Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-21

seemed to descend abruptly into the Carib-
bean Sea.
1 did not knor then that these mountains
were the most nertherly peaks of the
Andes, but when I had successfully passed
the Custom House officers at La Guayra,
the chief port.ot Venezuela, learned that
was actually standing at the most northerly
extremity Of the chain which extends al
most due south along the entire western
side of the continent. For hundred miles
or more the coast line had given me the i'm
preston that the mountains had been
Chopped With an Immense AZ,
for nowhere, except at the mouth Of some
water course, baranca or ravine was there
more than a hundred feet of level land be-
tween the PERCEPTIONS mountain slopes and
the green waters of the turbulent sea- In
fscr, there are very few places where there
is more than ten feet Of steady shore be-
tween the rocks and the water, and the
roadway that extends from town to town on
the coast has been cut through cliffs over
hanging the waves that frequently send
THEN spray over the traveller.
It is only at a distance that there is q
grandeur impaired to the appearance of the
harbor and this is due to the background,
the peak of La Silla Perhaps Rev. Charles
Kingsley, when he wrote his Westward
Ho'' and took his hero, a brawny English
lad. 10 La Guayra to rescue his sweetheart,
who had been courted and coa1ed away
from Devon by Spanish cavalier, the Gov
ernor of Venezuela, drew his descriptions
from distant view. The long, low adobe
Il
imprisoued is still at La Guayra under @he
shadow Of what Kingsley calls 'fglc ny
looking fortress" but what in reelit- .oks
like an e1cresence Of mud perched GpOn a
hill top. The glamor of romanCa cannot
hide the fact that Venezuela's chief sea-
port is a dirty-looking, dusty, hot, disa-
Creeable collection of one-story mud huts
scarcely fit for habitation even by the
aborigines
But nature has compensated the traveller
for mans lack by placing at the back of the
town the mountain La Silla, the highest
peak in the world that rises abruptly from
The sea. Its saddle-like top touches the
clouds 200 feet from the water at its foot,
and it rises almost unbroken by smaller
peaks or benches. Its base in direct line
is but six miles thick, but that six miles is
the obstacle that taxed the ingenuity of the
ton Of one of the most remarkable railroads
IN the world. Three hundred years ago,
when the Spaniards took possession of this
country, there was but a mule path over the
mountain to the rich valley where now
the capital of the Republic, Caracas,
ncstles at the southern foot of La Silla. This
path was only u miles long, and was called
Dos AQuados
An Attraction for the Tourist.
It was trodden by Indians ages before the
discovery by Columbus, but at present it is
not much used except by persons attracted
bv the impressive scenery and by the civil
lied Indians who still prefer to go over the
mountain on burros to waiting for the rail-
road train and paying out money they can
spend much more agreeably in the pur-
chase of rum or gin at 10 cents per bottle.
Bv starting early in the morning, one can
make this trip in four hours.
Later on in the history of the country,
when the colonies were still young, a wagon
road was built 1t still exists, but some of
the original grades have been abandoned
for easier gradients. These abandoned por-
tions are curious and interesting relics of
the olden times and suggest that perhaps
the aborigines of this country had quite as
severe taskmasters as those who weighed
the patient and oppressed Hebrew. All of
this roadway was wei! paved and most of
the work still remains in good condition.
The roadway was laid out in parallel lines
three feet apart, between which lines of
cobble stone, set on edge, were planted.
Cross lines of stone were then set up at in
tervals Of three feet SO that the entire road
way was laid out in three feet squares.
These squares were then filed with diagonal
lines Of cobble stones also set on edge and
then the work was completed the paving
presented not only pleasing, but an en-
during appearance.
The scenery along this old road is e1cep-
tioually fine and the Spanish Cavalier upon
arriving at the top of the mountain and
viewing the beautiful valley and the city of
Caracas at his feet must have felt quite as
contented as the famous Hebrew who gazed
westward across the Jordan upon the
country reserved for his people. :"
a Marvel of Railroad Work.
The third route to the capital is over the
remarkable little narrow guage railroad
which starts only 2 feet above high tide
level and reaches an altitude of 8, 128 feet
in less than 10 miles of tortuous climbing,
crossing Tavines on high trestles, piercing
ridges bv innumerable tunnels and winding
around the lesser hills and peaks until one
is bewildered. Altogether this line is %
miles long that is, it takes just % miles of
track to reach Caracas, which is but miles
distant from La Guayra in direct line.
Inside of a mile from the depot the road
crosses, upon a curved iron trestle, one of
the creVices made by the earthuuake of 1872