The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-27

deeper then than now. Two of them
| were captured in Maracaibo harbor by
General Paez, the gallant cavalry lead
er, who hastily organized troop Of
horse and under cover of darkness
swan out upon his horses to the YES
sells where he and his men abandoned
the animals and scrambled aboard, sur
prised the sentries and captured the
| two vessels nearest the shore. The
third man-of- war slipped her cable and
| escaped.
Like most other tropical cities, Mara
! caibo has narrow and therefore more
easily shaded streets. Its tile-roofed
/ houses have walls from three TO five
feet thick, and very high rooms ranged
around an inner court yard. The pub
lie buildings and principal business
houses are set near the lake side and
present a rather stately and imposing
appearance There are the usual
churches, hospitals. converts, fine
old cathedral and accelerated univer-
sity Besides the very large shipments
of "Maracaibo coffee" skins. dye-wood,
| ETC., there is a ever-increasing impor-
tation for the city and the region
around and beyond the lake. Small
steamers are constantly plying between
the city and distant lake ports, while
fleets of smaller sailing craft bring and
carry commodities of all sorts. Many
of these lake boats are the residences
of families, the only homes they ever
knew, children being born and reared
in them and when old enough, adopting
the business of their fathers and moth
ers hardly ever in the whole course of
their lives setting foot upon land be-
yond the few ports visited. Hereabouts
all business is done in such leisurely
way that foreigners find it hard to
credit the official reports of actual ex-
ports and imports. There is seldom
any trcae here of hurry, fret and I'M
patience, and nothing IKE hustle ex-
i cept sometimes in the rapid loading of
( a steamer with coffee At IL a. m. all
work ceases, for breakfast and the in
| evitable siesta, and is not resumed be-
fore 2 or D. m. Meanwhile the streets
are deserted, the postoffice and bust
/ ness houses closed, everybody seems
/ to be sound asleep Not a soul is to
be seen anywhere, except a few work.
I IuSH lylIl5 upOlI tue AOCho, VI ~ tAfS
shade of the whispering palms" in the
! plaza, often with their heads pillowed
in the laps of their faithful wives, who
/ snooze sitting up.
| Minister LOOMS says that the most
interesting feature of the Maracaibo
/ basin, together with the similar adjon-
: ing area in Colombia which Is drained
! by the Magdalena river, relates to their
limitless capacity in the line of fur
nishing North America with the best
of tropical fruits, such as bananas,
pine-apples, oranges and aguacates. 1t
is only a little matter of sixteen hun
dred miles from the great fruit region
! of Maracaibo, and hundred miles less
from the possible gardens and orchards
of the Magdalena, to New Orleans and
Mobile-points through which our
northern and western states ought to
be much better supplied with southern
luxuries than they are to-day. Already
we receive excellent coffee from these
regions, but mainly by remote routes
! or foreign conveyances. Lines Of
steamers to carry our -four pork,
kerosine, canned goods, etc, and to
bring back to us coffee, cocoa, hides
and skins, would soon find abundant
freight in fruits of superior quality to
any now imported. For example, no
| bananas now reach us except those va
rieties which are used solely for cook
ing purposes in the countries where
they are grown. Not one person out of
thousand in the United States ever
tasted the right banana for raw use
fully ripe without being partially de-
cayed, small, butp lump almost to
bursting, juicy and delicious as Cali
| fornia pear. The banana sold in north
ern cities is considered in the tropics
only fit for frying, or boiling to take
the place of bread, or for expectation
to people who know no better than to
eat them raw. The oranges of Vene-
zuela far surpass any that are i'm
ported from the Mediterranean and
are more juicy than most of the famed
Florida fruit with thinner rind and
fewer seeds. Given ample steam facil-
tiles by sea and land, and modern re-
frigerating conveniences, our people
might enjoy a great many varieties of
delicious fruits which are now I'M
known in the North-such as mangoes,
sour-sops, custard apples, sapodilas,
zapetoes and granadillos.
AS at Lake Maracaibo is the high
way to the Caribbean Sea for the riches
of it's large area on the east side Of
| tho papinsI1Ja which forms the mort n -