Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-17

country, when the colonies were eth young. q
wagon road was built across La SilA between
the capital and the sea- Ii still exists, but IL
much less used than the mule trail. It's aban-
doned gradients are interesting relics Of old
time methods, which suggest that the American
aeorigines had taskmasters a. severe as those
who weighed the straw and tailed the brick for
the oppressed Hebrews. Every foot Of the
twelve miles was beautifully paved. the road
way being laid out in parallel lines, three feet
apart, between which were planted lines OF
cobbie stone, set on edge. Cross lines OF stone
we're then set up at intervals Of three feet, so
that the entire roadway is laid out In regula.
three-foot squares. These squares we're then
billed with diagonal lines of cobble stones, also
set on edge.
REMARKABLE RAILwAY
The third route to the capital is over the re-
markablelitt enarrow-gauge railway which starts
only two feet above high tide level and reaches
an altitude Of SIPS feet in less than fifteen
miles OF tortuous climbing, crossing ravines on
high trestles, piercing ridges BY innumerable
tunnels and winding around lesser peaks in the
most bewildering manner. Though Caracas is
only just six miles from La Guayra las the crow
flies. it takes tweBty-three miles Of railroad
track to connect the two places. Within mile
from its starting point the road crosses a tire
mendous creyice made by the earthquake of
1872 The ravine thus opened has been filled
with adobe houses, and over their tops and
through the cocoanut groves the Traveller
catches q glimpse of the contour Of the .'roast &"
and from that point till the summit is re .ched.
fifteen miles up the mountain. the sea is never
out OF sight except when hidden by the walls Of
a tunnel. There is loop" on this line which
throws into insignifcance that of the Southern
Pacific in California and of the Santa Fe in New
Mexico
At one point on this South American line Won
may look below and see where you have Just
been winding three times round the same peak
and are about to cross on hogs back" TO the
opposite side OF the canon. So close are the
two tracks below that you could almost Jump
from one to the other, and yet the little loco
motive has had twenty minutes Of hard pulling
to traverse them. Across the ravine, half a
mile away, two tiers Of rails, one above the
other, stand out sharply under the light OF the
strong run overhead, while 1000 feet above
another track toward which YOU are aiming
looks like q mere thread of silver. Along the
bottom of the ravine which debouches rear
the little village of Msguieto hundreds of law
enderas (wash women may always be seen
beating clothes on the rocks and rinsing them
IN the stream, as did the washerwomen Of
ancient times. For two miles more the ferns
and bushes that fringe the creek IRE white with
drying linen as with huge snowhakes.
REMARKABLE VIEW.
When nearing the summit the painting en-
gine stops for a few moments, as if to recover
oreatn, ana you may get out ana gaze upon the
panorama, which once seen can never be for
gotten. Away to the east and west stretches
the seacoast. lined with cocoanut groves, the
blue-green pillows in front covered with craft
of all kinds, from the native punt to the palatIa
steamers of the Red d line from New York.
steamers English, German and. French and
Venezuelan warships. The sugar-loaf noun
tain on the island of Curacao is barely visible
to the northward, and on the east are the islands
of Las Rogues and Orchllo.
Two hours from the starting point the train
stops at the highest station on the route where
only one building and water tank can find
lodgment, and these are propped up by stills in
the rear. Here the cliff drops straight Down a
thousand feet to a noisy stream tumblIng over
boulders. The rocks above are gay with Grim
son and purple flowers and away down below
parrots, paroquets and knocking birds futter in
the foliage, but none venture to this altitude
Farther on we cross q trestlework, only q hun
dred feet or SO long, but the highest in the