The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-10
LLANOS OF THE ORINOCO.
A TYPICAL CATTLE-FARM IN
CENTRAL VENEZUELA.
How People Live In che BoundIsss Ea-
Vannahs.

Especial Correspondence Of the Jaurnal
and Courier)
Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, Oct 4, 1902
Again we have proved the truth of
the saying. TT is better to have been
born lucky than rich" Wishing very
much TO get a glimpse of life on the
great Llanos (plainsl OF central Ven
eZuela, We stated the case to our oblig-
ing consul. and through his kind offices
the seemingly impossible was comfort
ably arranged for us in half an hour!
1t happened that Senior Don Ramon
Figuroa, who owns more thousands of
untamed cattle and miles of wild pas
turage than anybody else in these
parts, had just concluded a business
visit to Bolivar, and was about return
ing to his rancho. He is a personal
friend Of the American consul, as well
as of Minister Loomis, who have both
visited his place; and so it was an easy
matter to secure us a cordial invitation
to accompany the senior to his rural
home, where. we were assured, his wife
and daughters would make US boubly
welcome. Next days dawn found us on
board the sloop "F'iguroa,' headed up
the Orinoco: and some twenty miles
above Bolivar we turned into a tribu-
tary stream which enters the great riv-
er from the southeast. Narrower and
narrower grew this watery highway to
the roadless interior, between dense,
overhanging verdure, in which monkeys
of every species, from tiny marmosets
DO tas Ia5 anSe
yention, assisted by screaming parrots,
gorgeous macaws in purple and gold,
toucons with bills twice as long as their
bodies, and unnamed birds of brilliant
plumage. Occasionally a crocodile
showed his ugly head, or a sudden
deafening uproar among our Darwinian
renatives told of a moa on the move.
Once we got glimpse of great, taw-
ny, cat-iike animal, probably jaguar
or hyena, stretched out on a fallen
tree: but at the first sound of human
voice he vanished from sight. Finally,
at a point where the stream is so mar
row that it looked as if we were about
to be swamped in the jungle, landing
place was disclosed, built out high and
dry over the margin of marsh; and OF
the other end of it saddle-horses and
bullock carts awaited the arrival Of the
lord of the Llanos, his guests and goods
Imagine a glorious expanse of natu-
raj meadow, fresh and smooth as
well-kept lawn, rolling in green pillows
to the horizon, except where broken by
belts of taller verdure marking the
course of streams, or by tiny lakes and
in the sun, or clumps OF royal palms
waving their plumes in the face of the
sky, or rarer groves Of oak and laurel.
affording shelter to all the creatures of
the plain. The whole landscape is
strewn with brilliant flowers and alive
with herds of cattle and horses, with
singing birds and rustling snakes and
darting Lizards. and myriads . of
winged and creeping things. But
words are .powerless to convey an idea
OF the dazzling effect Of tropical light
and shade, the harmonious blending of
most vivid colors, the glowing atmos-
phere, the majesty of the limitless
prairie, the broad smile of eternal sum-
mer. Perhaps you remember what Sir
Walter Raleigh said about it, when he
came this way a few centuries ago. in
his long search for the golden Ell Dora
do? His spelling was rather peculiar,
but 7 give it. to YOU verbatim: 1.-THE
country is so .healthfulle as one hun
dred persons or more were everie day
almost melted with heate in rowing and
marching, and suddenly wet again
with create showers. and did cate all
sc,.tt, oa,,,,,y,f Fruits ND oda T,ooa loo
of fresh fish without seasoning, or tor
tugas (turtles), of largartos (ant-eat-
ers), and of all kindes. good and bad,
without either order or messure, and
besides lodged in the open ayre every
night; yet we lost not one, nor had any
ill-disposed to my knowledge, nor found
anie ealentura fever). or either Of
those pestilent diseases which dwell in
all hot regions so mere to the equinoc-
tall line
In these parts a cattle-farm is called
a hato. Senior Figuroas halo has new
err been accurately surveyed, but is sup |
posed to be about twenty miles long by
half as broad, and to sustain between
thirty and forty thousand horses and
cattle. The buildings consist of a
group Of palm-thatched huts, that look
in the distance like so many rather
large bee-hives. surrounding more
pretentious cottage, the whole enclosed
within a unique hedge of palm-trunks
and cacti. The llano style Of architec-
ture 10 odd. but suited to the climate.
Doors and windows are Of no account
in a region where tramps are not
a broad and the weather is uniformly
hot throughout the year. The pyrimi-
DIAL structures. with their thatch of
grass and shredded palms slanting all
around to within a few feet Of the
ground, are built of stout posts clap
boarded" half way up with reeds and
mud, the upper part being purposely
left open for free admission of light and
air. In the better houses there are usu-
ally two or three rooms enclosed all the |
way to the top, with square openings, |
in lieu of windows, screened on occa- |
sion by double doors Of solid wood, or |
by ox-hide curtains, to be let down |
when privacy is desired and buttoned |
with . a wooden peg. The projecting |
roof, sloping to within four or five feet |
of the ground, forms a spacious corri- |
dor all around the house and affords !
excellent protection to the rooms from /
sun and rain. To be sure, you might |
look out of your hammock on awaken |
ing any fine morning to see boa-con- |
strictor or some other big wriggling
eli i'm hing over the TON Of tho wall. mr. a |