hundred and thirty inches, it will not appear
extraordinary that the waters of the lake have
rapidly decreased since it first became known to
the Spaniards. But other circumstances have
within the last one hundred and fifty years
immensely accelerated the desiccation of this body
of water. About the beginning of last century the
Pao was turned by a planter southward into the
river Portuguesa; and thus a most important
feeder was cutoff from the lake. Subsequently,the
woods by which it was everywhere fringed were
cut down, to allow of cultivation being extended.
The result has been that, while from the time of
Oviedo to the close of the eighteenth century the
waters retired only a mile and a half, in the last
fifty years they have receded nearly five miles
from the vicinity of the city. Thus, in 1810,
Valencia, we are told, was three miles to the
west of the lake; but it is now nearly eight miles
from it, for the distance from the nearest part of
its shores to the Gran Plaza is exactly eight
miles and a quarter, as measured for the railway.
Again, whereas Humboldt makes the entire
length of the lake over thirty miles, it is now
only twenty-three; and to the list of islets given
by him seven new ones are to be added, so that
the waters must have sunk so much as to lay
bare seven places which they covered half a
century ago. The rapid evaporation and the
exposure of new land do not appear to have affected
the climate of Valencia, which is still one of the
most salubrious in the world. Immunity from
fever the city no doubt owes to its being not
only eight miles distant from the lake, but also
one hundred and ninety-five feet above it, or
thirteen hundred and sixty-four feet above the
sea-level, while the lake is about eleven hundred
and sixty-nine. However, the old proverb, that
"no one ever dies at Valencia," is now so far
altered that they say, "no one dies there unless
he calls in a physician!"

As I gazed at the city, and reckoned up its
advantages of a healthy and beautiful site, a
soil unmatched for fertility, a position on one
of the great high roads of South American
commerce, and near the unrivalled harbour of
Puerto Cabello, I could not help asking myself
how it was that in three centuries it had made
so little progress in wealth, population, and
importance. It was in 1555 that Don Alonso Dias
Moreno founded this western capital of
Venezuela, and in 1578 it was strong enough to
withstand the attack of the Great Carib Tribe,
who came up in thousands to surprise it. These
savages were the tallest and bravest of the Indians,
and have fought many battles with Europeans,
both in the West Indies and in Venezuela; but
they failed in their enterprise against Valencia,
and were driven off with immense loss by Garcia
Gonzalez. They retreated as they had come,
by boats down the river Guarico and so into the
Orinoco- a proof how easy it would be to
establish water-communication between Valencia
and Guayana. From that time to this, Valencia
has never suffered from any great calamity. A
few years after, Caracas was sacked by Drake,
and again in 1679 by the French; and in 1812
it was almost entirely destroyed by the great
earthquake, as were Cumana, Barquisimeto,
and other towns. But neither earthquake nor
the sword of the enemy has ever devastated
Valencia. Even the cruel tyrant, Lope de
Aguirre, spared it; and though it changed
masters more than once in the war between the
patriots and the Spaniards, it suffered injury
from neither party. In spite of this, the city
has made no progress, there is little or no money
circulated in it, and the population has not
advanced beyond the figure of six thousand
assigned to it by Humboldt; whereas Caracas has
risen with increased strength from its overthrow,
and is ten times as populous as Valencia.
What, then, I asked myself as I stood gazing
from the Morro, is the spell that keeps this
city stationary, and how is it that Nature has
been so lavish of her gifts in vain? Perhaps
the climate is the true key to the paradox.
Perhaps the Valencianos will slumber on, and
their sleep will not be broken until some more
energetic race takes possession of the land, and
the snort of the iron horse disturbs the profound
repose of the sunny valleys.

Opposite to the Morro, the Sierra of Guataparo,
which lies south of Valencia, terminates
in a round hill. Beyond this a mile or so, is the
mountain of the Caves, so called from a cavern
which excited the wonder of Humboldt. I
resolved that my next expedition should be
to that cavern, so I asked my friend Colon to
pilot me. Though a native of Valencia, he had
never visited it, and was obliged to look out
for a guide. As it is a Creole peculiarity to
undertake anything, a guide was soon found,
and we started very early, when the first ripples
of light began to come above the horizon.
There were four of us Colon, myself, Pedro
the so-called guide, and a man to look after the
horses. It struck me as curious that Pedro
would give us no distinct account of the place
we were to visit. To all my questions he replied
with a "tal vez," "perhaps," or "asi asi," "so
so;" with which I was obliged to be content.

After riding about a mile, we came to a
cemetery: a veritable Elysée. The most
luxuriant grass and flowering shrubs grew
round it. On three sides the ground was
level, while to the west a gentle slope swelled
gradually into the mountains of the Sierra, the
ravines of which were thickly wooded. Opposite
to us we could see shining streaks in the
crest of the mountain, which we took to be the
caves we were in search of: the rather as
Pedro nodded his head with great gravity when
I asked him if that were the place. Resolving
to inspect the cemetery, I dismounted and
knocked at the gate, at first gently, but
gradually louder and louder, until the echoes
answered me. As that was the only answer I got,
we then began to walk round the enclosure (which,
except in front, was of wood), to see if we could
find an entrance. Fortune favoured us
unexpectedly. There happened to be a herd of half-
wild cattle grazing close to the place, and one
of them, taking fright, charged the enclosure,