Puerto Cabello

“ Before a course was shaped for Jamaica, the Cerberus stood for Puerto Cabello. All hands were eagerly on the look out as they approached the port, to ascertain whether the frigate was still there. A shout of satisfaction broke from the throats of the crew as she was discovered with her sails bent ready for sea, though moored head and stern between two strong batteries, one on either side, at the entrance of the harbour. By herself, she looked no insignificant opponent; while the batteries, it was supposed, mounted not less than two hundred guns. ”

“ Among the exports are coffee, cacao, dyewoods, hides, skins, and copper ores. Puerto Cabello suffered much in the War of Independence, changing hands several times and remaining in the possession of Spain down to 1823. ”

“ In this humiliating condition they were carried to the Fortress of Puerto Cabello, and thrown into a dungeon; where they were chained together, two and two, and loaded with irons.
The dungeon was a living sepulchre, a mere cavity in the moss-grown mouldy fortress-wall, and below ground at that. The rain soaked through the foundations and the poor fellows lay wallowing in filth and mire.
They were tried by a Spanish Court and condemned. Fourteen of them were hanged as pirates. ”

“ Traffic between Puerto Cabello and the Guárico plains has passed through this town since early colonial times, and has made it an important commercial centre, from which hides, cheese, coffee, cacao and beans are sent down to the coast for export; it bears a high reputation in Venezuela for commercial enterprise. ”

“ The only pass through the northern cordillera then known to the colonists was that of Agua-Caliente, a little to the south of the present site of Puerto Cabello, and the same that Spira and Federmann sought some years before in their march through to the Llanos. This pass being situated some fifty leagues east of Coro, and no roads existing at that time, the little band of Felipe de Urre had to follow the coast-line intervening between both places, with no small inconvenience to men and beasts, from the burning sands and the quagmires they must have encountered. ”

“ The state contains the best port in the Republic, Puerto Cabello, linked by rail with the capital, which has another railway connecting it with Caracas. A small seaport, Ocumare de la Costa, is celebrated for the excellence of the cacao grown in the vicinity.
Aragua stretches from the coast down to the southeast between Carabobo and Miranda, with Guárico south. In the state is the east end of Lake Valencia, near which is the important town of Maracay, population 6000, in the midst of rich grazing land with pará grass ”

“ IV. GUERRA Á LA MUERTE! Yet, towards the close of 1813, the star of liberty glimmered once more from the summits of the Western Cordillera. During and after the memorable earthquake, the city of Puerto Cabello, at that time held by the Patriots, was under the command of a young colonel in the Republican service, who had devoted a portion of his immense patrimonial wealth to the culture of his intellectual powers in European travel, (not, however, without subsequently applying a large share to the necessities of his country,) and whose name was Simon Bolívar. ”

“ There is a road from the town to Puerto Cabello, along which the merchandise now travels, but it is often impassable in the rains; the comparatively easy task of engineering a railway here to connect with the nearer port of Tucacas will probably enable it to be carried out profitably at the same time that it provides a cheap [175] and rapid mode of transit for the coffee, cocoa, and hides of these rich agricultural and pastoral valleys. ”

“ The second port of importance is Puerto Cabello in the vicinity of Valencia, the second largest city of Venezuela, which has a population estimated at 64,681. Maracaibo with 48,480 is the third largest city in Venezuela, being second in the country in business importance. This last district ought to have the heaviest increase in the future due to the location of the mines and petroleum wells in this area which attract the majority of immigrants, while its heavy coffee exportations offer a wide field for investment and employment. ”

“ It snapped the chain which held Venezuela down, and the Spaniards, hemmed in for two years longer at Puerto Cabello, which place they defended with honorable pertinacity, were finally expelled from the free Republic in November, 1823. The city was taken by storm on the 7th of that month, and on the 9th the citadel surrendered. General Calzada, the commandant, with all his officers, and four hundred men, was shortly afterwards shipped for Spain.
Here the career of the Llanero closes. A new and still more brilliant avenue to distinction opens before Paez. ”

“ The river-valleys and mountain-slopes of Carabobo [147] are often forest-covered, and wild rubber is sufficiently common to be collected. From all the western region of the State the produce of field and farm is brought by road to Valencia, and thence, if intended for export, sent down the English railway to Puerto Cabello.
This line was begun during the construction of that from La Guaira to Carácas, but presented in some respects a less difficult task, since the highest point to which it must rise to cross the watershed of the coastal cordillera is only 1,950 feet above the sea. ”

“ The depth of water varies greatly and the loading and unloading of vessels is accomplished in lighters belonging to the company. The commerce of the port is small, most being undertaken with the neighboring ports of Venezuela.
La Vela borders on a low swampy region and is connected by railroad with Coro. Except for a small coastwise trade with Puerto Cabello, the port enjoys little commercial activity. Coal mines are near by and with their future exploitation an increase in commerce may be expected. The waters of the harbor are unusually rough and lighters must be used for discharging cargo. ”

“ With all our stiff-necked New England self-sufficiency, we have yet much to learn, we women of the North, and let it not be beneath our dignity to remember that the South American women have some lessons learned which we have yet to master; and perhaps there are none who could teach us more gently or more effectively than the modest, womanly women of Caracas.
CHAPTER V.
IN VENEZUELA. CARACAS TO PUERTO CABELLO I. AND now we are at the railway station, headed for Valencia and Puerto Cabello, still determined to continue unguided back to the coast. ”

“ The coast is not so densely wooded as farther south, and the tide is not more than one-fourth as high on the average. Puerto Montt is a prosperous and progressive little town situated on Reloncavi [108] Bay. It has a well protected harbour and enjoys a considerable trade in lumber, wheat and leather. The lofty Andes are plainly visible on a clear day, especially the volcano Cabulco, which is only twenty-two miles distant. A half century ago this port had a commerce of considerable value and was even then exporting food products, although its population did not much exceed a couple of thousand. ”

“ He anchored to the south of them on the twenty-sixth of October, and on the next day sailed once more for Cuba.
On Sunday, October 28, he arrived there, in what is now called the Puerto de Nipe; he named it the Puerto de San Salvador. Here, as he went on, he was again charmed by the beautiful country. He found palms “of another sort,” says Las Casas, “from those of Guinea, and from ours.” He found the island the “most beautiful which eyes have seen, full of very good ports and deep rivers,” and that apparently the sea is never rough there, as the grass grows down to the water’s edge. ”

“ Porto Cabello; fort San Carlos, (at the mouth of the lake of Maracaybo) ; and Carthagena. Porto Cabello is, next to Carthagena, the most important fortified place. The town of Porto Cabello is quite modern, and the port is one of the finest in the world. Art has had scarcely anything to add to the advantages which the nature of the spot presents. A neck of land stretches first towards the north, and then towards the west. Its western extremity is opposite to a range of islands connected by bridges, and so close together that they might be taken for another neck of land. ”

“ Gray whale migrations in winter are an annual spectacle.
This park honors the man who led the first European exploring expedition along the California coast. Sailing under a Spanish flag, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo departed on 27 June 1542 from the port of Navidad on Mexico’s west coast. He commanded the ship San Salvador (with a crew of 60) ; with him was Victoria, and another smaller vessel. His objective: “to discover the coast of New Spain.” Three months later he hove to in “a very good enclosed port”—San Diego Bay. This was the mariner’s first landfall north of Baja peninsula. ”

“ I say the country is ripening for immigration. The Pike’s Peak fever will ere long be exhausted. Then there is, probably, no more promising field for enterprise than this in the entire new world. Most any point could be made to flourish by the opening of good roads. With Porto Cabello this is peculiarly so. Santiago is the principal interior town. It is the proper place for, and was the former capital. It is situated on the river Yaque, which courses La Vega Real, (the Royal Plains,) and contains about 12,000 inhabitants. The trade of Porto Plata is kept alive{56} mainly from this source ”

“ The back country from Matanzas is rich in sugar and coffee plantations.
Puerto Principe is the capital of the central department of the island, and is situated in the interior. The trade of the place, from the want of water-carriage, is inconsiderable, and bears no proportion to the number of inhabitants. What [Pg 71] ever portion of the produce of Puerto Principe and its immediate neighborhood is exported, must find its way first to Nuevitas, twelve and a half leagues distant, from whence it is shipped, and from whence it receives in return its foreign supplies. ”

“ Inside is the city proper, or old San Juan. Outside are the more modern buildings and the suburbs.
San Juan is not only the seat of government, but it is considered the first city of Puerto Rico in interest and in importance. Ponce, however, disputes this claim. It has the best harbor, and the best public buildings, churches and schools on the island. ”

“ Captain Morgan, who knew very well all the avenues of this city and the neighbouring coasts, arrived in the dusk of the evening at Puerto de Naos, ten leagues to the west of Puerto Bello. Being come hither, they sailed up the river to another harbour called Puerto Pontin, where they anchored: here they put themselves into boats and canoes, leaving in the ships only a few men to bring them next day to the port. ”

“ PUERTO REAL, a seaport of southern Spain, in the province of Cadiz; on the north shore of the inner arm of the Bay of Cadiz and on the Seville-Cadiz railway. Pop. (1900) , 10,535. Puerto Real (Port Royal) is the Portus Gaditanus of the Romans, and is probably the most ancient trading-station on the Bay of Cadiz. It owes its modern name to the fact that it was rebuilt in 1488 by Ferdinand and Isabella. The port has good quays, a dry dock of the Spanish Transatlantic Company, connected with their important works, and safe anchorage close to the wharves for the largest steamers. ”

“ Don Felipe then produces press copies of certain communications which he had dispatched by the last mail steamers, but which had been intercepted at the Cuban post-office, and, after inviting me to lunch at one of the finest cafés I have ever had the pleasure of entering, he accompanies me over the town, where we collect the latest particulars respecting the insurrection.
San Juan de Puerto Rico is a fine city. The houses are three and four stories high, and are constructed after the American fashion. The streets are wide and symmetrically arranged. The roads are all paved and hilly. ”

“ Santi Spiritus of forty to fifty houses is more a village than a town and its harbor is good only for barges and sloops. But vessels stop there on their way from Santiago, Bayamo and Puerto Principe to Havana. ”

“ The harbor of San Juan is the chief in Puerto Rico, and one of the best of its size in the Caribbean sea. It is safe and sheltered, large and land-locked, and though the entrance is somewhat "foul," ships drawing three fathoms can enter and find anchorage within, good holding ground being had at any depth up to six fathoms. The bay is broad as well as beautiful, and opens toward the north, so that a vessel laying her course from New York could, if there were no obstructions en route, sail directly into the harbor. ”

“ On every side are fields of maize, and orchards of fruit, and groves of palm; for the people dwell in houses and cultivate the ground. There he remains seven days, waiting the cessation of a storm; and he calls the place Puerto Bello, also written Portobello, which name it has ever since retained. Venturing forth on the 9th, he makes eastward eight leagues, but is driven back, and takes refuge behind some islands in a small harbor, which he calls Puerto de Bastimentos, [IV-16] from the abundance of provisions brought them there. ”

“ I chartered one of the chunky little tubs which you saw in Curaçao, engaged three Papiemento-jabbering negroes and a cook and cleared for Porto Cabello, giving it out that I was on a collecting cruise along the coast.
“It took me six days to slam that old tub against the trade to Porto Cabello, about eighty miles in a straight line; weather just as it is now—as it always is down there—the wind dead ahead and blowing the top off the water, and the sky bright and clear and blue. ”