Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-06-04
Columbus Overlooking Caracas.

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington, D. c.
Venezuela is to be looked into more
closely by explorers; for though the
more accessible coast regions and those
along the lower portion of the Orinoco
river are developed, there are thou
sands of square miles of back country
southwestward toward the Andes and
southwark toward Brazil that are
wholly unknown
! The portion of Venezuela that is best
known is the coastal region due south
of Porto Rico. Nature set a barrier in
the form of mountains short distance
back from this coast and for long
time all development was confined to
the north of it. Farther west how
ever, where the large Gulf of Maracai-
DO bites deeply into the land the noun
tains, too, run inward skirting the
gulf at a distance, and add a consid-
cradle area to the region accessible
from the north by water. In the am
phitheater about Maracaibo and the
narrow strip of sloping land that
stretches off along the Caribbean the
Spaniards built their colonial power,
neglecting for time the great Orinoco
valley that lay south of the mountains
with its broad plains and dense forests.
Maracaibo furnished the name for
Venezuela. About this great protected
lagoon which, because of the many
rivers emptying into it, is practically
lake, the aborigines lived in typical
lake dwellings on piles. Ojeda, Span
ish navigator, came sailing this way in
1893 transporting as one of the first
tourists to the Western world Ameri-
go Vespucci, 'pickle merchant Of
Seville" who by strange twist Of for
tune gave his name to America. See
ing the lake villages with water pas
sages between the houses, the explorer
called the region Venezuela. 'Little
| Venice" and the name, though wholly
inept to a land of high mountains,
broad plains and mighty rivers, came
tc apply to the whole vast colony.
Maracaibo Becomes an Oil Port.
Because the mountains, rising from
tropical coast, pierce the temperate
zone, Venezuela's most flourishing
cities built by the conquerors rose on
the highlands just inland, each having
its port. Thus Caracas and Valencia
came to prominence, one served by the
port of La Guaira, the other by Puerto
CabellO. But Maracaibo, on the strait
leading to the great lake gulf, ranks
as third city, having population of
more than $4,000. It is the greatest
lowland city of the republic. Just
now petroleum development is taking
place around the lake and even in it,
for derricks are rising in the water as
they do at some points on the coast
| of California. AS result of the
petroleum discoveries, the city of
Maracaibo, in addition to handling
cacao, coffee, sugar and hard woods, is
becoming an oil port. A bar comes
within II feet of the surface at the
entrance to Lake Maracaibo, but inside
the great body of water is 80 feet deep
and so capable Of floating the largest
ocean freighters. Plans to dredge an
entrance are under way.
1t is the extensive Orinoco valley
and it's bordering plains and forests
that constitute Venezuela's land of to-
morrow. The open country has al
ready been developed to certain ex-
tent The northern bank of the Orino-
co is in way comparable to the banks
of the Missouri where that stream
flows through the great plains of our
West; but in such a comparison it
must be kept in mind, of course, that
Venezuela is a tropical country and
that the grasses and shrubs Of its
llanos are ranker than those on which
our buffalo used to browse.
Orinoco a Mighty River.
Just as great herds of bison roamed
our prairies, so vast droves Of half
wild cattle covered the level llanos
north of the Orinoco in Venezuela's
colonial days. These cattle played an
important part in making independence
possible in Spanish-speaking South
America; for the armies of liberation
and their guerilla forces lived on their
meat. These inroads almost exter-
minated the herds, however. and 1t is
only in recent years that the cattle in
dustry has shown indications of re-
gaining its former Importance.
If it were not hard by the Amazon
mightiest river Of the earth. the Orino-
GO would stand out as tremendous