the first row,
of houses, I was struck with th.e 'neatness and
regularity of most of the streets; which were well
payed, and far superior to any thing- 1 bad, yet
seen in the West Indies. In the' principal Po-
sada, or inn, kept by a Genoese: 1 found every
accommodation that could-be here reasonably ex-
pected :, 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 clon!ns of novelty, and left no room for iyetty-
,,
complaints. _ ± • -

" Santiago de Leon de Caracas, the capital'of
the whole Captain' Generalship .of Caracas, is si-
tuated 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
sumll river whiCh bounds it on the south. Be-
sides its inelinatioii to the south, the ground
slopes also to the east, and is, consequently, upon
the whole, extremely well calculated, for confti-,
buting-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•
eleaner than could be etfeetedby tile utmost labour
in anv Other not sithilarly situated.
" 'The streets are generally about a hundred
yards apart, 'and as they intersect each other at
right angles, the:whole town is by this means di-
vided into square portion', called Quadras. When
one of these. is left unoccupied • by houseS,
there remains, of course, a Plazu, or open square,
occupying the same space as the Quadra. •
" There ,are several ,squares in Caracas; bin
none of them Worthy of notice, except the Plaza
'l\lay6r, or great sqnre, where the, market for
fruit, vegetables, fish, and other smaller articles,
is held. The east side is principally.occupied by.
-the cathedral; the s'Outth by the college', and the
west by the, public prison.. Fithin these is, as it
were, another square, formed principally
ranges of low shops. this 'square may be
seen the fruits which we have_ been ac'custonied
to consider' as. peculiar to very clitnient climates,
all brOng-Orfrom the ilistante of a few leagues.
The banana, the pine-apple, and tiq, sapadilla.
arc mingled with theapple, the pear,' and-the cheS-
nut... The potatoe and the plantain, fresh provi-
sions. which seem to belong to the temperate

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