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BY COLONEL FRANCIS[ HALL, HYDR06RAPHER IN THE SERVICE OF COLOMBIA, AUTHOR OF " I.BTTXR8 FROM FRANCK," AND OF << A TOUR IN BRITISB NORTH AlORICA AND THS UNITBD STATRS." THE SECOND EDITION, With a Tariff of the Duties on Exports and Imports. LONDON: PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY. ^ ;^^ L'. ,,■ ■ '—' 1827. 4 <'j~5: His 26S429 T. C. HANSARD, CONTENTS. PART I. Geographical Outline of Colmnhia^Climate^Soil and Productions -•- Population — Government^Cotnmerce and Revenue^Manufactories, Arts, Literature, and Education. PART II. Preliminary Remarks^Natural Advantages of Emigra- tion to Colomhia^Disposition of the Government to- wards Foreign Settlers^Character of the Inhabitants, as it affects Foreign Settlers^Modes of Emigration, and description of Persons most proper for this pur- pose -^Preparations necessary — Choice of Place--. Difficulties arising from difference of Language, Customs and Religim^Diseases of the CUwMte. APPENDIX. Note A^Note B— Return of the Exports of La Guayra —Revenue of the Port of La Guayra^ Note C— Tariff of Duties on Exports from, and Imports into Colombia— Law of Congress, regulating the Duties on Imports— A Table showing the Duties on Imports into Colombia— Law of the Congress of Colombia, nominating certain Ports of Entry for the Warehousing and Bonding of Goods. M r. S.— The plan of the provinces of Santa Marta and Rio Hacha, referred to in p. 137, has been unavoidably omitted. foil vin< evil soci gla( imp mus Old Ii moi Sou trad soil bec< eve yet poli circ] onlj retri blis] It is excl DEDICATION. To Jeremy BerUhamj Esq. MY DEAR SIR, Moracayho, Feb. S, 1824. I TAKE the liberty of dedicating the following pages to you^ because I am con- vinced there is no one more aware of the evils of a crowded population, and defective social institutions, or who would more gladly anticipate in the New World such improved forms of political existence as we must almost despair of witnessing in the Old. It is superfluous to insist on the para- mount interest of Great Britain to plant in South America a nation of customers whose trado will one day, from the fertility of their soil and superior value of its productions, become of infinitely more importance than eve ; that of the United States. There is yet another interesting considerativ>n — the political wheel has very nearly " come full circle" in the Antilles. Spain is not the only nation whose crimes will meet with retribution in the downfal of colonial esta- blishments founded on anti-social principles. It is in vain the Creole proprietor proudly exclaims against all interference with his iv DEDICATION. I i property. The time is fast approaching when Man will cease to be the property of Man. Fortunately the natural bent of cir- cumstances offers a species of euthanasia to the West-India colonies, if not too long and obstinately rejected. The capital em- ployed on them has long since made very inadequate returns, and these returns will be much smaller when the sugars, rum, and coffee of South America obtain that pre- ference in the European markets to which their superior cheapness will, of course, en- title them. South America must undersell the West-India islands : let the capital em- ployed on the latter be transferred to the former, and let the capitalist rather seek to share the prosperity of a new, than the ruin of an old country. I speak not of a more violent catastrophe, but they who dwell on the edge of a volcano should at least under- stand the signs of an approaching eruption. I trust it is superfluous to speculate on the plans of the allied despots ; meek- hearted sovereigns — who enslave, plunder, and partition, and then modestly desire the world will esteem them " all honourable men ;" — aye, and righteous too, for they would cover both hemispheres with scaffolds and DBOICATION. .»> dungeons, and devoutly preach to their victims from the text of social order, reli- gion, and philanthropy. The firm and prompt measures of the British cabinet give us every reason to hope the New World may at least escape their ravages. The well- beloved Ferdinand has already despatched a proclamation to his colonies, containing the usual quantity of official cant and insolence, but his "paternal yearnings" and "ener- getic measures" will serve here only to excite ridicule and contempt. You will be pleased to know that your ideas on legislation are gaining ground in Colombia; a law of Congress of the 11th of Jun^, 1823, orders, "That all laws shall be accompanied by an exordium, containing the fundamental reasons for their enactment." I have no doubt that this idea was suggested by the present of your Codification proposal to this goveriunent. For its sake, rather than for yours, I could have wished the obligation had been acknowledged. With respect to the pages now offered to your perusal, I have but one observation to make of a personal nature, and this is, to disclaim every thing like undue bias in the representation I have made of the advan- DEUICATIUN- tages of emigration to this country. It not unfrequently happens that they who recom- mend a plan have some interest in its adoption ; • and their statements, in such cases, as commonly take a tinge from their interests. I have - no connexion, directly or indirectly, with any scheme of emigra- tion, nor can the adoption or rejection of my ideas on the subject, influence, in any manner that I am at present aware of, my future welfare. Neither am I misled by any advantages which have occurred to myself from a change of country ; my success as a military man has been too partial and too dearly purchased to dazzle my imagination. Whenever I quit Colombia I shall scarcely leave behind me any other trophies than the sepulchres of my friends : I write that my countrymen may profit, if they think fit, by what I have seen and felt, and that Eng- land and Colombia may hereafter add the ties of blood and relationship to those of political friendship. That you may long retain life and health for the benefit of humanity in ages yet unborn, is the sincere wish of, dear Sir, Your faithful Friend and Servant, F. HALL. ^ i?^^ 1 % 1?^. ^ . ^^ ^ X O-^ %;;* ^ijlll^ \ p^ ^ *%< 7 ^ to« I "8 Vi W, iio^ § A S K E T C It of THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. PART L Geographical Outline of Colombia: Climate, Soil, and Productions; Population; Govern-' ment; Commerce and Revenue; Manufactures; Arts ; Literature and Education. § 1. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE^ CLIMATEi SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS. The Republic of Colombia occupies an extent of 22"*, or 1,320 miles of longi- tude, reckoning from the mouth of th0 Orinoco to the western extremity of the Isthmus of Panama ; and 18^ or 1,080 miles of latitude, 114- to the north, and 64 to the south of the Equator, reckoning from Cape la Vela to the southern extremity of Quito. It is bounded to the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, and by Dutch and French •■•^ I %.^ X'\ !g COLOMBIA / Guyana; to the west by the Guatama'an province of Veragiia and the Pacific ; and to the south by deserts which separate it from Peru, and by Indian nations who in- habit the unexplored banks of the Orellana, or American river, which forms its natural boundary on the side of the Brs^ils. The Cordillera of the Andes may be called the mountain spine which traverses this immense territory, dividing it irregularly both from east to west, and from north to south ; and imprinting on its soil and cli- mate all those peculiarities and advantages which so remarkably distinguish it. This stupendous chain first enters the province of Loxa in Quito, in 4° 30' south latitude, where its height is moderate, and the ridge forms one body. At 2° 23' south, it forms a group of mountains, called El Asuay, some of which are near 15,000 feet in height. Here it divides into two parallel ridges, forming the narrow and lofty valley, in which are built the towns of Rio Bamba, Hambato, Latacunga, and the city of Quito ; the plain of which is elevated 9,000 feet above the level of the ocean. To the right of this GEOGRAPHY. valley, rise the summits of the Copacureu (16,380 feet), Tunguragua (16,720), Coto- paxi (17,950), and Guyambu(18,180); tothe left, Chimboraza (20,100), Tlenisa (16,302), and Petchincha (15,380); all covered with perpetual snows, from amidst which torrents of flame and lava have frequently burst, and desolated the surrounding country. Near Tulcan, the Cordillera, after having been irregularly united by lofty groups of moun- tains, again divides itself into two cl ains ; which form the elevated valley of Pastos, bordered by the Azufsal, Gambal, and Paste, burning volcanoes, and by Chiles, extin- guished. Beyond Pastos, it diverges into three ridges, the most western of which follows the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and terminates in the isthmus of Panama ; the central divides the valley of the Cauca from that of the Magdalena, traverses the province of Antioquia, and terminates '^ear Mompox in the latter river. The eastern chain is the most considerable and loftiest of the three ; it is here the numberless streams which unite to form the Meta, and Apure, and to swell the majestic Orinoco, have their B 2 COLOMBIA rise ; it forms the table land on which stands Bogota,* the capital of the Republic, at an elevation of 8,100 feet; and after rising into the line of Paramos, or bleak moun- tains, known by the names of Suma Paz, Chingota, Zoraca, and Chita, covered with snow, divides into two ridges at the Paramo of Almoizadero, about 6° 50' north latitude. One of these ridges continues in a northerly direction through the province of Ocana, divides the waters of the Magdalena from those of the lake of Maracaybo, and ma- jestically terminates in the Sierra Nevada, or snowy mountains of Santa Marta. The second branch, after forming the Paramo of Cacota de Velasco and elevated valley of Pamplona, takes a north-easterly direction at Cucuta, forming the Paramo called Mesa de Laura, and the lofty valley of La Guta, the valleys of Bayladores, and Paramo of Las Porquenas, the valleys of Estanques and Merida, where it rises to the limit of per- petual snows ; the cqld valley and Parama of Mucachies, the Paramos of Nig^itao, * Formerly known by the name of Santa F6 de Bogota. GEOGRAPHY. Bocono, and Las Rosas ; the sides of which form the vales of Mendosa, Bocono, Trux- illo, Cavache, and various others, whose waters descend into the Lake of Maracaybo, to which this chain of mountains forms the southern and eastern frontier. The Cor- dillera here again separates into two ridges, the first follows a northerly direction, forms the mountains of Carora, and ramifies itself into various small chains betwixt Coro and Maracaybo ; the other continues to the north-east, forming the mountain of El Altar, the valley of Tocuyo, the heights of Barquesimeto, and those of Nirgua, whence branch the smaller chains of hills which surround the lake of Tacarigua, or Valencia ; after passing Nirgua and San Felipe, it ap- proaches the sea coast near Puerto Cabello, and continues to skirt the ocean to La Guayra, where it forms the elevated ridge known by the name of the Silla of Caracas, the beau- tiful valley of this city, that of the river Tuy, and various others ; whence it con- tinues sometimes approaching to, and some- times receding from, the coast, till it forms the chain of the Bergantine, near Cumana, 6 C O 1. O M B I A : and finally terminates on the Gulf of Paria. The configuration thus given to the coun- try, naturally divides it into three zones, characterized by their respective soils, cli- mates, and productions. The first of these is the tract of country included betwixt the Cordillera and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The climate here is invariably hot, almost always unhealthy ; the soil luxuriantly abundant, wherever it is sufficiently irrigated by rivers or periodical rains, but parched and barren where these are deficient, as is sometimes the case from the peculiar situa- tion of the mountains, which render the falls of rain locally precarious ; while the rivers, for want of supplies, dry up or lose them- selves in sandy deserts. Thus the province of Coro has been sometimes four years with- out rain, and other parts of the coast are exposed to similar droughts, though in a less degree. The rivers which descend from the mountains, at a short distance from the coast, are either inconsiderable in the vo- lume of their waters, or too rapid and rocky to be navigable far from their mouths. The GEOGRAPHY. river Magdalena, however, which descends longitudinally above 700 miles through the valleys of the Andes, is navigable to the Port of Honda, 550 miles from its entrance into the Atlantic. The Cauca, which de- scends through the province of Antioquia and the Atracto through that of Choco, are considerable rivers, whose banks, as well as those of the Magdalena, are covered by the luxuriant forests which distinguish the rivers of the plains, and indicate a soil of unlimited fertility ; but the climate is burning, and the life of man is not only rendered precarious by disease, but his daily comfort is destroyed by swarms of insects and venomous reptiles. The second, or mountainous zone, pre- sents a very different scene. At the height of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, the climate becomes mild, vegetatiou continues uninterrupted through the year, leguminous plants, wheat, and other productions of temperate regions, are abundant, and of the best quality ; venomous insects and ser- pents are rarely met with ; and the human frame acknowledges the grateful salubrity 1^ COLOMBIA: of a temperature, fitted alike for enjoyment and labour. The climate continues mild and agreeable to the height of 9,000 feet, when it becomes cold ; the sky is usually cloudy, and vegetation slow in growth and stunted in appearance. At the height of 15,700 feet jt ceases altogether : no living creature passes this dreary limit, where steril sands^ naked rocks, fogs, and eternal snows, mark the reign of uninterrupted solitude. From the level of the sea to the height of 4,800 feet, the thermometer of Fahrenheit varies from IV to 115°, from thence to 8,000, it varies from 50° to 77°. The third zone comprehends the immense tract of level country which spreads itself southward and eastward, from the base of the Andes to the neighbourhood of the river Amazon, and the mountains which border on the Orinoco. These prodigious savannahs are watered by the numerous streams which form the Meta, the Apure, and finally the Orinoco ; the periodical overflow- ings of which convert the whole country, dur- ing four months of the year, into an immense lake or inland sea, on which the villages and GEOGRAPHY. hatos, or cattle farms, raised upon small banks and elevations, appear as so many islets. When the flpods retire, the whole plain is covered with luxuriant pasture ; on which herds of cattle were raised, previous to the war, in numbers almost defying cal- culation. Nor are these plains less rich in agricultural advantages. The banks of the rivers are covered with primeval forests of the most precious kinds of woods for dyes, furniture, and buildings ; and exhibit, when cleared, a soil capable of rendering abun- dantly Sugar, Cotton, Coffee, Cocoa, Indigo, Tobacco, and generally every species of tropical produce. All the energy of nature, in the production both of animal and vege- table life, is here brought into action ; and wild beasts, venomous reptiles, and torment- ing insects, enter equally into a system which man vainly imagines constructed for his peculiar use and convenience. The climate, though hot, is neither so unhealthy nor debilitating as that of the sea coast, the air being refreshed and purified by the strong breezes blowing constantly over this grassy ocean, which extends not less than 10 COLOMBIA: 300 miles in every direction betwixt the Andes and the Orinoco. § 2. POPULATION. It can scarcely be expected, that a coun- try, which for above twelve years has been the theatre of a war of unexampled desolation, should possess any exact census of its popu- lation : the calculation I am about to offer was made previous to the year 1810; since which period, above half the inhabitants of Venezuela are supposed to have perished : those of New Grenada may be reckoned to have remained stationary, the natural in- crease of twelve years being balanced by the drains made to supply the waste of the Spanish and Republican armies. Provinces of Venezuela, Guyana 40,000 Cumana 100,000 Island of Margarita . . . 15,000 Caracas 460,000 Maracaybo 120,000 Varinas 90,000 825,000 POPULATION. 11 Provinces of New Grenada* RioHacha 20,000 Santa Marta ... . ' . 70,000 Cartagena 210,000 Panama 50,000 Coro 40,000 Antioquia 110,000 Pamplona 90,000 Sacorro 130,000 Tunja 200,000 Cundinamarca .... 190,000 Mariquita 110,000 Popayan 320,000 Casanare 20,000 Quito 500,000 Cuenca 200,000 Guyaquil 50,000 Loxa and Jaen .... 80,000 Quisos and Marnes . . . 40,000 2,430,000 This population may be divided physically into Indians or aborigines of the country, JBuropean Spaniards, Creoles, or descendants of Spaniards, Negroes, and mixed or co- loured races, known by the appellations of Mulatoes, Mestizos, Quarterons, &c. With COLOMBIA: respect to the Indians it is to be observed, that this estimate does not include the na- tions of independent Indians, which still exist within the territory of the republic, such as the Gaahiras, who inhabit the coun- try betwixt Rio Hacha and Maracaybo, several tribes on the coast of Darien, the entire population of the Meta, and the nu- merous tribes of the Orinoco. The reduced or civilized Indians, form the most numerous class throughout the country ; the Negroes and their descendants are few in number through- out the mountain provinces of New Grenada, they are more thickly scattered on the sea coast, and in the plains, and were calculated to form a third of the entire population of Venezuela, previous to the revolution, a pro- portion which must rather have increased since that time, in consequence of the mor- tality during the war having, for various reasons, fallen heaviest on the whites. Under the Spanish government, the poli- tical distinctions which separated these va- rious classes of inhabitants were almost as numerous as, and infinitely more odious than, their physical varieties of features and com- POPULATION. 13 plexion. By the laws of the Indies, the Indians were not only cut off from every civil employment or distinction, but were even denied the dignity of rational beings, being held in a state of perpetual pupillage, under the authority, principally, of their curates, who would hardly permit them to hold any intercourse with the rest of the in- habitants ; the people of colour were little better treated : besides being rigidly ex- cluded from every employment of honour or consideration in the state, they were sub- jected to personal distinctions, the more painful, because they could have no other object than that of gratifying the vanity of the privileged class at the expense of their unfortunate brethren. Such was the law prohibiting the women of colour from wear- ing the mantOf or black-dress used at church, or from wearing any ornament of gold or silver; custom, besides, prohibited them the use of the alfombra, or carpet at their devo- tions, and that of an umbrella to screen them from the sun in the streets ; all these distinc- tions are now happily abolished ; the law of the republic sees none but citizens in every class 14 COLOMBIA: 6f inhabitants, whatever may be their origin or the tinge of their complexions : the jus- tice of this policy has been rewarded by the exertions of the people of colour, in aid of the independence of the country, of which they have been the firmest supporters, and Colombia reckons among her best and bravest officers, men, whom Spanish pride and tyranny deemed unworthy to sit at a white man's table. If any lingering preju- dices still remain, they are happily confined to female coteries, or an occasional explo- sion in a ball-room : even these last embers of irritated and childish pride, it is the interest of the republic to see extinguished. Slavery is an acknowledged evil, which the government of the republic has taken the most efficacious measures to abolish, by a law passed at Cucuta, the 21st of July, 1821. The offspring of all slaves born since this date are free ; their services, until the age of eighteen, being due to their owners in lieu of their maintenance ; the exportation and importation of slaves are absolutely for- bidden, and a fund is established in the form of a Legacy-tax, for manumission without pen< POPULATION. Id injury to the present owners. Circumstances have powerfully aided the operation of these measures : the number of slaves never was very great : in the province of Caracas, where they were most numerous, it was esti- mated at 80,000, but this number was pro- bably reduced to one-third during the war, when each party received them into its ranks, and the disturbed state of the times every where facilitated their desertion. It cannot escape notice, that the foregoing population is extremely disproportioned to the territory of the republic : in the time of its greatest prosperity the country was com- paratively a desert, but this desolation has been fearfully augmented during the revo- lutionary war. The fertile provinces of Guyana, Cumana, and Barcelona, are al- most abandoned, and the flourishing towns, and villages of the plains reduced to a grass*, grown wretchedness, which scarcely leave room to conjecture their former prosperity. Could twenty millions of inhabitants be transferred from Europe, they would find land to cultivate, and abundance to recom- pence their labour. m COLOMBIA: § 3. GOVERNMENT. I The form of government established by a nation which, like the Colombian, emerges from a state of political degradation to enter upon the untried career of national exist- ence, cannot be regarded but as an experi- ment which time must justify or correct. The vanity of legislators seeks to ascribe to their first efforts in constitution-making, a durability and perfection they are not very likely to enjoy. It is not easy to calculate on the political spirit of a people, as yet ignorant of self-government : should its ten- dencies be fortunately liberal and enlightened, its institutions will rapidly overpass the ideas of its first law-givers : should the re- verse unfortunately prove the case, the form of its government will speedily accommodate itself to its defects, although Republican names and shews should be still left to mock its slavery. , The present Constitution of Colombia was fixed by Congress of Cucuta in 1821. It declares the perpetual Independence of GOVERNMENT. 17 I the Nation, the Sovereignty of the People, Responsibility of Magistrates, and Equality of Rights: the legislative power is lodged in a Senate and a House of Representa- tives ; the Senate is composed of four senators for each of the departments of the Republic (eight in number), who are elected in the same manner as the House of Repre- sentatives : the term of election is for eight years : the peculiar functions of the Senate are those of a high court of justice in cases of impeachment by the House of Repre- sentatives ; its ordinary functions are the same with those of the latter, except that it cannot originate money bills, an exception evidently grounded on the practice of the English Government, without consideration of the little analogy there exists betwixt an elective senate of simple citizens, and an hereditary House of Nobles. The House of Repre- sentatives consists of members named by each province, in the proportion of one for each 30,000 inhabitants : they are elected for four years; the mode of election is indirect. In every parish is held what is called a Parochial Assembly, composed of 18 COLOMBIA: i 1 1 1 proprietors to the value of 100 dollars, or persons exercising some' independent trade ; these Pdrochial Assemblies elect the electors in the rate of 10 for each representative, so that averaging the population of the Re- public at 2,500,000, and supposing th^ whole representation graduated according to the law, the total number of electors will be about 700 ; the majority of whom, 360, must be allowed to be a very convenient number for executive management. The executive power is lodged in the hands of a President, elected for four years. He is intrusted with the general administration of the government, the execution of the laws, the command of the army and navy, and with the power of nominating to all civil and military employments : he is bound to hear, but not to follow the opinion, in cases of importance, of the Council of Government, composed of the Vice President, a Member of the High Court of Justice, whom he chooses^ and the Secretaries of State, of whom there are at present four, for the Home and Foreign Departments, for Finances and for War. GOVERNMENT. lU The General Dispositions of the Consti- tutions, satisfactorily prove the liberal spirit which actuated its framers : the freedom of the Press is recognized, and has been estab- lished by a law, which leaves nothing to desire but that it may be religiously ad- hered to. All illegal arrests and imprisonments, all extraordinary tribunals or commissions, are prohibited : the houses, papers, and corres- pondence of individuals, are declared in- violable : the mode of trial by jury is recommended ; monopolies are abolished, and every species of hereditary rank or emolument forbidden. But, whatever may be its theoretical merits or defects, more in- teresting questions arise as to the practical advantages of this system, the manner in which it is administv. ed, the hold it has obtained on the affections of the people, and its adapta- tion to their peculiar poli vical situation. It is not easy to answer these queries completely or satisfactorily ; in the first place it is an eji^pe- riment, and political experiments are, of all others, the most fallacious, especially when they are not strictly in harmony with the c 2 5K) COLOMBIA: I natural interests of society : the idea of a country so extensive, so thinly inhabited, and so defective in its communications, united into a single republic, the capital of which is at a greater distance from the exterior provinces, taking the embarrassments of travelling into consideration, than these are from Madrid, is evidently replete with difti- culties, the first and most obvious of which is, the want of responsibility on the part of the various provincial magistra j3, who will always laugh to scorn either complaints or impeachments, which the parties interested must be ruined in attempting to prosecute, even were justice less tardily administered than is the Spanish fashion. Amid a people whose spirit has been crushed by the despotism of ages, it will be long ere individuals can be found, who, ^,ithno other support than the laws, and the sympathy of their fellow citizens, will dare to brave the indignation of the government, and insist upon justice as a right too obvious to be de- nied; such an effort would, I fear, under existing circumstances, be rather deemed an act of madness than of political duty, and yet ; GOVERNMENT. $1 until such a spirit not only exists, but be- comes prevalent, is not only tolerated, but cherished and applauded, there can be l such thing as practical liberty. The evils of the central system are considerably aug- mented by the present form of provincial administration. The intendants of depart- ments, governors of provinces, with all inferior magistrates and corporations, are all directly or indirectly appointed by the exe- cutive, whereas, were their election popular, the power of election or rejection, with that of opinion, on the part of the people, would create a local responsibility on the part of the magistrates, generally sufficient to ensure the discharge of their duty, without having recourse to the seat of government, a remedy which we may reasonably prognosticate will be always found ineffectual. In spite, how- ever, of these and other defects, inherent in the present form of the constitution, such parts of it as were readily intelligible had begun to take a forcible hold on the minds of the people ; the form of election was too much complicated, and too indirect, to excite i I S3 COLOMBIA: a powerful interest in minds which required political ideas of the simplest, and, if we may use the expression, most tangible form, but the abolition of arbitrary imprisonments, the liberty of the press, the equalization of rights, were easily understood, and univer- sally appreciated ; at the moment, however, that these good fruits were making their appearance, the growth of the tree was checked, and its vital spirit, for a season at least, destroyed. The invasion by Morales, of the province of Maracaybo caused the suspension of the constitution in the pro- vinces adjacent to, or which might become the seat of war. Insurrections in Quito pro- duced similar measures in the south, and military, which is always synonymous with arbitrary, government, has been since almost every where established : this evil would have been trifling, in a country already accustomed to the enjoyment of its freedom under a tried constitution, but here it has unsettled men's minds as to the value and efficacy of a system, which either fails to produce the expected advantages, or dis- '■ :i GOVERNMENT. 83 appears when its influence should be moft triumphantly exerted.* Hunc tantum terns ostendunt. Fata neque ultra Esse sinunt — — It is impossible to speak favourably of the administration of justice in Colombia ; the civil and criminal codes are little more than a collection of superstitions and abuses, under the names of Laws of Castile, Royal Ordinances, Laws of the Indies, and various other compilations of Spanish decrees and colonial regulations, from which, to the vexation of the suitor, and benefit of the lawyer, contradictory decisions may be ex- tracted on every possible point of litigation. This evil is felt and acknowledged by the government : it has been proposed to intro- duce the new Spanish criminal code. Trial by jury is happily established in cases of libel, and the legislature has declared in favour of introducing it generally, in all cases to which it is applicable : the great evil, however, which is likely to cling long round the government of the country in all its branches, finds its origin in those habits * See Note A in the Appendix. S4 COLOMBIA: of dissimulation, indolence, and corruption, which mark the character of all enslaved nations. Momentary bursts of feeling, or even correct ideas, and general good inten- tions, are insufficient to unlink the dark chain of vices, with which ages of ignorance, superstition, and oppression have entwined every social institution, and contracted or distorted every moral feeling. § 4. COMMERCE AND REVENUE. It will not be supposed, that a statement of the Commerce of Colombia, as it existed previous to the Revolution, can do more than afford an approximate calculation of its present condition. Still less will it ena- ble us to judge of what it is capable of becoming in future. The provinces of Venezuela and New Granada were always considered by the Spanish Government as the least important of its South American possessions. Their agriculture and com- merce were consequently abandoned to neg- lect, or, which is still worse, surrendered to a vexatious system of monopolies and reve- nue laws, which seemed framed for no other purpose 1 unavailii: lavished The ci rigidly f raised in chose to The disti poly; ar be cultivs Spanish commodi their pre circumst only one the inha Thep merce sugar, wood, soil of banks streams, of Mare Truxillo province COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 25 purpose than to destroy industry, and render unavailing the bounties which nature had lavished on the soil. The culture of the vine and olive were rigidly forbidden : tobacco could only be raised in such quantities as the Government chose to purchase at a price fixed by itself. The distillation of spirits was another mono- poly ; and such articles as were permitted to be cultivated, could only be exported through Spanish merchants, and exchanged for such commodities, and at such a rate, as suited their profit and convenience. Under these circumstances, the smuggling trade was the only one that flourished with advantage to the inhabitants. The principal articles of Colombian com- merce are cocoa, coffee, cotton, indigo, sugar^ tobacco, hides, cattle, and Brazil- wood. Cocoa is cultivated on the low rich soil of the sea-coast of Caracas, on the banks of the river Tuy and its tributary streams, near Barquesimeto, in the province of Maracaybo, in the environs of Merida, Truxillo, and the vallies of Cucuta, in the province of Varinas, on the banks of the 26 COLOMBIA ; ( Bocono and Masporro rivers, near Pedraza, where it grows wild, and in several parts of the provinces of Cumana and Barcelona. In the province of Caracas, the annual growth amounted in 1810 to 140,500 fane- gas of 110 pounds each: about 100,000 were exported to Spain, 15,000 to Mexico, and the remainder was consumed in the country. The great destruction and aban- donment of the plantations, caused by the war, must have diminished this produce, although the constant and ready sale, and increasing demand of the European market, cannot fail to give a powerful impulse to its cultivation. Its price in the last two years in the Caracas market, has varied from 20 dollars to 25 the quintal or hundred pounds. Coffee is cultivated generally through the vallies of Caracas, and within these few years has been introduced in almost all the temperate vallies of Venezuela, where it yields abundantly. Before 1810 the annual exportation amounted to 80,000 quintals ; but the soil of Colombia is capable of sup- plying the whole world, in the strict and COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 27 literal meaning of the word. Coffee fetches in Caracas from 18 dollars to 22 the quintal.* Cotton is grown in all parts of the coun- try, but principally, for exportation, in the vallies of Aragua, and the province of Car- tagena. Its annual amount was in 1810 about 40,000 quintals: not the ten thou- sandth part of the quantity the country is capable of producing. Indigo is cultivated principally in the vallies of Aragua, and in the province of Varinas. The exportation amounted formerly in some years to 800,000 pounds weight. Sugar-cane is every where cultivated ; but the want of art or industry to refine the sugar, as well as the great consumption of the country, prevent it from forming a con- siderable article of exportation. Tobacco is cultivated at Cumanagota, in the province of Cumana ; in the vallies of Aragua ; at Bayladores and La Guta, in the province of Maracaybo ; at Savaneta in * The price at Caracas in June 1824, was of Coffee from 10 to 10^ dollars the quintal. Cocoa, 27^ ditto, ditto. 28 COLOMBIA Barinas ; and San Antonio in Guyana. The monopoly of this article has been retained by the present Government as a war-tax, but the ill effects of this measure are evi- dent from the fact, that native tobacco can- not bear the competition of foreign, even though encumbered with a duty of 50 per cent ; so that the importation of the latter is now prohibited altogether. Hides and cattle constituted the principal trade of the plains by way of the Orinoco, and of the province of Barcelona. The West-India islands have always depended on this country for their mules and horses, but the means of supply have been much diminished by the destruction of the cattle during the war. The trade of Brazil-wood belongs exclu- sively to the province of Rio Hacha, in which alone it is found. It fetches from 8 to 16 dollars the mule load of 250 lbs., according to the quality of the wood, and the demand for it, which of late years h^^ been rapidly increasing. There was formerly a considerable pearl COMMERrR AND REVENUE. 2<; fishery on the coast of the island of Mar- garitta, but of late years it has been aban- doned : there is another on the Goagira coast, betwixt Rio Hacha and Maracaybo ; it is in the hands of the independent Indians who inhabit that territory, with whom it may be supposed their more civilized neigh- bours trade to a considerable advantage. The pearls of this coast are remarkable for their beautiful orient, as it is termed, or play of light, in which they are much supe- rior to the pearls of the east.* The precious metals, gold and silver, and platina, are principally extracted from the provinces of Antioquia and Choco. No small part of the gold was formerly smug- gled to the West Indies, the remainder, as well as the silver, was coined in the mints of Popayan and Santa Fe. The annual sum coined in both averaged, during the years 1801-2-3 and 4, 2,299,249 dollars. The want of capital and machinery, as well * By a decree of Congress, dated in August last, a monopoly of all the pearl fisheries of Colombia is granted to Messrs. Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, on certain con- ditions. i . .';() COLOMBIA as of scientific research, has hitherto locked the mineral wealth of Colombia within the womb of its parent earth. There can be little doubt when these deficiencies are sup- plied, both that the present mines will be more productive, and that many new ones will be discovered. Gold is known to be very generally dispersed : in Rio Hacha it was found in the sands washed down within the town. The little river Sucia, which enters the Chama, near Laguillas in the province of Merida, is said to contain it. There are unworked mines of silver near Mariquita in New Granada. Platina is found abundantly in the province of Choco. Emeralds are found in many places, espe- cially in the bed of a little river about 20 leagues from Bogota, on the road to the plains, where almost every stone contains an emerald. Among minor articles of "ommerce, bark is of some importance. The provinces of Loxa and Jaen have been long celebrated for the production of this valuable medi- cine ; but the barks of Santa Fe owe their reputation to the discoveries of Dr. Mutes, COMMEUCE AND REVENUE. SI who published a work on the subject in 1793, entitled " El Arcano de la Quina" Betwixt 1802 and 1807, 33,418 quintals of these barks had been exported from the port of Cartagena. It grows chiefly iu the pro- vince of Mariquita. The stately forests which cover the banks of the Magdalena and Orinoco, with their tributary streams, will hereafter supply Europe with Cedar and mahogany, and an infinite variety of woods of exquisite beauty and durability, both for building and cabinet work. Drugs, precious balsams, particularly the balsam of Tolu — a great variety of dying plants — bees'-wax— the coarser metals, as copper and iron — cochineal, which is found abundantly about Quito, near Barquisemeto, and Timotes in the valley of Truxillo — Articles, now^ wholly, or in great part, neg- lected, will one day or other enrich the com- merce of this favoured country. The following statement of the revenue of Venezuela and New Granada, is extracted from a pamphlet published at Santa Fe in 1810, " Sobre la Const it uc ion de los Estados Unidos," by Don Miguel Pombo ; s« COLOMBIA: 1. New Granada. DoUart. 1,150,000 Value of European goods annually import< Value of exports, principally from Guya- quil, Panama, and the river Magdalena CaSi. and ingots of gold exported on account of the Spanish government and of in- ^ 2,650,000 dividuals Tythes 800,000 Which sum supposesan annual agricultural ^ ^q q^q qqq produce of ■, ...5 * * Revenue arising from \ 1. The 1st and 5th part of gold extracted from rivers (abolished) 2. Produce of salt works about 100,000 dollars •• 3. Capitation tax paid by the Indians (abo- lished) 4. Produce of monopolies of tobacco and spirits (partly retained, partly abolished) 5. Bulls of Crusade Ditto (abolished) 6. Custom-house duties 7> Alcabala, or duty paid on the sale of every article of consumption (abolished) 8. Duty on stamp paper 9> Pecuniary penalties 10. Produce of lands belonging to the King 11. Sale of public employment (abolished) 2. Venezuela, Annual produce of agriculture and cattle ... 6,000,000 Revenue arising from the same sources > . ^qq ^^ as that of New Granada \ * ' Monopoly of Tobacco 700,000 Sale of Bulls (abolished) 26,000 Total Revenue *2,126,000 3,200,000 Which left an annual surplus of 600,000 dollars. * See Note B in the Appendix. i COMMEIICE AND REVENUE. .1,1 00 00 )C0 )00 )00 000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 1,000 ooo Of the present state of the revenue it is impossible to give any satisfactory account. The official report of the minister of Finance to the Congiess, for the last year, is most unpromising. Besides dealing too much in generalities to throw light on a subject doubly perplexed by the complete disor- ganization of the Financial system, it con- tained no account of debts and credits, no statement of outgoings and incomings, by which to judge of the real condition of the Revenue,* It has even been disputed whe- ther the Executive is bound to render such account to the Congress — as if an evil could be prevented or diminished by refusing to see it. Such are the mischievous effects of inveterate Spanish habits, which can scarcely be accommodated to a popular form of government. The project adapted last year, of a direct contribution in the shape of an income-tax, has completely failed ; and the * A Circular has been recently published from the minister of Finance to the Intendants of the several departments, charging them to deliver their accounts for the inspection of the ensuing Congress. D ! n4 C f. O M B 1 A minister of Finance aVows, as a principal cause of the failure, the general corruption of all the subordinate magistrates and agents of the Government, which excludes the possibility of obtaining a fair assessment. The Custom-house duties, which constitutie the most certain branch of the present re- venue, are very far from sufficing for the ex- pense of the Government. It is probable, the ingresses of Cumana and Barcelona, though small, . may suffice for that depart- ment. The duties in La Guayra sometimes amount to 60,000 dollars a month ;* but the expenses of the army hitherto maintained in the department, with the squadron, more than require this sum, were it constant. The departments of Maracaybo and the Magdalena have always required aid from the interior, at kast while therfe was a war on the coast. The tob^acco monopoly is littproductive, from the want of capital to advance to the growers in payment for their trdps, who tire cx)nsequently obliged to § * See Note B in the Appendix. COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 35 smuggle for a subsistence. The salt-works may be reckoned at their ancient product.* The amount of gold and silver coined on account of the Government is not known, but it does not probably exceed 2,000,000 of dollars; from which sum must be de- ducted the expenses of extraction, coinage, &c., probably two-thirds. Of the National Debt, due principally to Foreigners, we have no statement,'! The debt is probably not so great as might be expected, consider- ing the character and duration of the struggle in which the Republic has been engaged ; nor greater than a liberal system of Govern- ment, by calling into life and action the natural resources of the country, may easily meet and overcome. The difficulties which stifle and fetter the commerce of Colombia may be reduced * They have been lately fanned to an English Com- pany, at the annual rent of 100,000 dollars. + Since this was written a " Board of Liquidation" has been established at Bogota, to investigate all claims on the government — the progress of its labours is regu- lavly reported in the Official Gazette. d2 :iij CO I, O xM BI A: under the following* heads : — want of popu- lation — want of industry — want of capital — want of knowledge — and want of in- ternal communications. The necessary con- sequence of a Want of Popuiaiio?t is the dearness and scarcity of labour— a disad- vantage trebly augmented by the feeble and inert disposition of the people. The Creole labourer will perform bad/t/ in a week a piece of work which an European would do weii in a day. Idleness is, in fact, the predominant propensity of all classes : in the rich it is caused by the want of moral stimulus, in the poor it is cherished by the facility of subsistence. The love of labour is not natural to man : he must have a motive, and a powerful one, to overcome the tendency to inaction, to which all animals are subject, when excited neither by appetite nor passion. In countries where the social system has made considerable progress, stimuli are never wanting: artificial neces- sities, as well as artificial enjoyments, are so multiplied, as to include every individual in a vortex of restless activity. In Colombia, h . ;■ COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 37 I the little which exists of social luxury is confined to Caracas, and two or three sea- port towns. Throughout the whole of the interior, the comforts, and even the decencies of life, are unvalu ;d because unknown. The man who can eat beef and plantains, and smoke segars as he swings in his ham- mock, is possessed of almost every thing his habits qualify him to enjoy, or to which his ambition prompts him to attain — the poor have little less, the rich scarcely covet more. Want of Capital is another considerable impediment to commercial improvements. Among the merchants, the principal capi- ?;alists were European Spaniards, who have generally emigrated ; but at no time did any commercial capital exist in this country, which could enter into competition with those of the third or fourth class in Eng- land. The business of a Creole merchant is more strictly that of a first-rate shop- keeper, than of what would be called a merchant in Europe ; neither are the landed proprietors relatively richer; few pos- sess estates of £ 5,000 per annum ; 5,000 dollars is a handsome income. As there 38 COLOMBIA: are neither public lUndd nor banks, nor •peculations, wealth is accumulated by saving only, a method admirably in unison with the unenterprising and economical habits of the landed gentry of the country, but little calculated to promote its commer- cial prosperity. The Want of Knowledge may be consi- dered as having a twofold operation : First, it operates negativeli/, by leaving the country utterly destitute ot all tlu)se mechanical and agricultural improvements by which labour is abridged, and the advantages of the soil are best discovered and brought into action. It operates positively, by producing injurious political regulations. There can be no doubt of the good intentions of the Government with respect to commerce, and yet the worst enemies of the country could scarcely have devised worse methods to improve it. The beacon light which of all others should direct the political career of Colombia, is that of Freedom, unlimited Freedom OF Commerce with all Nations; and yet so difficult is it to get rid of narrow views and obsolete prejudices, that almost COMMRRCE AND REVENUE. 39 every new cominercial regulation ha( been in hostility with this fundamental principle. During the last year, the Vice President, urged on most probably by the Creole mer- chants, issued a decree prohibiting (..eigners from trading in the country on their own account, and compelling them to consign themselves to the natives. This is worthy of the worst tinges of the Spanish Govern- ment, especially when it is remembered, that it is to foreign merchants and to foreign arms Colombia is at this moment indebted for political existence. The defence of this absurd decree was still more absurd : the Minister for Home Affairs, after giving a vague account to the Congress of the pro- visional enactment, remarked, that the proper mode of settling the question, would pro- bably be, to place it on the footing of reciprocity : — as if England, France, and the United States, had the same need of Colombian merchants that Colombia has of foreigners. I believe, on this occasion, the Congress saw the folly of the measure, and it never passed into a law ; in the interim, i|s bad .effects were counteracted, as those 40 COLOMBIA: of many bad Spanish laws have been coun- teracted in the colonies, namely, by eluding them ; leaving to the Government the dis- grace consequent on an unwise measure, and the ridicule attendant on an ineffectual one. The importation of foreign tobacco was permitted on paying a duty of 50 per cent, and even with this duty, though monopolized by the Government, it could more than meet native tobacco in the markets ; it has, in consequence, been prohibited altogether, and will in future be smuggled instead of being imported. With the same good sense, all kinds of distilled foreign spirits have been prohibited, to encourage the manufacture and consumption of the vile trash called AguaidiefitCf or brandy of the country. Now, besides the unanswerable objection of tax- ing the whole population for the advantage of a particular class, this prohibition, could it be carried into effect, would be doubly foolish. Of all Colombian produce, sugar- cane with distilleries is the least adapted to her present condition ; it requires more labour, machinery, and capital, than either coffee, cocoa, or cotton, and is much less COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 4J valuable although sufficiently advantageous under favourable circumstances. To divert a portion of the small capital already em- ployed from more advantageous branches of culture, and transfer it to one which can only be rendered equally profitable at the expense of the native consumer, is the acme of political folly ; or if it be said, that the intention is, to favour capital already em- barked, the motive is equally ridiculous, since it is much more reasonable that capital ill employed should be transferred to more lucrative speculations, than that the com- munity should be taxed to support its dis- advantageous application : — or, say it is meant to bring new capital into operation — why should not such new capital, if it exists, be employed on the most profitable branches of cultivation rather than on one which requires unjust and artificial support ? The last example 1 shaV quote of this insane species of legislation, is a recent law pro- hibiting the introduction of every species of Spanish produce. This measure, of course, was intended to distress the Spaniards, while nobody seems to have considered that the 49 COLOIVIBIA: real evil would be inflicted on the Colom- bian agricultural interest. Of the 140,000 fanegas of cocoa grown in Caracas, accord- ing to the estimate, p. 26, Spain was a cu? tomer for 100,000. I am not prepared to say that such is the exact proportion at present, but it suffices to know that cocoa is the chief article of Venezuelan produce ; and that Spain consumes, more than all the rest of Europe. Let us suppose Spain to pay for this quantity 2,500,000 dollars ; it is well known that this sum never was, nojc will be paid in specie, it can be only paid by an exchange of produce. Spain must sell her wines, oils, fruits, &c. befo.e sKe can buy cocoa : it is most probable that the whole was never paid by direct exchange of commodities, part would naturally be paid in various European goods, which Spain had purchased for this purpose from other nations : but there -was still a consider- able remainder, which constituted the direct trade betwixt the two countries. Let us suppose the amount of Spanish commo- -dities remitted to Colombia in payment ojf the cocoa, to be 1,000,000 dollars. Colom- COMMERCE AND REVENUE. bia now refuses to take these commodities ; in what manner is Spain to make good her purchases? By exchanging native produce to the amount with other natiovis, and re- mitting the value to Colombia ? But these nations have only their own produce or manufactures to give in return, and if Colombia is to receive these at second-hand from Spain, she might as well receive Spanish produce ; besides the market for Spanish wines and oils is very limited in Europe, where the preference is given usually to the French, while habit has made ibem articles of necessity in Colombia. It io vain to say the cocoa of Colombia will be purchased by foreign nations — so it will, indeed, but always with a view to the Spanish market ; and if Spain be deprived of the means to buy, Colombia will find it equally impossible to sell. The origin of all these errors, making allowance for political feelings in the case of Spain, appears to lie in the mistake of con- sidering the venders of the prohibited articles in question, in the light only of sellers, without considering that, in order to be 44 COLOMBIA: sellers, they must, directly or indirectly, be buyers also. The Government might be desirous, that in the present situation of its finances, the commodities raised in Colombia should be all exchanged for the precious metals ; this, however, is clearly impossible : the precious metals can only be augmented by increase of Trade, Capital, and Population ; and these must be the results, not of a pro- hibiting, but of a liberal commercial system, in a word, of Free Trade with all the World. In the meanwhile the present prohibitions can only be regarded as they might well be entitled, " Laws for the better Security and Increase of Smuggling." In- crease, because until smuggling is so far systematised as to furnish the markets with regular supplies, the premium, in the shape of increased price, will be unlimited : Secu- rity, because the whole population will be interested in a trade, which the whole army of Colombia, were it employed for no other purpose, would be inadequate to prevent^ because in every case of detection a bribe would ensure connivance. The Want of Internal Communications is a COMMERCE AND REVENUE. 4S considerable drawback on the natural advan- tages of the country — throughout the whole of the Republic there is not a road passable for wheel-carriages, nor even one which can be traveil'id without risk of life or limbs : every species of commodity is conveyed on mules. The carriage is consequently expensive and tedious, and it becomes impossible to convey bulky produce from the interior, so as to enter into competition with the produce raised near the coast ; even in the neighbour- hood of Valencia, as long as Puerto Cabello remained in the hands of the Spaniards, cocoa, coffee, and cotton, could scarcely bear the expenses of transport to Caracas. The internal navigation is in a condition equally rude and abandoned : the only method Vnown on the Magdalena, is to pole up against the stream, as the Indians did at the first discovery of the country : during the last session, however, of Congress, patents were granted to Colonel James Hamilton, and Mr. John Elbers, for placing steam-boats on the rivers Orinoco and Mag- dalena Should these projects succeed, a very considerable and beneficial change will 4(> C O I. O M B I A : take place, especially with regard to the Orinoco, which opens, by means of the Meta and Apure, a communication with the whole level country to within about 50 leagues of Bogota. § 5. MANUFACTURES, ARTS, LITERATURE, AND EDUCATION. It is neither probable nor desirable, that Manufactures should have made, or be likely to make, any considerable progress in Colombia. The natural and direct relations betwixt America and Europe are those of Agriculturist and Manufacturer : Europe must for centuries be the workshop of the New World, as long at least as the latter !has lands, the cultivation of which will be a more grateful as well as more profitable occupation, than the unwholesome toils of the manufacturer, '* in close pent-up cities.** The example of the United States suffices to show how difficult it is to struggle s^gainst ^the natural bent of circumstances in the ^direction of labour. All that political zeal can effect in such cases, is to substitute a (dear article of inferior quality for a chef^p M A N U F A C T U a E S. 47 one of superior, to the profit of a few and the consequf nt loss of thfe many. ' The only parts of Colombia in which manu- factures have attained, or can maintain, a limited prosperity are Quito, and some pro- vinces of New Granada, which from their internal situation and mountainous roads, can scarcely be supplied with bulky manu- factured goods from Europe at a cheaper rate than tliey could be made at home. There is little doubt, however, that in the general increase of internal prosperity, which should result from the independence of the country, its internal communications will be so far improved, that the ports of Esmeraldas and Guyaquil, and the river Magdakna, will suffice to furnish eveii these provirtcfes with almost every article of con- venience aiid luxury. The articles chiefly ^linufactured at present are coarse cloths, baizes, blankets, hats, and other afticl^s bf cloathing used l)y the common people. In 1810, the Goitiputed annual valtie oi mtihti- ikctulCed produce in the provinces of Quito, Cilenca, Casanai*, Guyaquil, Tunja, Socorro, and Pamplona, Was 5,000,000 of dollars. 48 COLOMBIA: If To form an adequate idea of the small progress the most necessary Arts of Life huve made in Colombia, we must transport ourselves, I was about to say, to the Saxon period of European civilization, but though this comparison might be apt in some points, it would be doing our ancestors injustice in others, since the public edifices of that remote period, in many instances, possess a grandev^r and solidity, which it would be vain to look for in the buildings of this country. Houses of all classes are built of mud, sometimes mixed with stones, some- * times plastered on wattles, but always equally unsubstantial : in fact, when the means are compared with the end, it is wonderful any one has the courage to set about build- ing a large house. The application of labour is neither aided by machinery, wheel- carriages, or even by a wheel-barrow : the earth dug from the foundation, or collected to make the walls, is carried in trays on men's heads, or on an hide dragged along the ground, while a string of asses may be seen ^v' ' ^mall panniers full of bits of stones, '.'; ragging each two small sticks of ARTS. 49 timber— altogether presenting such a picture of lazy imbecility as would disgrace any thing but a community of sloths. The finishing is equally defective: it would be vain to look for a right angle, or a straight line in the walls, or for a beam or rafter squared or planed ; the doors and windows would be inadmissible in an English stable. The consequence of all this is, that whoever desires to build according to European ideas of decency, must send to' the colonies for workmen of every description, or import his house ready made. The same observa- tions apply to every branch of handicraft : furniture, cloaths, shoes and boots, saddlery, in short, every thing used or worn, must be sought from abroad. When the most ne- cessary arts of life have made so little pro- gress, the fine arts must be in a state of proportionable infancy. Architecture, which in most Roman Catholic countries receives an extraordinary impulse from ecclesiastical wealth and influence, has here raised no monument worthy of the traveller s atten- tion. The facades of several of the churches of Caracas were tasteful, but their crumb- AO COLOMBIA: 1: ling materials yielded to the earthquake. Through the whole of the interior there is no edifice worth mentioning, except in Bogota. The Cathedral here is of yellow stone, and though somewhat fantastical and irregular in its style, is, ou the whole, an imposing structure. The other churches and convents, 29 in number, differ only in the greater or less quantity of gilding and barbarous decorations with which they are overloaded. Other public works there are none, architecturally speaking, except the fortifications of Cartagena and Puerto Ca- bello. There are some few bridges, little worthy of notice, except that of Capitanejo over the rapid Sogamozo, a useful though inelegant structure; and that of Valencia, neatly built by Morillo, who employed for this purpose the patriot prisoners, several of whom were English officers. Painting is said to be cultivated with some success in Quito, and Bogota boasts the native genius of Vasques, whose portraits certainly have merit, but the difficulties with which this, like every other liberal art, had to struggle beneath the Spanish yoke, may be estimated It ARTS. 51 by the Ibllowing anecdote : " A painter in Bogota, of the name of Antonio Garcia, had two paintings from which he used to study — a Hercules spinning by the side of Omphale ; an Endymion sleeping on the breast of Diana : the Commissary of the Inquisition was informed of the circum- stance, and, on the ground that the pictures were indecent, searched his cabinet, and had them cut in pieces, which the owner was allowed to keep.'' Few nations are more generally gifted with musical talent than the inhabitants of Venezuela : before the revo- lution Music v/as studied as a science with great success in Caracas, and it is no trifling instance of the spirit which has charac- terized the war, that Boves, the Robespierre of Colombia, should have felt pleasure in sacrificing the professors and amateurs of this amiable art, which tyranny itself has frequently respected. The talent still sur- vives, though from the difficulty of procur- ing masters, as well as from other circum- stances growing out of political changes and domestic distress, it may rather be said to scatter its sweetness wildly on its native E 2 62 COLOMBIA: air, than to be a subject of scientific study or professional cultivation. When we consider the state of Literature and Education previous to the Revolution, we may regard Caracas and Santa F^ as two luminous points radiating through an atmosphere of almost entire mental darkness. If partial lights were scattered, here and there, through the interior provinces, they were almost exclusively derived from these two national beacons, which in Venezuela and New Granada, respectively, first pointed at the road to independence. There was a difference, however, in the character of the knowledge acquired and disseminated in the two capitals, in unison perhaps with the national character of the inhabitants. The lively genius and ardent temper of the Caracanians devoted themselves to the study of philosophy, eloquence, and political science. In Santa Fe the several branches of natural history, botany, and mathematics, were beginning to be cultivated with success under the auspices of Dr. Mutes, Calders, Zea, and other members of the University. It may be supposed that both church and LITERATURE, &c. 53 state looked most unlovingly on these duu- gerous and heretical novelties. The course of studies by law established in the several schools and universities, had hitherto formed a complete gag on the intellect, while the Inquisition was charged to prohibit the en- trance of any book which could directly or indirectly tend to remove it. The commis- saries of the Holy Office were, however, sometimes negligent, and always corrupt. Prohibited works, endeared by the difficulty of procuring them, were eagerly perused ; and students devoted to Rousseau, Voltaire, and Volney, the hours formerly waaud over the Philosophia Lugdunensis, Institu- tiones Canonicae, or the writings of Amet, Cornelius, Lapide, and Calmet. As these studies were always clandestine, the jealousy of the government, fluctuating betwixt ha- bitual indolence and newly awakened sus- picions, was inadeiquate to repress them, although the disposition wj^ sufficiently evident. In Santa Fe, General Narino, afterwards one of the principal leaders of the revolution in New Granada, was im- mured and fettered in the dungeons of Car- 54 COLOMBIA: tagena, for having translated Rousseau's Social Contract, although he had previously obtained permission of the Viceroy for this purpose. Even a dancing academy was suppressed, as affording a pretext to the youth of the city for meeting, and inferen- tially for thinking and speaking. Scientific pursuits, as bearing little direct reference to politics, met with less obstruction, and the Flora of Bogota, begun by Dr. Mutes, was slowly continuing after his death under the direction of Dr. Senforso Mutes, his ne- phew, Don Francisco Jose Caldas, and Don Jose Lorano, aided by the pencil of Don Salvados Rezo, when the revolution sus- pended their labours. But minds illumi- nated by science could scarcely be enemies to freedom ; with other distinguished indi- viduals they embraced the cause of Inde- pendence, and were sacrificed by Morillo when he took possession - of Santa Fe in 1815. The progress of the revolution exhibited all those phenomena naturally deducible from the state of knowledge in the countr ; of knowledge not flowing from a general LITERATURE, &g. m system of education, in harmony with exist- ing institutions, but knowledge, infinitely various in its sources, at war with established opinions, and directed by no experience: hence the new political fabric was dis- cordantly and weakly constructed ; the most liberal minds encountered, both in them- selves and others, difficulties in practice for which their theoretical studies had left them unprepared ; and they were frequently forced into the routine of arbitrary, or even tyrannical measures, because habit, in matters of go- vernment, had made them acquainted with no other ; it is sufficient to cast an eye over the present constitution, or still more to the present practice of the government, to ex- emplify these remarks : we still find it to " humbly crave its sovereign may be its slave ;*' or using Jack Cade's expression, " You shall be all free, and I'll be a king over you." Public opinion, in the meanwhile, has obtained little strength or steadiness ; the Press, if free, has scarcely felt its free- dom ; several public journals are established in different parts of the country, but they are, in general, little more than receptacles 56 COLOMBIA: of official news, government gazettes, taught like their brethren in all countries, to ap- plaud to the " very echo," all government proceedings : the Venezolano of Caracas, has alone assumed a tone of freedom and independence, but its success has been in- different, nor is its example likely to be im- mediately followed.* Something has been done in favour of education ; schools on the Lancasterian plan have been established in Bogota, and in several other principal towns. The Colleges and Universities are to have their course of studies reformed, and accom- modated to the general progress of science and philosophy; and professorships of Miner ralogy and Natural History, have been re- cently established, and are filled by several French gentlemen, engaged for the purpose by Mr. Zea — in fine, the elements of all * An account of the first establishment of this paper would forcibly illustrate many of the remarks scattered through the foregoing pages, but it is-.not now the time. Sirce the foregoing was written, the " Colombiano," a paper printed in Spanish and English, has been estab- lished in Caracas — and the " Constitutional," a paper printed in the same manner, al Bogota. LITERATURE, &c. 57 things, good and evil, of freedom and slavery, of wealth and poverty, of intellectual light and darkness, are mingled in the political chaos of this country, and will be respec- tively destroyed or developed, as the system adopted by its government, shall be more or less liberal and enlightened. PART II. Preliminari/ Remarks; Natural Advantages of Emigration to Colombia ; Disposition of the Go- vernment towards Foreign Settlers: Character of the Inhabitants, as it affects Foreign Settlers ; Modes of Emigration, and Descriptions of Per- sons most proper for this Purpose ; Preparations Necessari/ ; Choice of Place ; Difficulties arising from Difference of Language, Customs, and Religion ; Diseases of the Climate. § 1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. There is probably no subject which imposes on the writer a heavier responsi- bility, than that of emigration : the happi- ness or misery of thousands may depend on the fidelity of his narrative, and bitter would be his reflections, should he have reason to think he had ruined a single family, or even a solitary individual, for the idV^ pleasure of depicting a Trans- atlantic Paradise. In no corner of the world, whatever mey be its natural advan- i CO COLOMBIA: tages, '• is a table spread in the wilderness :" in no corner of the world is social man exempt from the primal law, of earning his br«^ad by the sweat of his brow, of struggling against the elements which seem to onspire against his life and happiness, and of, ot last, too frequently seeing his best-grounded ex- pectations give way before the pressure of inevitable accident, or unmerited calamity ; but these reflexions, iiowever they might chill the rash and visionary adventurer, can have no detrimental effect on Emigration, judiciously prepared and directed. They mny, and ought to excite inquiry and pre- caution, but they cannot weaken that impe- rious necessity, which, from every country of Europe is daily compelling thousands '^ to court their fortune where she may prove kinder," at the risk of whatever is saddening in thought and perilous in action. The love of our country, twined as it is with our dearest recollections, with all we enjoy in the present, or hope in the future, is a feeling too deeply rooted in the human heart, to be wrenched out by one less power- ful than itself : men abandon the soil which PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 61 gave them birth, as sailors abandon a wreck which no longer offers the remotest prospect of safety : the necessity may in some in- stances be more striking and immediate, but it is in all equally felt to be irresistible : the labourer, whose daily toil will no longer afford his family their daily bread, is not more sensible of the necessity of remedying his situation, than is the gentleman by birth and education, who finds the property inhe- rited from his ancestors becoming every year less adequate to maintain and transmit to his children, that decency and rank of life, from which to descend is to do more than die ; in both these cases, as well as in a thousand others, through which excess of population and defective social institutions ramify dis- tress, the necessity is the same, the remedy equally sure and applicable ; it is the mode of applying it, which can alone render it de- leterious. The United States affords us the most unexceptionable example, both of what is to be desired and deprecated in Emigration; and in stating the advantages offered by Co- lombia, it is to her sister Republic I shall have recourse for analogies and illustrations. 62 COLOMBIA: The Advantages of Emigration to any particular country, may be divided into two classf'i, Natural and Political ; the former comprehends land, considered with respect to quantity, quality, and situation ; Labour, with respect to the quantity neces- sary to be employed on it ; and Subsistence, as more or less abundant, and readily procured : the political advantages are such as arise from the disposition of the government, al- ready established in the new country, the character of its inhabitants, and its state of civilization, being such as to render the influx of foreigners desirable : the description of persons best adapted for Emigration, with the most eligible mode of carrying it into effect, are next to be considered, together with the particular portions of the country in question, most favourable to new settlements. The difHculties which present thems ilves in the shape of antipathies or prejudices, on the part of the inhabitants, or in their customs, language, and religion, together with the diseases to which new settlers are principally liable, shall be last stated, and to the best of my abilities be impartially discussed. EMIGRATION TO. 6d § 2. NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO COLOMBIA. The simple consideration of the territorial extent of Colombia, compared with her pre- sent population, suffices to answer every question as to the quantity of unappropriated land, she can place at the disposition of foreign settlers ; nor have we in this case, as in that of many parts of Asia and Africa, to make laro^e deductions for uninhabitable and unprofitable deserts. In the distance of above 1,000 miles, betwixt Caracas and Bogota, which comprehends the great moun- tain region, and consequently that portion of the country which may naturally be supposed least favourable to tillage, there cannot be reckoned 100 unsusceptible of culture. It is not, however, the mere pos- sibility of cultivation, or even the positive fertility of the soil alone, which deserves consideration, it is rather the quality of its productions, which in a commercial point of view, are the most valuable in the world. In fact, when we add to the Cocoa, Coffee, Tobacco, Cotton, Sugar, and Indigo, already 64 COLOMBIA: cultivated, the Wines, Oils, Silks, precious Woods, Dyes, and Minerals, which the slightest application of science and industry, would suffice to call into existence, we can- not but confess that Colombia, if equal in the quantity of her lands to the United States^ in point of their quality , possesses a decided superiority: a simple list of the articles produced, or exported at present, in the two countries will render further proof superfluous. UNITED STATES. Cotton Rice Sugar \'- the Southern States only. Tobacco > Southern and Maize \ Midland- States. Wheat and Eu- > Gene- ropean Grains \ rally. Lumber > Eastern Cod Fisheries \ States. Salted Provisions. Iron. Copper. Lead. COLOMBIA. Generally. Cocoa Coffee Cotton Indigo Sugar Rice Maize . Tobacco Wheat andEu- > In the ropean Grains \ highlands. T>-„ '^ J S Province of Brazil wood ^ Ri^Hacha. Pearl Fisheries. • Gold. Silver. Iron. Copper. Platina. Emeralds. Cattle Hides in the Plains. EMIGRATION TO. Situation is a cir imstance of considera- able importance to foreign settlers. The coast line of the United States (if we except some parts of the Carolinas and Georgia, too unhealthy to be inhabited) is so thickly peopled, that from the eastern states there is annually a very considerable emigration towards the interior ; the consequence is, that foreign settlers, especially of the poorer classes, encounter such embarrassments at the onset, as they are unprepared to meet, and unable to master. From their several points of disembarkation, they are obliged to penetrate through the centre of the country, until they arrive at the banks of the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the borders of the Canadian lakes ; such a journey, however cheaply performed, besides the pe- cuniary loss to families, whose means are commonly very limited, involves the incon- venience, that whatever bulky articles, either of furniture, stock, or agricultural imple- ments, the settlers may bring wiih them, must be either abandoned, or transported at an expense beyond their value, and most commonly to their great detriment. None 60 COLOMBIA: ii of these disadvantages exist at ^.rvieui. in Colombia : thousands of situations may be selected on the coast, and on the borders of the river Orinoco and Magdalena, where settlers may disembark on the very spot they intend to cultivate, and commence their la- bours on the day after their arrival : some of these shall be particularized in treating of the choice of place. The quantity of labour necessary to be employed upon new lands is much less in tropical than in cold or even temperate climates. Wherever water can be applied, the powerful agency of heat ensures an abundant harvest : clearing is also a much lighter task in Colombia than in the United States. In every part of the country there is an alternation of wood and pasture land, and abundance of land covered with copse wood or light timber, which requires little more than burning to prepare it for cultiva- tion. The labour of building is not less abridged by the climate ; where cold is un- known, shade for his cattle, and a water- tight roof for the cultivator and his family, are all that is absolutely necessary, nay, EMrORATION TO. 07 almost as much as comfort requires. In many parts of the country it is the custom to build without walls of any kind ; a mud flooring is raised about two feet above the soil ; the roof is thatched with palm-leaves, the sloping sides of which form a cock-loft, or dormitory above, wliile the inmates in- habit the ground-floor, in the full enjoyment of fresh air — no inconsiderable luxury. Three or four active labourers will raise a commodious building of this description, in less than a week ; they are called in the country Rancherias. The Subsistence of mankind in tropical climates is not less sim- plifled in all its branches than their lodging and labour ; none but the lightest clothing can be worn without inconvenience ; when cloth is used, it is not from necessity, but vanity ; the labourer, through the whole of Colombia, except in the elevated regions of the Andes, requires nothing but a shirt and trowsers, of the strength and quality best suited to his occupations ; a blanket, with an aperture in the centre to admit the head, answers the purpose of a travelling cloak, and of a coverlid by night, when the weather F 2 68 COLOMBIA: happens to require it ; his hat is made of palm-leaves ; his shoes, if he wears any, remind the travellei' of the Roman sandal, being of the same shape and material ; his bed is a cotton hammock, which swings from the roof of his cabin, or a hide stretched on a wooden frame : the former may be deemed a luxury, and is used by persons of all classes in preference to any kind of bed. Food cannot fail to be abundant in a climate which yields two and often three crops yearly. In the elevated and temperate re- gions, wheaten bread is generally used,* with potatoes, cabbages, peas, beans, and gene- rally all the vegetables and fruits peculiar to Europe. In the warmer districts, the bread principally used is made of maize or Indian corn, first beaten with a kind of wooden pestle, then ground and washed betwixt two stones, and finally converted into cakes. This process, which usually occupies the females of the poorer classes half the day, is a striking instance of the miserable waste of labour occasioned by the want of machinery. * The best flour in Bogota market fetches about four dollars the quintal. EMIGRATION TO. 69 In the United States maize is ground like wheat, and makes excellent flour : a second kind of bread is made of the root, called Vuccay which is bruised, and the juice, which is poisonous, expressed ; it is then spread into broad thin cakes, and dried for use. In this shape it is called cassava, and though much esteemed by the natives, to an Euro- pean palate (except perhaps a Scotch one) seems harsh, insipid, and little nutritious. Plantains are a third species of bread : this fruit is the potatoe of the tropics, as far as respects its abundant produce, and the almost exclusive use of it by the lower classes. In their ripe state plantains have a very agree- able flavour, either eaten raw or roasted, but the natives prefer them nearly green, when they are hard, indigestible, and yield little either of saccharine or farinaceous substance : their cheapness and abundance principally recommend them to the indolent consumer* In Maracaybo (where I am writing) 36 are in ordinary times sold for three-pence far- thing (a mediay or half-real), and three or four suffice for a meal. The vegetables peculiar to the Wurmer districts are, sweet yuccas, 70 COLOMBIA: yams, sweet potatoes, apios, arracachas, pepers, beringhenas or egg-plants, tomatas, and various species of gourds or pump- kins. The fruits are, pine-apples, melons, oranges, lemons, limes, cocos, aguacates (called in the colonies vegetable marrow), guanavanas or sour-sops, chirimoyas, gra- nadillas, mameyas, sapotes, papagayas, and nisperos, besides many peculiar to the country, and little known by name or de- scription in Europe. It is, however, less the variety than the never-failing abundance of vegetable productions, which is important to new settlers : an acre well planted and watered, places a family beyond the reach of want. Animal food is equally abundant : in the plains, previous to the revolution, an ox was worth nothing but his hide, and fre- quently no part of the flesh was consumed but the tongue ; in other parts of the country, where cattle are not raised, meat is always so cheap as to be within the means of the poorest labourer ; the ordinary value of an arroba^ or 25 pounds, on the coast, is one dollar. Mutton is plentiful in the mountain country ; a sheep is worth about a dollar. EMIGRATION TO. n When sheep are scarce, their place is supplied by goats, at about five or six reals each (about three shillings). The value and quantity of poultry depend entirely on the disposition of the inhabitants, since it is raised without cost or trouble ; yet, from the want of indus- try, it is both scarcer and dearer than in France : in fact, the use of it is, in most parts of the interior, confined to the sick, idleness being the only luxury for which the lower and middling classes have any taste. Al- though the chase should never be reckoned among the permanent resources of the agri- culturist, yet the wild fowl and animals which people the glades and forests, in every part of the country, and the fish and turtle which abound on the coasts and in the rivers, tend, not inconsiderably, to dimi- nish the difficulties, and augment the com- forts of the new settler. As fc . the drinks of the country ; in New Granada a fermented liquor is used, called chichi, made of Indian corn and molasses, sufficiently palatable and intoxicating. In Venezuela and the warm country, the common beverage is a liquor called g'varapo, made from sugar, ex- 72 COLOMBIA: tremely pleasant before the fermentation \s carried far, when it becomes acid and in- toxicating, in which state it is generally pre ferred by the common people : rum is ma- nufactured in every part of the country of a very bad quality ; it is called aguardiente ; the consumption of it is very great : beev might be made in all the mountain country, and wine almost every where; but the Spanish laws prohibited the cultivation both of the vine and the olive, as interfering with the sale of the wines and oils of the mother country. The expenses of living are naturally greater in the sea-port towns than in the interior, where they are extremely small. In the former, house-rent is a principal ar- ticle of expense : good houses let for 50 dollars a month, and diminish in value, ac^ cording to their size and accommodation, to 3 and 4. The expense of food may be graduated by considering that the value of a soldier's ration is a real, or sixpence-half^ penny, on '"hich he is able to live ; and that the c. ^rges of the best hotel of Cara- cas are one dollar and a half per day. FOREIGN SETTLERS. 73 Country labourers* wages are two reals, or thirteen-pence per day; but there are few artizans who cannot earn from one to two dollars, every species of handicraft labour being scarce and expensive. In fine, we may sum up the natural advan- tages of Colombia, as compared with the United States, by observing, that she has at least an equal if not a greater quantity of disposable lands ; that these lands are su- perior in the quality of their productions, and more accessible; that the quanti^ of labour necessary to be expended on them is less, and that subsistence, including raiment, food, and lodgings, is more readily obtain- able. § 3. DISPOSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT TOWABDS FOREIGN SETTLERS. The disposition of the Government can scarcely be better manifested than in the words of its own laws, of which we trans- late the following relative to Emigration : 74 COLOMBIA: t' The Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Colombia united in Congress, Considering, 1. That a population numerous and propor- tionaie to the territory of a state, is the basis of its prosperity and true greatness ; 2. That the population of the Republic of Colombia, which, in consequence of the barbarous system adopted by the oppressive government, first, of exterminating the natives, and secondly, of preventing the entry of all the nations of the world, never extended to the vast extent of her territory, has, moreover, subsequently been in great part destroyed by the war of death and desolation which she has endured for thirteen years ; 3. That the fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the climate, the extensive unappropriated lands, and the free institutions of the Republic, permit and require a numerous emigration of useful and laborious strangers, who, by making their own fortunes, may augment that of the nation, have resolved to decree and do decree as follows :— Article 1. The Executive Power, in virtue of the faculty granted by the laws and consti- tution, and of the means assigned by the pre- sent decree, shall efHcaciously promote the emigraiifm of European and North American foreigners. FOREIGN SETTLERS. 75 Art. 2. For this purpose it may dispose of from two to three millions of fanegas of the lands belonging to the State, employing them under such conditions and in such manner as it may deem most convenient, but without being al- lowed to grant more than two hundred fanegas to each family. Art. 3. In the distribution of the said lands the Executive is not subject to the dispositions of the law of the 11th October, Uth year of the Republic, which fix the value and forms respecting the alienation of unoccupied lands. Art. 4. The Executive power shall order the necessary arrangements relative to the situation, social establishment, and other definitive regu- lations necessary to promote the emigration of foreigners, as well as the exemptions which they are to enjoy. Art. 5. All the individuals of the said families, as soon as they fix their residence in the terri- tory of Colombia, shall be esteemed naturalized in the Republic, and shall enjoy the rights of citizens, with the exception cf those that the Constitution reserves to born citizens, or to those who have resided a certain number of years in the territory of the Republic. Art. 6. The Executive shall endeavour that this emigration consist entirely, or in greater part of labourers and artizans, and shall give an ac- !-:^Vil ■mm m 76 COLOMBIA: count of its measures for the fulfilment of this decree on the first meeting of Congress. Given in Bogota, 7th June, 1823— 13. The Vice-President of the Senate, Jeronimo c Torres— The President of the Chamber of Representatives, Domingo Caycedo — The Secretary of the Senate, Antonio Jose Caro— The Secretary of the Cham- ber, Pedro de Herrera. Palace of Bogota, 11th June, ISSd-'lS. Let it be executed. Francisco de Paula Santander, Vice- President of the Republic in charge of the Executive Power.— The Secretary of State for the Interior, Jose Manuel Restrepo, DECREE OF THE GOVERNMENT. Francisco de Paula Santander, General of Division of the Armies of Colombia, Vice- President of the Republic, charged with the Executive Power, &c. The Executive Power being authorized by the law of the 7th instant to promote the emigration of foreigners, and to distribute among them two or three millions of fanegas of land on the condi- tions therein prescribed, I have thought fit to decree as follows : — FOREIGN SETTLERS. 77 Art. 1. Every foreigner who makes demand of land in Colombia in virtue of the said law, shall present himself to the Qovernor or Inten- dant of the province in which he solicits the grant, stating to what nation he belongs, the number of his family, profession, or trade, and that which he intends exercising in future. Art. 2. The Governor or Intendant shall point out to him the places where there are vacant lands, that he may choose where he wishes for the grant ; after signifying which, the lands shall be measured by a competent peri^on, named by the Governor or Intendant, until t'\e provincial land-surveying officers shall le established, and, as far as possible, a topC'- graphical plan shall be made of them. Art. 3. After these preUminary steps, and accord- ing to the quality of the lands, the foreigner shall make his offers, showing the number of fanegas he requires, and within what time he will begin to cultivate them. The Governor or Intendant shall remit all these documents to the Executive, wiih what information he may deem necessary respecting them, according to which the Supreme Government will refuse or concede the lands in question on the conditions it may deem expedient; and in this case, it will order the Governor or Intendant to put in possession, and grant the suitable title-deeds to the person or persons benefitted. 78 COLOMBIA Art. 4. The expenses of^valuing, measurement, and other arrangements, shall be paid from the viilue of the lands in case of sale ; when given by the Government, they shall ha borne by the party benefitted ; but in no case shall the governors, judges, or persons through whom these arrangements are made, receive pay- ment, and the whole procedure shall be officially transmitted to the government. Art. 5. The Government, in consideration of the advantage which results to the Republic from the settlement of a foreigner, according to his trade, art, or profession, will grant him such exemptions as it may deem convenient, and as are conformable with the laws of the Republic. Art. 6. The Governors and Intendants will en- deavour to settle the foreigners who arrive in Colombia on the most advanta;^ "ous lands, near to sea-ports and navigable rivers, placing the settlements in healthy and elevated situa- tions. They will also frame plans on which to establish these settlements. Art. 7. They are particularly charged with the protection of the new settlers, administering to them prompt justice in all their affairs, and affording them every possible aid within the reach of their authority, until they can com- plete their establishments. Art. 8. The Secretary of State and Interior is charged with the execution of this decree. FOREIGN SETTLERS. 79 Given at the Palace of the Government of Colombia in Bogota, the 18th June, 1823 — 13. — Francisco de Paula San- ta nder, by his Excellency the Vice- President of the Republic. The Secre- tary of State for the Interior, Jose Manuel Restrepo. The fanega of land is a square of 100 yards, and consequent ontains 2,000 square yards of superfii The law of the ilth . er, 1821, re- ferred to in Art. 3 of the preceding law, regulates the mode of sale of unoccupied lands, fixing the value of those in the mari- time provinces at two dollars, and of those in the interior at one dollar the fanega. The same law provided for the establish- ment of land offices and surveyors, arrange- ments which would have facilitated the establishment of new settlements had they been carried into effect. The project of selling lands never met with success, and this was the origin of the present law, which would have been more satisfactory, did not the 4th Article of the Vice-Presi- dent's decree leave it still doubtful how far it is intended to sell and how far to give the ^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ .*\^ ■ •^^ US ^^^ lllMB us |50 ^ 1^ 12.0 ys 1^ lu^ 'oiy^ ^ <^*^ ^ FhotogFaphic Sdmces Corporalion \ \ 2S WMT MUN STMir WiKm,N.V. I4SW (7U)«7r4S0l 4^ Ci^ I COLO^MBIA: lands in question.* With experience, and necessity at its side, it is indeed strange that the Government should for a moment hesitate betwixt a slow and paltry profit, and a rapid increase of real national strength. The law of naturalization is another instance of wavering and short-sighted policy. The first law was passed in September 1821, and a second in July r f the present year, be- cause, as the preamble expresses, the first had unfortunately not produced the effects expected from it, on account of the heavy conditions it imposes on those who require letters of naturalization. It might be ima- gined, that after such a preamble, the con- ditions would at least be softened ; but no such thing ; they remain precisely as before. The possessor of property to the value of 1,000 dollars requires two years* residence, of 2,000 dollars one year's residence, be- fore he can obtain naturalization; three years are necessary when there is no quali- fication of property : ^11 this, in the actual situation of Colombia, may be pronounced pure unmixed nonsense. It seems, too, as /j * See Appendix Note C. — s^aaijVii^- CHARACTER. 81 if the Congress, while framing the law of naturalization in July, had quite forgotten the law of emigration of June, by the 5th Article of which every occupier of 200 fanegas of land becomes a naturalized citi- zen as soon as he fixes his residence. § 4. CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS AS IT AFFECTS FOREIGN SETTLERS. It is as natural to desire a knowledge of the character of the inhabitants as of the soil on which we propose to fix our resi- dence, and although delineations of national character are often little more than erroneous generalizations of particular facts, it may be desirable to throw some light on such points in that of the present inhabitants of Colom- bia, as are most likely to come in contact with the feelings and interests of foreign settlers. One of the facts which most agreeably pre- sents itself to the mind of the European tra- veller in almost every part of Colombia, is the opinion which seems universally felt, and is universally avowed, of the necessity of a large influx of foreign settlers. Every where he hears an outcry for foreigners; every 82 COLOMBIA: tvhere lamentations over the ignorance and indolence of the present inhabitants. All this is pretty much as it seems : the neces- sity of a foreign population, that is of an increase of population, which can only be obtained from foreign countries, is obvious to the dullest capacity ; nor is the fact of the inability of the present inhabitants to profit by the immense advantages of their own soil, less irresistibly clear. Foreigners have won its independence, foreigners have created its commerce, its marine has been furnished, armed, manned, and commanded by foreigners, its soldiers have been dis- ciplined, and are still armed, clothed, and, in great measure, fed by foreign capital ; yet all this mass of opinion and circumstance by no means proves that foreign settlers would meet with that active and benevolent -assi^ance from the inhabitants whic^ gra- titude as well as interest would dictt and which their own opinions seem :o promise. It is uncertain how far they might view with philosophic good-will, a foreigner taking "advantage of circumstances which, though their indolence had neglected, their cupiditjr C H A U A C T E li. 83 might prompt tliem to lament. Let us sup- pose a foreigner to discover a mine, or a lucrative branch of commerce, or by some invention or improvement to create a new, and consequently to dry up an old, channel of profit, would the real and imaginary sufferers in this case, those who had missed the dis- covery or were sharers in the loss, be likely to regard the intruder with particular favour or satisfaction ? besides, the monopolizing or exclusive system is too favourable to indolence not to find many supporters, as soon as the dangers of competition are placed in open day : witness the law of consignments. These observations are not, however, urged as a serious discourage- ment, but merely to check extravagant expectation as to the degree of assistance whic^ may be calculated on. In fact, were the good-^ll in this respect far greater than it is likely to be, how can it be hoped that they who altogether lack industry in the pur- suit of their own advantage, should exert themselves to procure that of others ? If 1:he line of Pope, " Most women have no character at all," G 2 8i COLOMBIA: have any general application, it can only be true with reference to the want of firmness and fixed principles of conduct in which education usually leaves females deficient, and in this sense it may with equal justice be applied to the Colombians. Long habits of slavery and oppression, partially coun- teracted by a feverish interval of liberty, ill understood and imperfectly enjoyed ; the almost total want of education, and absence of that moral stimulus, which, under the name of honour or character, forces every respectable individual of European society to a line of conduct conformable with his situation ; all these circumstances have pro- duced a negativeness or debility both in thought and action, which renders them troublesome to deal with, and unfit to be relied on. It is, in fact, almost impossible to calculate their behaviour except you could be certain of the last idea which has occupied their imagination, for the feeling or interest most immediately present is pretty generally decisive of their conduct. Does a merchant contract with a planter for a quantity of coffee or cocoa at a certain CHARACTER. 85 rate ? — in vain would he suppose the bargain concluded, should another purchaser appear and offer the slightest advance of price. The readiness with which they break a pro- mise or an agreement, can only be equalled by the sophistical ingenuity with which they defend themselves for having done so. In this respect they seem a nation of lawyers, who, "with ease, twist words and meanings as they please.*' As the reproach of being a liar is the last insult which can be offered or endured among freemen, so is the term lie the last to be used in decent conversation ; here, on the contrary, not only is the expres- sion a good one, and adapted to the meridian of the genteelest society, but the reproach of being a liar may be safely cast on friend or foe with as little offence given or taken as the term " Rake** or " Prodigal'* would cause in a fashionable London circle. It is indeed a truth worth a " thousand homilies" in defence of liberty, that without it there can be no virtue. The most pleasing trait in the character of the Colombian Creoles is good nature. It is easy to live with them if you require 86 C O I. O M B I A : little of them : they have little or no active benevolence, because such must result from strong powers of imagination and reflection. But they are not vindictive, for revenge is both a strong and a permanent feeling ; nor are they cruel, although this assertion may seem paradoxical to those acquainted with the history of the Revolution, but we must distinguish betwixt cruelties which are the fruit of a savage nature, and such as weak- ness itself may give birth to, when " Roused up to too much wrath which follows o'ergrown fears." Neither are they in general proud or assum- ing, except when they have obtained place or power, on which occasions they are very apt to verify the musty proverb, " Set a beggar on horseback.^' As far as their general character is diversified by local cir- cumstances, we may observe that the inha- bitants of the coast line, and especially of the principal sea-port towns, are the most refined and intelligent ; that the inhabi- tants of the interior and mountain country, particularly of New Granada, are the most s t r 1 CHARACTER. 87 •n. simple in their habits, the least crafty in their dispositions, but ignorant, timid, selfish, and inhospitable. The inhabitants of the plains form a totally distinct class, whose characteristics, as their mode of life, are peculiarly their own. Nothing is, accord- ing to an European view of the subject, more pacific than the life of a herdsman, nothing less likely to engender ferocity or military habits ; it is sufficient, however, to have once witnessed the mode of tending cattle in South America, to form a different opinion. The immense herds raised in boundless and unenclosed plains, are ga- thered, penned, or conducted, as change of pasture may require, by half-naked horse- men, each armed with a lance, whose rapid movements, shouts, and wild demeanour, suggest the idea of a body of Tartar cavalry. Th^ untamed n^iture of the cattle them- selves, the attacks of wild beasts to which they are exposed, the deep and rapid rivers over which they are frequently to be led, with a variety of circumstances essential to the mode of life of the Llaneros or Plainsr men, all require and produce those habits 88 COLOMBIA: by which they are distinguished ; besides being the breeders and keepers of the cattle they are also their butchers, both from ne- cessity and amusement. Their chief, we may say, their only, pastime, is drawn from this source : to throw a Lazo, or coiled rope, round a bull's horns while at his speed, to pierce him in the spine, or hamstring him till they have occasion to kill him, to flay, quarter, and divide his quivering carcase with all the technicality of our old European huntsman, is the pride and almost the sole enjoyment of their lives. The Revolution thus found them a ready-made body of irre- gular cavalry ; a popular chief sprang up to give impetus and direction to their native spirit, and a very short time beheld them excellent Guerillas, and not less expert thieves and cut-throats — in their favour we must revoke our negation as to the natural cruelty of the Colombians. There is not, perhaps, in the world, a race of people who shed human blood with more indifference or with slighter temptation ; it is difficult to say by what good qualities, if we except cou- rage, and a strong love of independence, th C H A U A C T E a. 89 their defects are redeemed or qualified ; pacific virtues they have none ; it is fortu- nate, however, that the natural abundance of the plains tends constantly to diminish their disposition towards a life of savage marauding ; were it otherwise, the Llaticros would be to Colombia, what the 'Moors of the Nubian desert are to Egypt, and the interior of Africa. Should experience hereafter decide, that any of the foregoing observations are severe or unmerited, it will be necessary to keep in mind the rapid changes to which the whole social system of this country will be subjected. Truth to-day, may to-morrow seem libels or flattery, according as the new moral impulse is favourable or unfavourable to humanity ; above all, as far as respects foreign settlers, it is desirable they should come prepared in all things /or the worst ; should rather be invigorated by unlooked-for advan- tages, than chilled by unexpected difficulties : neither is calumny equally fatal to a nation as an individual. The means of vindication are, in the former case, too numerous and striking to leave the question long doubtful. M COLOMBIA: How many attempts have been made to asperse and degrade the government and population of the United States ! but has the career of her prosperity been less rapid ? Is her example less consoling to outraged freedom? § 5. MODES OF EMIGRATION, AND DESCRIP- TION OF PERSONS MOST PROPER FOR THIS PURPOSE. All classes of persons who look to emi- gration as the means of bettering their con- dition, may be comprehended under the heads of manufacturers ^ artisans, and agri^ culturists, the latter comprehending as well agricultural labourers, as capitalists intend- ing to employ their funds in lands ; the learned professions are clearly out of the question, if we except a few medical men, who would, however, scarcely find their talents recompensed; and as for the fine arts, they would in vain seek honour and profit in a new country. With respect to manufacturers ; the ob- servations already made on tlie state of MODES OF EMIGRATION, Ac. di the country, with the many more which must readily present themselves to every one in the least acquainted with the princi- ples of political economy, will be decisive against their seeking to establish themselves in Colombia. It is not that in one or two solitary instances, manufactures might not be established with something like success—- a manufacture for coarse pottery, for ex- ample, in some parts of the interior, but the condition of the country is essentially unfa- vourable to manufacturers, and favourable to agriculturists ; and as for the few specu- lations which have any good foundation, together with many more that have no foun- dation at all, there are already more than enough projectors employed on them. The case is not the same with regard to Artisans. In those trades which require neither large capitals, expensive machinery, nor a complication of labour, many circum- stances will contribute to give the home- made article an advantage over the article imported, of equal quality : it is evidently inditierent to the purchaser, whether a yard of cloth or linen be home-made or imported. COLOMBIA: provided he can obtain it when he wants it, of the suitable price and quality ; but, in the case of a pair of boots or shoes, or of a suit of cloaths, both taste and convenience would induce him to give the preference to the tailor or shoemaker nearest at hand, always supposing the work and materials equal. There are, also, branches of. trade which can scarcely be furnished by importa- tion, such as carpenters' work, joiners*, ma- sons', blacksmiths', painters', sawyers*, &c. ; tanning is also a trade which miorht prove advantageous, the hides and bark being ex- tremely cheap, and the native leather, at present, perfectly unserviceable, which is the great difficulty with which European shoemakers and saddlers would have to con- tend. Furniture is imported in all the sea- port towns from Jamaica and Cura^oa, but this is both expensive and troublesome, even on the coast, and almost impossible in the interior : neat cabinet makers would, conse- quently, find great encouragement. But, though the state of the country offers advan- tages to foreign artisans of the above de- scriptions, it is obvious that the demand for MODES OF EMIGRATION, &c. 93 them must be limited : it is probable, that there is scarcely a town or village in Colombia, in which one or two European shoemakers might not earn a comfortable subsistence, but it is also evident, that if ten arrived in the same place, seven or eight of them would be compelled to starve, or change their occupation. The mode of emigration^ therefore, with respect to artisans, is, in great measure, the reverse of that to be observed by agriculturists. It should be always by individuals, or very small bodies. Each workman, as he arrives with his tools, has only to look out for a lodging, and begin his labours. If the peculiar circumstances of the place at which he disembarks are unfavourable, a short journey will always convey him to a more advantageous spot. Individually, the industrious artizan will rarely fail to realize the fable of the Cat and the Fox ; his single shift will suffice for his preservation. It is to agricultural emi- grants our observations are principally di- rected, because it is they who will constitute the great mass of emigration, and produce the most important changes in the moral and ;! i 94 C O T. M B I A : physical aspect of the country. As to the description of peraons most proper for this purpose, there can be little difficulty : the labourer should be hardy, sober, and indus- trious, and few think of emigrating who do not, more or less, possess these qualifica- tions. With respect to capitalists^ their aptitude will clearly depend on their intelli- gence, and previous habits ; to point out all their necessary qualifications would be imi- tating the writers on military tactics, who always lay down as an axiom, that a general should possess every virtue and talent under the sun, though in practice much of this may and must be abated. With respect to the most effectual mode of executing any plan of emigration, which has for its object an agricultural establish- ment, the most important point is, to com- bine in the same plan the advantages of capi- tal and labour. The capitalist who should attempt to employ native labour, and the foreign labourers, who should look to native employers, are likely to meet with equal dis- couragement. The more numerous the body of emigrants, the greater the prospect of MODES OF EMIGRATION, &o. 95 success, supposing t'.e previous arrange- ments to be judicious: planned; inasmuch as the labourers have no capital but their labour, the expenses of their transport and the ne- cessary advances for their subsistence must be borne by the capitalists, who have a right to an adequate portion of their labour in return, on their arrival at the new settle- ment. Engagements must be entered into to secure these mutual advantages, but the question naturally arises, whether the Co- lombian courts of justice will acknowledge and enforce contracts made in a foreign country ? According to the inquiries I have made on the subject, it appears that such contracts will be acknowledged and enforced by the laws of Colombia, as has been already decided in the case of workmen, hired in the colonies to build houses in Colombia, and who refused on their arrival to fulfil their contract. It would, however, be desirable, that, in the case of emigrants, such contracts should be made in the pre- sence of the envoy, or political agent of the Republic, resident in the country from which the emigration is to be made. I I ;. 1 1 i i 90 COLOMBIA: I 6. PREPARATIONS NECESSARY. A BODY of agricultural emigrants, having united, according to the foregoing idea of a combination of capital and labour (for in every other manner, emigration could scarcely be carried into effect without much suffering and difficulty), the first step to be taken, after deciding generally on the part of the country in which the settlement is to be made, should be, to send an agent to the seat of the departmental government, to provide for carrying into effect the dispositions of the general government, as specified in its laws on this subject already quoted. It would be desirable that the person appointed for this purpose, besides the indispensable knowledge of the quality of lands, should possess such a fluency in the Spanish lan- guage as may enable him to transact his hwsiness personalli/ with the government, and its agents, as well as to make the necessary inquiries relative to the objects of his mis- sion. For though in all sea-port towns inter- preters may easily be met with, it is obvious PREPARATIONS NECESSARY. 97 that a knowledge of the language of a coun- try is both a key to much important in- formation, as well as an instrument to van- quish a variety of difficulties, the want of which can be supplied in no other manner. It will be necessary, that with respect to the quality and situation of the lands proposed to be allotted, the agent should rely on no species of report or description that is not confirmed by the testimony of his own eye- sight. It is also necessary, that the terms of possession, rights or immunities, to be granted to the settlers, together with every other point which may be made a question betwixt them and the government, should be clearly explainedy and committed to writing. These preliminary arrangements having been concluded, it remains only for the emi- grating body to make provision of the arti- cles most necessary for its establishment; and here we notice, it would be desir- able, every body of agriculturists should have united to it a small number of car- penters, smiths, sawyers, mill-wrights and other artisans, most necessary in a new set- tlem^ent. The articles most important to be * ■ H 98 COLOMBIA: brought out are agricultural implements, such as ploughs and harness, axes, spades and shovels, saws, pickaxes, machinery for water-mills, carpenters' tools, distilling ap- paratus, machinery for cleaning cotton and coffee, a medicine chest, salted provisions for the first four or five months' residence, clothes and furniture ; with regard to the latter articles, it is impossible to specify quantity or quality, since these must depend on the taste and means of the settlers; I have already noticed how little is absolutely necessary, but beyond this, it may be ob- served, that every manufactured article, es- pecially as it approaches towards an article of taste or luxury, is much dearer, and worse in quality in Colombia than in Europe, whence it must be exported, and, conse- quently, that every thing of this kind which emigrants may require, or deem necessary, they should bring with them in the greatest abundance possible, since the overplus may always be disposed of to considerable ad- vantage ; arms too, both for the chase and for defence, should not be neglected; live stock, except as a matter of tasteful specula- tion, is unnecessary. CHOICE OF PLACE. I 7. CHOICE OF PLACE. The manner in which South America was originally peopled by the Spaniards is ex* tremely favourable to the formation of new settlements : when the colonization of a new country is peaceably carried on, population spreads gradually, from the sea-coast and navigable rivers, towards the interior and mountainous districts, which are the last to be occupied. But the Spanish system of conquest and plunder, demanded a contrary method ; small bands of adventurers pene- trated through pathless wilds, and across the most inaccessible mountains ; their estab- lishments were rather military posts than colonies, the extent of the country peopled, bearing no proportion to that occupied. There are, in consequence, large intermediate tracts of vacant territory, admirably adapted for new settlements, to which the towns and villages already existing form so many Points d'appuij for the purposes of supplies and communication both external and inter- nal; for though new settlements require H 2 100 COLOMBIA: 'space, both to exist and spread upon, it is by no means desirable that they should be planted in an actual desert, where the greater part of the settlers may perish from want, disease, and hardships, before the establish- ment acquires strength and maturity ; as was fatally experienced by the early North ^Anlerican colonists. - • . > ? * . Of the ten departments, into which the Republic is divided, the four mariti.Tie de- partments of the Orinoco, Caracas, Zulia, and the Magdalena, which occupy the whole extent of coast, from the mouths of the Ori- noco to the Isthmus of Panama, arc, in every respect, the most eligible for the purposes of colonization. ; . , , , ... i ;L. . 1 . The department of the Orinoco, com- prehends the provinces of Guyana, Cumana^ Barcelona, and Margaritta. . , i- '.( .The residence of the departmental govern- ment is in the city of Cumana : the cities of Angostura in Guyana, Barcelona in Bar- celona, and Assuncion in the island of Mar- ^rit.ta, are the residence of the several pro- vincial governors. . i. ,.i .u> CHOICE OF PLACE. 101 The province of Guyana is bounded by the Orinoco, the rich alluvial lands of which are of astonishing fertility ; the chief settle- ments consisted, formerly, of reduced or. christianized Indians, but the war has left this province nearly desolate. Its produc- tions are cocoa, cotton, tobacco, cattle, and generally every species of vegetation pecu- liar to hot and moist climates. Angostura, » is the great depot of the trade of the plains, liides and cattle. The climate is unhealthy, and liable to contagious fevers.* The province of Cumana, lies betwixt the Orinoco and the part of the coast opposite to Trinidad and Margaritta. The banks of the Orinoco offer many advantageous situa- tions for new settlements, particularly the neighbourhood of Barrancas, betwixt the mouth of the river and Angostura, which will probably one day surpass Angostura, from its superior local advantages, and greater proximity to the sea. The lands bordering on the gulf of Paria, and the rivers * Some account of Guyana was given to the public by the late Mr. Princep, in one of the London Reviews or Magazines. 109 COLOMBIA: which empty themselves into it, are all of great fertility, and famous for the cultivation of cocoa. The immediate vicinity of the island of Trinidad, is here a considerable advantage ; the neighbourhood of the gulf of Cariaco, adjacent to Cumana itself, is also eminently fertile, and there is little doubt that the mountains, called the Bergantine, which terminate the Andes to the east in this province, would be found adapted to the culture of coffee, with the advantage of a more mitigated temperature, than can be found on the level lands near the coast. The Province of Barcelona is almost un- inhabited, but very fertile, and equally adapted to breeding cattle, and to agriculture. The Island of Margaritta is of too small an extent to be eligible for purposes of colo- nization. 2. The department of Caracas compre- hends the provinces of Caracas and Barinas. The residence of the departmental go- vernment or Intendency is the city of Cara- cas: the city of Barinas is the residence of the governor of that province. CHOICE OF PLACE. iO'J The province of Caracas, whether we consider its temperature, natural beauty, or fertility, is almost unrivalled upon earth, but, in some respects, it is less advantageous for colonization than other less attractive provinces. The quantity of its unoccupied lands are much less : those already in culti- vation have in many places become in some degree exhausted, besides that, there is scarcely an estate upon which there are not such a variety of chains and shackles, as would involve a purchaser, especially a foreigner, in an endless series of litigations ; perhaps the best advice to give to emigrants is to abstain from visiting this province, since they could not, without difficulty and regret, renounce the celestial climate of Caracas, and the lovely valleys of Aragua, for the superior advantages to be reaped in any other part of Colombia. The line of country least inhabited, and consequently most proper for new settlements, is that betwixt Valencia and San Carlos, and a beautiful tract it is, especially in the neigh- bourhood of Carabolo. The province of Barinas is eminently 104 COLOMBIA: favourable to colonization. It conHists en- tirely of plains intersected by numerous rivers, most of them navigable, which de- scend into the Apure, and thus communicate with the Orinoco. The banks of these rivers are covered with superb forests, and when cleared, produce abundantly cocoa, indigo, cotton, sugar-cane, tobacco, maize, rice, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The savanahs breed innumerable herds of cattle ; the Cordilleras of Pamplona, Me- rida, and Truxillo, border it on the west and north, and supply it with wheat and every production of temperate climates, even to the luxury of snow ; by these mountains it communicates with the lake of Maracaybo, and through the lesser ridges of La Palo- mera, and Las Hermanas, with Valencia and Puerto Cabello. The cities of Barinas, Guanore, Arauze, " San Carlos, and San Fer- nando de Apure, were rapidly advancing previous to the war, which visited this province with the full measure of its de- structive fury. 3. The department of Zulja comprehends CHOICE OF PLACE. 103 te the provinces of Coro, Mend a, Truxillo, and Muiucaybo. The residence of the departmental go- vernment is Maracaybo : tlic cities of Coro, Merida, and Truxillo, those of the respective provincial governors. The pro- vince of Coro is in many parts arid and steril. In the mountains of the interior, the cultivation of coffee has been introduced "with success. Cattle, goats, mules, and asseS; were bred in the plains, but the pro- vince is, from the effects of the war, almost a desert. _ , . The province of Merida possesses the advantages of a delightful climate, and a fer- tile, though mountainous, territory; wheat, tobacco, and all fruits and grains of tempe- rate climates, are raised abundantly in the high lands, while the low warm valleys pro- duce sugar-cane and cocoa, and all tropical fruits. Coffee could be cultivated to great advantage on the mountains. The superb valley of San Chrystoval, near Cucuta, de- serves the foreign settler*? consideration. The province of Truxillo differs Jittle from that of Merida, except that its moun- L 106 COLOMBIA: tains are steeper, and the valleys more con- fined. The province of Miracaybo possesses great agricultural and commercial advan- tages. Its capital, besides being a sea- port town, is situated on a lake which spreads into the interior, with a length of about 150 miles from north to south, and a breadth of 70 or 80 from east to west. Nearly a hundred rivers and streams dis- charge themselves into its basin, the banks of which are of an astonishing fertility, but many of the settlements have been partially abandoned from the unhealthiness of the climate. A great part of the trade of New Grenada passes through Maracaybo by way of the valleys of Cucuta. 4. The department of the Magdalena comprehends the provinces of Rio Hacha, Santa Marta, and Cartagena. The provinces of Rio Hacha and Santa Marta, being separated by no mutual boun- dary or characteristic, we shall consider as one tract of country. It occupies about two degrees of longitude, and one and a half of CHOICE OF PLACE. 107 1- latitude ; is bounded to the west and east by the rivers Magdalena and Rio Hacha, and to the north and south by the Ocean, and that part of the chain of the Andes which traverses the province of Ocana. It is besides intersected by the beautiful and lofty ridge called the Sierra Nevada, or Snow Mountains of Santa Marta, whence descend the numerous streams which water it in every direction. It is on these streams, several of which are navigable for some distance, and betwixt this ridge of moun- tains and the sea, a foreign settlement might, in my opinion, be most advantageously esta- blished ; the lands are unoccupied, with the exception of two small villages of peaceful and inoffensive Indians : they are eminently fertile, and capable of producing abundantly cocoa, cojQfee, cotton, sugar-cane, indigo, rice, tobacco, maize, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. There are large tracts of pasture lands of excellent quality for raising cattle. The climate is healthy, and the settler has the advantage, by ascending into the mountains, of choosing a temperament congenial to his constitution, and affording lOS COLOMBI Al ;A ■ '1 him every production of the temperate zone. The sea abounds in fish, and the woods with game and wild fowl. The city and port of Santa Marta are on the left, the village of Camerones and port of Rio Hacha on the right, the latter within four or five hours' ride or sail, and affording a market as well for produce raised, as for every article of consumption required in the colony ; add to which advantage, that the settler may be brought from Europe and landed on the • very spot he intends to cultivate. The ' trade of Brazil-wood might also be rendered a very profitable speculation in the province of Rio Hacha, with a capital of about a Thousand Pounds, to be laid out in the pur- chase of mules to convey it from the interior to the Rio Hacha market. Another tratt of country scarcely less advantageous, lies be- twixt the Ocana and Santa Marta mountains to its north and south, and the towns of El Valle and Chiriguana to the east and west. It communicates with the Magdalena by a series of small lakes; with the interior by the Ocana mountains; and with the sea- coast by Santa Marta and Rio Hacha. It CHOICE OF PLACE, J09 th of of he rs' contains a length of about 30 leagues, with an indefinite breadth, towards the mountains, of alternate woods and savanahs, watered by abundant streams. The climate, though warm, is healthy, and untroubled by the insects which swarm near the great rivers. Betwixt Chiriguana and the Indian village of the Cienaga, on the sea-coast near Santa Marta, is a third tract of almost uninhabited country, extending about 70 leagues from north to south, nearly covered with superb forests, and abounding with lands of excel- lent quality, especially on the rivers, which descend from the snow-mountains into the lake or Cienaga. The river Magdalena forms its western boundary ; the few villages and farms scattered over it, though not numerous enotfgh to impede fresh settlements, are suf- ficient to afford them such aid as their infant state necessarily requires. The province of Cartagena contains ex- cellent lands, especially on the banks of the Magdalena, the advantages and disadvan- tages of which, have been already stated : there is, however, one spot which peculiarly claims attention : this is the portof Savanilla, no COLOMBIA: at the mouth of the Magdalena ; the lands here are finely timbered, and the temperature refreshed by strong breezes, but the principal advantage consists in its being the natural port of the Magdalena, in which capacity, there is little doubt, it will one day become the emporium of the whole trade of the inte- rior, though it is closed at present, by order of the government, for the purpose of fa- vouring Santa Marta, which would be aban- doned should commerce be left to its natural channel ; the communication betwixt the latter and the river being troublesome and circuitous, through the canals which unite with the Cienaga ; whereas Savanilla is the mouth of the river itself : its chief defect as a port is, the shallowness of the river imme- diately above it, which is caused by the number of mouths through which the Mag- dalena discharges itself into the ocean ; even flat boats when loaded have, in the dry season, some difficulty in ascending from Savanilla to Barranquilla. It is probable this defect might be remedied, by closing up the mouth called Boca Viegay but the country is not, at present, ripe for such an undertaking. DIFFICULTIES OF LANGUAGE, &c. Ill ids me te- § 8. DIFFICULTIES ARISING FROM DIFFER- ENCE OF LANGUAGE, CUSTOMS, AND RE- LIGION. It is superfluous to point out the disad- vantages of not speiking the language of the country in which we dwell, or to insist on the importance of acquiring it by some, at least, of the individuals who propose to form a new settlement : experience, however, shows us, that it is by no means an evil of such magnitude as greatly to impede a scheme of colonization. In Pennsylvania and New York, there are whole districts in- habited by Germans, most of whom speak no English ; the inhabitants of New Orleans are chiefly French ; Lower Canada is peopled by French and English, and the island of Cura^oa, by every nation of Europe. Every body of emigrants should be provided with two or three interpreters, and these, with due care to acquire the Spanish language, on the part of such colonists whose education and circumstances will permit it, will prove sufii- cient for all practical purposes. There is nothing in the habits and customs 1)2 COLOMBIA: of the Colombians to intimidate foreign settlers ; the inhabitants are much less per- tinaciously attached to their own usages, than they are desirous of imitating those of other nations. Nor is there any thing in their way of life to which a foreigner may not readily accommodate himself, although such complaisance will be neither exacted nor required. The matter of Religion requires more con- sideration. A law was published, dated August 22nd, 1821, to abolish the Inquisi- tion, and restore to the ecclesiastical courts, jurisdiction in matters of religion, according to the canons and customs of the Roman Catholic church : the 3rd article of this law says : " Juridical proceedings in such cases (in matters of faith) shall take place only with respect to Roman Catholics born in Colombia, their children, and those whoj having come from other countries, shall have enrolled themselves in the parish regis- ters of the Catholics ; but not ivith respect to strangers, who may come to establish them- selves temporarily or permanently , nor with their descendants ; who can in no manner be DIFFICULTIES OF LANGUAGE, &c. 113 ;s, of in molested on account of their belief, though they ought to respect the Roman Catholic worship and religion. That Toleration is here established, as to the creed of foreigners, there can be no doubt, but it is not equally clear, that this tolera- tion includes the liberty openly to profess and celebrate the rites of their respective forms of worship ; in such a case the law would re- quire interpretation, and in what spirit would the interpretation be made ? As far as respects the opinions of the individuals who compose the government, and, generally, of all the en- lightened men throughout the country, there is little doubt it would be favourable, but the interference of the clergy must in such a case be reckoned on ; nor can it be denied that the government, perii ^ps from an exag- gerated calculation of clerical influence, has manifested a disposition to humour the pre- judice of this body, which may render it a- problematical question, how far the liberality of its private opinions might con- trol its public conduct. The clergy, on the other hand, are no strangers to the contempt in which their doctrines are lield by the JI4 C O I. M B I A : enlightened part of the community ; but, as long as this inward feeling is accompanied by no overt act of secession, they console themselves with the influence they possess over the ignorant majority, and the know- ledge that this influence must ensure them the consideration of the government. The toleration of a rival church, would, however, prove a very different affair : here is not only division of opinion, but threatened di- vision of pelf and power, and the resistance to such innovation would, doubtless, be pro- portioned to the interests jeopardized. Tra- vellers have noticed the apparent liberality of the South American clergy towards strangers of a different creed, but their bigotry in such cases is only sleeping, be- cause unprovoked; a solitary Protestant traveller may be an object of curiosity, but not of dread or suspicion. Not so, when individuals of the same persuasion appear in hundreds or thousands. The abuse of heretics has long been the favourite theme in the pulpits of Caracas, and this city has been repeatedly threatened with a second earthquake, in judgment of such abomi- DISEASES OF rilE CLIMATE. 115 nations. Without pretending to foretel what course would be followed by the go- vernment, oi' sanctioned by public opinion, when a case of toleration, in the full sense of the word, practically occurs, we may observe, that if Colombia pretends to tread in the steps of the United States, and to grow powerful by the admission of fo- reigners into her bosom, some change in her religious system, either legally sanc- tioned, or conventionally allowed, must eventually take place. The ecclesiastical regulations, which at present interdict marriages betwixt Roman Catholics and heretics, are, of themselves, a barrier against the amalgamation of foreigners with the exist- ing population, and exemplify the impossi- bility of combining religious intolerance with a liberal form of civil government. § 9. DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. It is not to be expected that an indivi- dual, who pretends to no medical science, should write on the subject of diseases with professional accuracy. Observation and I 2 llf) COLOMBIA: experience may, however, do something to supply the place of science, when the latter is not to be obtained, and this is the more necessary, since the condition of an incipient colo^iy will scarcely tempt respectable me- dical men to employ their talents on its members, who must, in most cases of disease, depend on their domestic medicine-chest, with such information as they have been able to procure, as to the mode of applying its contents to the maladies of the country. The Diseases of the mountainous and temperate districts are few and simple, nor require a treatment different from that which is commonly known and pursued in the north of Europe. There is, however, one exception to this rule; this is the malady known by the name of papos in this country, and that o{ goitre in Switzerland: it appears in the shape of a swelling on the throat, which rapidly increases, so as often to be- come larger than the head itself. Besides the peculiar deformity of this malady, it is observed to be so radical a sign of constitii tional weakness, that the children of goitred parents are commonly deaf or dumb, arid in DISEASES Ol* THE CLIMATE. 117 the succeeding generation become entirely idiots. This disease exists to an alarming extent through the whole of the mountain- ous region of the interior ; villages are to be met with, in which there is scarcely an indi- vidual but bears this unseemly excrescence. The cause of it has been much disputed on, and with little success ; the prevailing opi- nion attributes it to the waters, although the great distance in which it is to be met with, through tracts of country watered by streams of all descriptions, renders this improbable. The plant Wflfc'Aero has also had the reputa- tion of causing it, by infecting the waters near which it grows : a more probable cause seems to be, constitutional debility, whatever may be its origin ; in proof of which we may ob- serve, that goitres prevail in those parts of the country, the inhabitants of which are noted for feebleness both moral and physical ; that, among these, women and men of seden- tary and inactive habits are chiefly attacked by it ; and, finally, that such as are engaged in constant exercise, the boatmen of the Magdalena, for example, escape altogether. With respect to the cure, no panacea has yet 118 C O L O iM D I A : been discovered : in its earliest stages, liow' ever, the tumour may be cut away without danger, and a change of climate seldom fails to disperse it ; burnt sponge has also been used with success ; but, when the complaint has made great progress, it would be unsafe to operate surgically, and the case may be considered as remediless. The government, has recently invited the attention of medical men to this subject. The diseases which reign with peculiar violence on the sea-coast, on the borders of great rivers, and in all hot, low, and damp situations, are fevers and dysenteries. The exhalations of noxious miasmata, which escape from stagnant waters, and from waste uncultivated lands, are generally considered the primary cause of the first ; while un- wholesome diet, bad water, intemperance, and whatever tends to derange the digestive faculty, may be regarded as the principal causes of the second, and very often, airectly or indirectly, of both ; it is consoling, how- ever, to reflect, that all these causes are, more or less, subject to the control of man ; experience has abundantly proved, that in DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. no m nt proportion as the soil is cleared, and exposed to the rays of the sun, for the purposes of cultivation, noxious exhalations diminish, or are rapidly dispersed through the atmos- phere. In towns and villages the evil would scarcely exist, were it not from the want of police, and indolence of the inhabitants, who suffer the environs of their habitations to be encumbered with stagnant pools, bushes, and all kinds of filth and rubbish ; a neglect which not unfrequently proves as fatal to themselves as to strangers. In forming a new settlement, too much atten- tion cannot be paid to choosing a dry ele- vated situation : the immediate neighbour- hood of small lakes or ponds should be carefully avoided. The lands round the village should be cleai od as soon as possible, so as to admit a free circulation of air, which is scarcely U) be obtained in any of the Creole villages ; unless accidentally af- forded by local circumstances. Such lakes or ponds as are necessary to be retained, should be left surrounded by a small belt of trees, by which the noxious vapours will be, in great measure, absorbed ; it is desirable, V20 C O L O xM B I A : also, to avoid approaching them after sunset, or early in the morning, especially with an empty stomach ; a proper attention to clear- ing and cleansing the immediate neighbour- hood of the settlement will also powerfully contribute to destroy the swarms of sand- flies and mosquitos so tormenting to Euro- peans. With regard to the symptoms and classi- fication of the several tropical fevers, I shall confine myself to such broad outlines, as can scarcely be mistaken by the most ignorant ; and with regard to remedies, to such as are simplest in their application, and recom- mended by the best medical opinions, without too confidently assuring their suc- cess. It is superfluous, and might seem presuming, to venture upon such questions, as, whether these fevers differ in kind, or only in degree, whether they have a similar or distinct origin. One observation the resident in tropical climates will scarcely fail to make, which is, the propensity of the milder species rapidly to assume the type of the more malignant, and of all to ter- minate in that species called the. black vomiL DISKASKS OF THU: CLIMATE. 121 IT- lly d- 'O- Intermittent fevers, or agues, are the most common and least dreaded ; they prevail in all damp and newly-cleared districts, even where the climate is temperate. The mode of treatment is similar to that of Europe, the bowels are first cleansed, either by salts, or a strong dose of calomel and jalap ; after which bark is generally employed with success. Sometimes, however, a change of air is necessary to complete the cure, and in obstinate cases, *' Fowler's Solution of Arsenic," is a valuable medicine. Simple injiammatory fevers, called by the natives tabardillaSy are distinguished by strength and rapidity of pulse, head-aches, eyes starting and inflamed, high colour, heat of the skin and early delirium : the usual mode of cure is the free use of purgatives, particu- larly calomel and jalap, and refreshing drinks : bleeding and vomits in the first stage of the disease are sometimes used with success, though the practice seems dangerous from the rapid tendency of the system to great debility, and irritation of the stomach. Cold effusions would, most probably, be beneficial, though I have never seen theni ]22 COLOMBI A tried. The third, and most dangerous class of fevers, is that which is more strictly denominated putrid or bilious^ and which not unfrequently terminates in black vomit. Its symptoms in the first stage, are violent pains in the back and limbs, and over the temples ; great depression and debility ; pulse feeble ; if the disease gains ground, violent irritation of the stomach succeeds, attended by frequent vomitings of a matter, in colour and consistency resembling coffee grounds ; hence the name of black vomit. The patient now becomes restless and irrita- ble, his tongue is black and furred, the pulse grows almost imperceptible, and the fatal hiccup too surely announces a speedy and painful dissolution. As to the method of curie, there are naturally various opinions ; some maintaining the necessity of breaking down the fever by purges, bleedings, and low diet, while others uphold the method of stimulants and tonics. Both opinions may be founded in reason, as far as respects the two stages of the disease : in the first, or in- flammatory stage, strong purgatives, and even bleeding are useful : I have seen the most DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. 123 tiy violent symptoms yield in twenty-four hours to strong doses of calomel and jalap, and no- thing left of the disease but a slight debility ; but it cannot be denied, that the same treat- ment has, in other instances, led to the most fatal consequences. When, from the patient's peculiar habit of body, or little custom of taking mercury, this medicine can be brought to act speedily upon the system, so as to produce salivation, there is every reason to hope for the best, at least, in such cases, I have never seen it fail : should, however, the contrary prove the case, the period of debility rapidly comes on, and requires a directly contrary treatment ; blisters on the back and stomach, sinapisms, tonics, in the shape of black laudanum, vitriolic ether, wine, especially champagne, and soda-water, are chiefly to be relied on. It is said, that charcoal has, from its antiseptic qualities, been used with considerable success. The period of this malady seldom exceeds four days, and it not uncommonly passes through all its stages in two. The eyes and skin, previous to dissolution, are often strongly tinged with yellow, but this is by no means J 24 COLOMH I A a constant symptom, nor am I aware that this disease has been completely identified with the yellow fever, though it is probable, if they differ at all, it is only in the minor symptoms. I have never discovered the black vomit to be contagious, though I have had but too frequent occasion of making the experiment. When many persons, as fre- quently happens, are attacked by it at the same time, it is rather to be attributed to the general operation of the peculiar causes of the disease upon persons, all equally in a state to receive it, than to any thing contagious in the disease itself, although it is very pos- sible, that, in crowded hospitals, or in sick chambers, where ventilation is neglected, as too generally is the case among the natives, it may become so. The whole of the sea- coast is liable to this scourge, but the points most peculiarly fatal, are Vera Cruz in Mexico; Puerto Bello on the Isthmus of Panama ; Cartagena, Santa Marta, Puerto Cabello, and Barcelona, on the northern coast of Colombia, and Guyaquil in the Pacific^ The inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the interior, when they descend to thc^ DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. 123 vdi ed le, nor sea-coast, are even more liable to its attacks than Europeans. Dysenteric complaints, from the simple diarrhea through all the stages of bloody flux to confirmed dysentery, constitute a class of diseases by far more destructive than fevers. In this city (Maracaybo) from the time our troops entered it in September, to the month of November, nearly 1 500 sol- diers died in the hospital, out of a force little exceeding 3,000 ; the greater part of these died of flux or dysentery ; in this case, how- ever, we must reckon with a combination of causes to aid in the propagation of the dis- ease, and the total want of means of cure or prevention : in the first place a great defi- ciency of food, and food of the worst quality ; hospitals wretchedly supplied and attended, and native doctors. In ordinary cases, there is little doubt that this malady will yield in all its stages to the free use of ca-? lomel, either alone or combined with opium. The practice recommended by Dr. Johnson^ in his valuable work, "On the Diseases of Tropical Climates," seems deserving of the utmost confidence and attention. 126 COLOMBIA: With respect to the medical practitioners of the country, they are more to be dreaded than the diseases themselves; they divide with the old women the whole department of quackery. Their principal medicine is cream of tartar, with an endless variety of drinks and decoctions, which perhaps would do no harm if the diseases of the climate did not require prompt and efficacious reme- dies. If they chance to embrace a more methodical system, they seldom fail to mis- apply it ; as I have known a patient, in a case of marked inflammatory fever, suffo- cated by bark and stimulants. In dysenteric cases their remedies are so feeble, that should the patient escape, it is at the cost of many months of debility and reiterated relapses. They are almost entirely ignorant of the use of calomel and opium, or rather regard them with a superstitious dread; their drugs are always of the worst descrip- tion, generally stale or damaged. In sur- gery they have no skill whatever ; in fact, whatever reproaches might justly be cast on medical practitioners in the darkest ages of the profession, may with equal propriety DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. 127 be applied to the living generation of Creole doctors, each of whom may I'airly write over his Botica the wag's label, Venditur hie catharticum^ emeticum, Et omne quod exit in urn, Prceter remedium. The natural remedies of the country are sufficiently numerous ; besides a variety of barks, to be found in most of the mountain regions, the castor oil plant, called el tartaro, is scattered abundantly from the burning sands of the coast to the elevated regions of the Andes, although the natives rarely use the oil for any other purpose than lamps. The root of the kassia caumunis is also a useful purge, as is the fruit of the kafia fistula; the roasted fruit of the guava is said to be highly beneficial in dysenteries. Tamarinds and bitter oranges afford excel- lent drinks in fevers ; gums and balsams are abundant. The paramos furnish a variety of herbs of much medical reputation, but their beneficial effects in general require to be investigated with something of scientific, or at leaf:it of unprejudiced, observation. It is always easier to prevent than to cure ; and foreign settlers will do well to guard ]28 COLOMBIA: against disease by a mode of life adapted to the novelty of their situation. The human frame readily suits itself to variety in temnerature, but it cannot be expected to pass from a northerly European climate to one in which the thermometer commonly ranges from 80° to 95°, without experiencing some effects from the change. There are two words which the foreigner should write in his pocket-book, imprint on his memory, and invariably carry into practice — these are Temperance and Exercise. > The necessity of temperance, both in eat- ing and drinking, is suggested by the ob- vious connexion there is betwixt good health and good digestion, so that the most malignant classes of tropical diseases, fevers, and dysenteries, never fail to have their orir- gin, directly or indirectly, in the state of the stomach. It is almost superfluous to give any caution against immoderate eating in a climate which rarely prompts to any excess of gluttony. Persons, however whose occupations compel them to a seden- tary life, should be cautious of loading the stomach in the morning with heavy and DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. 12P greasy aliments. Chocolate, though com- monly used in the country, and highly nutvi* tious, is by no means so wholesome a bever- age as tea or coffee, especially for persons of delicate stomachs, women and children. Suppers, except very slight, or taken very early, are unfriendly both to rest and diges- tion, and often the immediate causes of disease : the cookery of the natives has two great defects — it is very greasy, and their meat is boiled or roasted to rags or cinders, so that their dishes are both unsuited to a European palate and generally indigestible. Temperance in the use of spirituous liquors is absolutely necessary for the preservation of life. Probably not less than 8,000 Eng- lishmen have come to this country during the war as officers and soldiers ; there are not now 300 survivors, and of this loss, three-fifths must be ascribed to drinking. In tropicalclimates there is no salvation for the drunkard : a few may, by strength of constitution, prolong their career for five or six years, but the period of exhaustion must arrive, though the thread of life should hot be snapt by sudden malady. It is not, K t- ■ 1 1 130 COLOMBIA: however, habitual drunkenness that js alone to be avoided ; occasional intemperance is often more speedily fatal, because the de- bility consequent on an occasional debauch, is much greater than that which is felt by the seasoned toper ; and it is in this state an attack of fever is chiefly to be expected. Since, however, the wisest cannot be always wise, it would be desirable on the morning succeeding a nocturnal revel, to take a small dose of Epsom salts or magnesia, to restore the stomach to its healthful tone. It will naturally be asked^ if a total abstinence from wine and spirits is here recommended ? I answer, on the contrary, a moderate quantity of wine f eems highly beneficial, to supply the waste of strength and stimulus occa- sioned by the climate. From a pint to a bottle of claret, or a proportionate quantity of stronger wine, may be taken, not only with safety but advantage. When wine is not attainable, a glass of spirits and water may answer the same purpose, but care must be taken not to multiply the dose from* a false estimate of the malady. If eveiy casual depression of spirits, to which the DISEASES OK THE CLIMATE. l.iJ ne is c- by foreigner is liable in a strange country, were to be counteracted by the bottle, health and life would speedily be sacrificed to mo- mentary alleviation. It is bette^, in such cases, to have recourse to exercise, reading, society, and I was about to add reflexion ; b\it remembering the remark of Zanga, " He's gone to think — that is, to be damned," — I hesitate about the prescription. The natives are very generally accustomed to drink a dram early in the morning, which they call a MaftanUf a practice in which they are too readily imitated by Europeans, who seldom quarrel with a bad habit. Yet there can be little doubt that raw spirits must be, in the highest degree, injurious to the empty stomach ; at the same time it is by no means advisable to encounter the inorning air, especially on lands newly cleared, entirely fasting. A cup of coffee is generally taken by those who refrain from spirits; for the traveller, sportsman, or In- bourer, a cup of chocolate is perhaps still better. The advantage of exercise may seem somewhat paradoxical to those who have K 2 f:i'2 COLOMBIA: been accustomed to regard a tropical climate as both promoting and excusing indolence. That it does, to a certain degree, enfeeble both mind and body can scarcely be denied, but this enfeeblement is almost always in proportion to the greater or less resistance we oppose to it. The human frame will acquire strength, hardihood, and endurance, under a tropical sun, as amid Norwegian ice-bergs ; witness the unparalleled energies and exertions of the Spaniards themselves, in the conquest of this immense continent* It is true that a hot climate does not invite to exercise, but the habit once established, it becomes no less agreeable than salutary. Europeans are accustomed to consider the heat of the sun as pernicious ; mid-day is certainly not the time one would choose for travelling, yet I have, repeatedly, myself, journeyed in a heat of 118" without incon- venience. Nor did I ever know an instance of illness arising from mere exposure to the sun. When I first arrived in Colombia, I was quartered at Barranquilla, on the banks of the Magdalena, a situation usually es- teemed unhealthy; yet I hit upon a mode of DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. iSS life which effectually counteracted the cli- mate. At day-break I took my fowling- piece and amused myself with shooting on the marshy banks of the river, frequently above my knees in water, until about 10 o'clock, when the heat of the sun became extreme ; I then returned, and the fatigue of the morning*s ramble was speedily dissi- pated by a bathe and hearty breakfast. Pro- ceeding on this experience, I always took as much exercise as possible, without re- spect to sun or weather, and constantly found I enjoyed my health in proportion to my bodily exertions. It would be rash to assert, that a man can labour as hard in a tropical, as in a Eu- Topean climate, but nature is also more liberal in the former, and the soil produces with less toil of cultivation; a European can labour in the hottest climate from day- break until 10 in the morning, and from 4 until sunset. This quantity of labour will be adequate for every agricultural purpose, and is treble what is bestowed by the Creole cultivator. A life of temperance and activity will be J 31 COLOMBIA: found the surest preventive of disease, but with the best precautions the new settler must look to be exposed to its visitations. In such cases, the sovereign rule to be ob- served is, to apply the proper remedy with- out waiting^ till the malady has formally declared itself. In Europe we may almost always delay, and sometimes altogether neg- lect, medicine, in reliance either on sticngth of constitution or the Vis Medicatrix NaturcBf but in tropical climates delay is death. The slightest symptom should be the alarm-bell, to prepare our defence against an enemy who can never be despised, Europeans almost always err in this respect, they fre- quently consider it childish to take physic, until physic can no longer avail them; a dose of calomel and jalap, or even of mag- nesia, taken as soon as the stomach indi-* cates the least degree of acidity, will often cut short a violent fever. The plan of taking medicine as a preventive, when no cause exists, is an opposite extreme equally to be avoided, because medicine by repeti- tion loses much of its effect, and can be less depended on when really necessary. The DISEASES OF THE CLIMATE. 1.9$ state of the bowels is, above all, to be strictly attended to, and costiveness should be im- mediately removed by a small dose of salts ; cold bathing is also a preservative of the health, which should never be neglected. Venomous reptiles and insects may be reck- oned among the diseases of the climate : for the bites of mosquitos no remedy has been discovered, but care must be taken not to convert them into sores by scratching ; a little Cologne water or spirits is the best application in such cases. In general all kinds of scratches have a tendency to be- come llagas or permanent ulcers, which often terminate fatally, or at least cause the loss of a limb. Labouring men cannot be too care^ ful in the case of any trifling hurt or wound, to keep it constantly clean, and wash it at the be- ginning with spirits. The Indians and inha- bitants are the fittest persons to apply to in case of bites of snakes ; a labourer s^ '>uld be cautious of working with bare legs. There is a little insect, called Nigua, common in many parts of the country, which penetrates the skin of the feet and deposits its eggs in a small nest or bag beneath it ; its presence 136 COLOMBIA. is quickly discovered by the itching it oc-* casions, and by a small black speck; the skin is opened with a needle and the bag easily extracted. If neglected, these insects spread through the foot and occasion lame- ness. It must be remembered, that almost the whole of the foregoing remarks apply strictly to the coast line of Colombia; the mountain zone, though geographically a tropical climate, is temperate according to its elevation : the heat of the internal plains is also mitigated, as before observed, by constant breezes. Commercial interests na- turally force many Europeans to a residence in the sea-port towns, which are the most unhealthy spots on the continent; but in agricultural establishments we should seek as much as possible to combine health with profit, and even sacrifice something of the latter to ensure the former. The tract of country I have pointed out betwixt Rio Hacha and Santa Marta unites in a singular degree the advantages of contiguity to the £oast ^nih a mountain temperature. NOTES ON THE MAPS. 1. PLAN OF THE PROVINCES OF SANTA MARTA AND RIO HACHA. THIS map is drawn partly from Spanish sur- veys, aftd partly from actual observation. The tracts of ^'L-ntry noticed as most eligible for foreign s . -uents are : 1. The line of coast ex- tending about 30 miles from the river Enea to the river San Diego. '2. The country betwixt the river Frio, and the river Ariguani; and 3, the tract betwixt Chiriguana and El Valle, a distance of nearly 90 miles. . „ The roads through the level country are good in dry weather ; but miry in the extreme during the rainy season, especially when they pass through the thick forests which border the rivers. The rivers, too, during this period, are frequently swollen, and not to be passed without difficulty and danger. The mountain roads are stony and precipitous, but not dangerous to those accus- J 38 COLOMBIA tomed to them. The art of making or mending them is entirely unknown. The River Magdalena is always navigable ; the rivers Frio, Sevilla, Aniataca, San Carlos, Ariguani, and Asar, are navigable during the greater part of the year by canoes and flat boats. The navigation of the Asar is particularly capable of improvement. The rivers on the coast betwixt the Penovic and San Diego, are most of them navigable by small craft, though not to a grea* distance from their rncuths. The soil on the coast is sandy, and covered with prickly shrubs, it has, however, been found capa- ble of producing cotton of a superior quality. The banks of the rivers are always rich in proportion no the breadth of their alluvion, so that the mag- nitude of a river may be accurately conjectured from the extent and luxuri^mce of the forest which clothes its banks. The cultivation of coffee was successfully introduced some years ago, near San Carlos, by a Frenchman of the name of Cotinet ; but his plantations have been aban- doned during the war. Not only the rich low lands, but almost all the lower mountain ridges, are admirably adapted to its cultivation. The rich alluvial lands which border the rivers, will produce cocoa, indigo, and all tropical produc- tions ; while the elevated valleys and mountain ridges are equally favourable to the growth of the fruits and productions of European climates. NOTES ON THE MAPS. ISO The Indians of San Sebastian, for example, which is the most elevated settlement on this chain of mountains, raise maize, tobacco, wheat, potatoes, peas and beans, celery, onions ; plantains and oranges, m sheltered rntuations., with a variety of other fruits, and abundance of sheep and horses. It is impossible, indeed, to approach the majestic chain of the Nevada, without the strongest feel- ings of pleasure and admiration. The traveller ascends beneath the shade of stately forests, the graver colouring of which is enlivened by the numerous wreaths of brilliant flowers with which the bejucos, or climbing plants, fantastically en- twine almost every forest tree. Gradually he emerges on the crest of some bold promontory, and looks down on a sea of verdure " whose shores are mountains,'' stretched in picturesque masses on the horizon, and glowing with the deep effulgence of a tropic sun. As he ascends still higher, he finds the vast ridges of the Cordillera broken by numberless ravines and valleys, each watered by some wild torrent brawling and whiten- ing over its granite bed, beneath arches of various and graceful verdure— such as, in more poetical regions, would be the haunts of nymphs, and bowers of the Muses, here unnoticed and imknown — :but here the traveller feels a renovated existence : he breathes an air, pure, balmy, and invigorating ; he treads with a firmer step ; his blood has a brisker movement, and he gazes on 140 COLOMBIA the green hills and shining waters as on the face of a friend, for they '' bring back the memory of the past/' and speak to his heart as with the tongue of his native land. Such, at least, were the feehngs with yrhich I ascended the Nevada of Santa Marta, at a time when whatever I felt of animation or cheerfulness was solely due to the reviving influence of Nature. ITINERARY. 1. Rio Hacha to Santa Marta by El Valle. -'■■■>'- Leagues. Village of Moreno 7 Level road, country wooded. Fonseca 8 Similar road. From Fonseca there are two mountain roads to the village of Treinta, each about 9 leagues. This tract of moun- tain is wooded, and the land of fine quality. From Treinta to Rio Hacha are 10 leagues of level road. That part of it called the Pantano, or Marsh, is almost impassable in wet weather. San Juan 3^ Level road-^country covered with Me- niosas, but favourable to the breed- ing of cattle. NOTES ON THE MAPS. |4I Leagues. Badillo 6 Similar road and country. ElValle 4t^ Valencia de Jesus 3 From Valencia de Jesus there is a . mountain road to the Indian village of San Sebastian ; the distance about 14 leagues. From this village to the foot of the snow ridge, is about 7 leagues, by an Indian path. The path continues over the ridge to the small Indian villages of San Miguel and San Antonio : thence it is two days' journey to Rio Hacha. > - < . Hato*^ de Comperuche 9 Open level country, with good pastures. Quycaras — Indian village 10 ' Boad crosses the Alto de Minas. Hato de Chimeles ■. 8 Road level, mostly through a thick ' forest, with occasional pastures or Savanahs. ' - . > ' . - San Carlos or Fundacioro 9 This village was originally peopled by Catholic Emigrants from North * Hato signifies a cattle farm, and Hacienda an Agricultural establishment : Silio means a small hamlet : Ainaga is a lake or marsh : Inebra a ravine : Sachia is a strtomlet : Cano a canal. 142 COLO MBI Ai Leagued. America, a few of whom still aurvive. The land here is fertile in the extreme, nroducing Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar-cane, Maize, Tobacco, and fruits in the greatest abundance; the timber is of a remarkable size. River Aricutaca 8. Mostly thick palm forest. River Tucarinca 3 Deep forest with some pastt^res. River Riguenca 5 River Frio 5 Village of Serillano 3 Indian Town of the Ainaga 1 SaataMarta , 7 Road, partly along the coast, ba^.and broken. —. — - 100 From Santa Marta there is a coast road to Rio Hacha, but it is difEcult in some places from neglect, and the passage of the numerous rivers is dangerous without ferry boats. The distance is probably 160 mUes. From the Ainaga to the |liver Magdalena, the communication is through the various canals to the villages of Barranq or Solidad. , -BtQif^ Parrai^quiUa *c> / y pprj of Sacq- Leagiies lUlla ', 7 rued. NOTES ON THE MAPS. 143 2. Barranquilla to Mompox. League$. Solidad 2 Level road, country abundant in cotton. Melambo 1 The road here separates to Cartagena 34 leagues. Savana Grande 2 SanTomas 0^ Ponedera 3 Road level, inundated in winter, country thickly v^rooded. Candelaria 9 Campo la Cruz 2 Barranca 6 Good road, mostly through deep palm forests. At Barranca it is necessary to embark, as there is no tolerable road by land. Barranca vieja 1^ Yucal 1 Tenerife 10 Plato 4 Sambrano 1 T^camuclie 9 Pinto 2 Sn. Ana 9 S?. Fernando 2 Sn. Zenon 2 Mbmpox 6 .66 ;mi- 144 COLOMBIA: The distance from Mompox to the port of Honda is 115 leagues, whence there are twenty leagues of mountain road to Bogota, the capital of the Republic. From Mompox there is a road, in summer, to Chiriguana by Chimichagua, but it is more usual to embark, and ascend the small lakes of Zapa- tosa and Pamaychi. The distance from Mompox to El Banco is about 13 leagues, and from thence to Chiriguana, the distance is about 20. From Chiriguana to Ocafia the distance is about 45 leagues, the last 22 of which are through mountains, the remainder a level road ; the country a beautiful alternation of woods and pastures. From Ocafia to Cucuta are 42 leagues of bad mountain road. From Cucuta to Bogota are 103 leagues. 3. Chiriguana to El Valle. Leagues. Las Jaquas 7 Level road : Savanah, dotted with clumps of palm trees. Beceril 3^ Espiritu Santo 7 Tueres li Job 2i Silio de Diego Plato 4 Silio de la Par H Little variation in the road or country, v i-t.. ' , NOTES ON THE MAPS. 145 EUeValle 2 Country covered with Brazil wood. There are several roads from Rio Hacha to Maracaybo through the territory of the Goagira Indians ; the distance is about 39 leagues ; the whole country is a level savannah ; the road is good in summer, but almost impassable in the rainy season ; it is scarcely safe to travel it without a military escort. The mountain road, from the village of Molino, is sometimes preferred for greater security, but it is extremely bad, and destitute of resources. II.-*Plan of the Road from Varinas TO Valencia. Almost the whole of this extensive tract, about 210 miles in length, consists of excellent pasture lands : the borders of the rivers are finely wooded, and adapted, when cleared, to the growth of every species of tropical produce, especially of cocoa, cofTeei indigo, cotton, and tobacco. The tobacco of Varinas has long been known in the European market. The neighbouring mountains furnish L 146 c o L o \r B r A : * ■■ the productions of temperate climates, but the staple of the plains has always been cattle, ivhich may be raised almost without limitation of number. The principal rivers are navigable during the rainy season. The San Domingo, and Masporro, descend directly into the Apure, the Bruno, and Ouanan, with almost all the smaller rivers, unite with the Portugueza, which falls into the Apure near San Fernando, whence the navigation is direct and easy to the port of Angostura, on the Orinoco. The communications with the sea coast are more difEcult; there is a communication from Baurias to the lake of Maracaybo through Me- rida, but the distance is considerable, and the roads almost impracticable, ^he communication with Coro through Barquesimeto is easier, but the distance is great for commercial purposes. The great channel of trade has hitherto been through Valencia to Puerto Cabello, but there is little doubt that, in an improved state of the country, the water-carriage by the Apure and Orinoco, will be preferred, from the great difficulty and expense of transporting bulky articles ot produce, on mules, to any of the northern ports. The lower mountain ridge9, do not yield in fer- tility to the plains, and excel them in chmate. The country round Carabobo, La Palma, and the nvhole tract betwixt San Carlos and Barquesimeto, the lich of NOTES ON THE MAPS. U7 offer a variety of eligible situations to foreign settlers. In point of population, the whole province of Barinas, comparing the present number of its inhabitants with those it is capable of maintain- ing, may be called a desert. ITINERARY. 1. Vayinas to Valencia. Leagues. Yucca 24 Bananias 1^ Bocono 4 Tucupis 4 Guanare 3 San Rafael 5 Ospinos 4^ Aparicion 3 Acarigua 4^ Araure 1^ Aguas Hamas 2 San Rafael 2 La Lyba 4 San Jose o^ San Carlos 0| Tinaco , 4^ La Palma 3 Tinaquilla 3i^ Carabobo 7 K \ 148 COLOMBIA: . , Leagues. Tornito 2 Valencia , , 3 68i The road is level as far as Tinaco, whence it crosses short hills, and two minor mountain ridges as far as Carabobo. 2. San Carlos to Barquesimeto. League:*. Quebra de Camouraka 5 Camaroucama '4 El Altar 2 Gamalstol 4 La Morita 4 Rastrajos 2 Caudares 1 Barquesimeto 1 23 Valencia to Puerto Cabello 8 Valencia to Caracas 30^ APPENDIX APPENDIX. te it iges Note A. By the Constitution^ there is vested in the £xecu« tive Power the right of suspending the Constitutional functions in any part of the Republic which may be- come the seat of war. This was accordingly done Li the Departments upon the coast, while Marucaybo ani Puerto Cabello remained in possession of the Royalifts. On the 9th of December, 1823, since the foregoing sheets were written, the Government announced, by the following proclamation, the complete cessation of hosti- lities throughout the Republic, and the consequent re- moval of the suspension of the Constitution. " The Vice President of the Republic qfCdomUa, in charge <^the Executive Power. ** TO THE PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC. " Colombians ! I announce to you your country en- tirely free from the enemies who have so obstinately presumed to oppose the Immutable decrees of Providence. The Spanish flag which lately floated on the walls of Puerto Cabello, has been rent in pieces by the valiant troops of the Republic, and the tri-coloured flag planted thereon in its stead. " No longer does an enemy exist for us to contend with. The Colombian territory is entire, and the cod« J 50 COLOMBIA: of happiness and equality protects all who inhahit the country of Bolivar. *' People df Colombia : receive the congratulations of the Government on the occupation of this important fortress ; thus terminating a war undertaken to rescue Colombia from the power of Spain. " The object of your sacriiices was, the liberty and in- dependence of your country ; and you now behold your country free and independent. The army and its illus- trious chiefs, have realized your hopes, and fulfilled the desire of their own hearts — their swords are e\er ready to enforce respect to the dignity of the Republic, to your irights, and to the inviolability of the constitution. This xhey have sworn to do, and a Colombian soldier will not depart from his word. But it is incumbent on you also to maintain, undiminished, the ardour of your patriotism, your submission to the laws, and, above all, your adherence to the constitution, under whose auspices, Colombia has perfected her independence, and raised herself to the pinnacle of glory, acquiring with it the respect and applause of other nations. " Colombians : may you enjoy the reward of your constancy, and of your undivided triumphs : they secure the reign of liberty in America, and enable you to offer a sacred asylum to freemen throughout the world. To be a citizen of Colombia, is to belong to a nation pos- sessing liberty, constancy, and valour. " Fellow Citizens : nothing remains for me to desire^ after having had the good fortune to witness during my administration the ancient oppressors of Colombia driven into the sea, and your felicity established ; but to be- hold you possessed of uninterrupted peace, blessed with abundance, protected by true wisdom, unalterably de- voted to the constitution, divested of fanaticism, and governed by laws and magistrates of your own choosing. APPENDIX. 151 " To behold you in possession of these advantages, and to return to the state of a private citizen like your- selves, is the height of my desires — Palace of Govern- ment, Bogcta, December the 9th, 1823— -13. " Francisco de Paula Santander." NoTS B. The following official documents on Exports and Revenue relate, it will be observed, only to the port of La Guayra. Of the other principal ports of the Re- public (viz. Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Santa Marta, and Cartagena in the Atlantic; and Guyaquil and Panama in the Pacific), I have not been able to obtain similar official details. m^ 152 COLOMBIA: « S 'saixaQ *8aODHV3 SHXdoaaiv^ '8NH0f{ •onurg sxvaiijaaAvs 'sassno)^ •avoaamzH •nvn»>nv3 'niniriivsys •VTIINV^ •N01J.03 SoiUS 00 ao>Hi tm4 rmt t^ (H m^ r^ m* CJ;: ^ U» ( '©0»M8"^2m»0«9o3wOO^ K SIS 1-4 <^ *& 3 3 S2 TTTsTTTTTP' ITTTTI I I I I I 1 ^ il I I I I I I I I I l;^ I eiu»(0 O CO (M I I 9 1= wtousaooiO) I I kQ li M I I i M I I I I 'saaif] o> A

c5 00^ |SS^S5SS?1^^^5*^ •^eo 00 MS MS Su» ^ ot ui ■^ vi t^ -m mt v5 (S Stob«goa»i-iaSot<>eooMSco I^J = = •lllll > «o 00 i2¥T¥wiinxns 5 S5 uj MS rft p-" sa ^ «a "" O >-i S W ■• ^ W « eo MS W « «0 «M »H p-i « ll I I I M 13 1 1112 • t^ S{«S« APPENDIX. m I Revenue of the Port of La Guaifra,from the 1st January to the 31st October, 1823, taken from the Official Return. Dollan. Import Duties 515,609 0^ Export ditto 153,101 3{ Tonnage ditto 5,778 3| Salt ditto 4,C83 l| Anchorage ditto 414 Prizes 105,552 S Duties appropriated to the Military Hospital 6,038 0^ 790,576 4-1 Note C. The Government has commenced acting upon the Law of the 7th June, as appears by the following notice in the Bogota Official Gazette of December last :— " Colonization. " The Government of the Republic, in virtue of espe- cial authority from Congress by its law of the 7th of last June, has granted to Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles, merchants of the city of London, and lo.ig tried friends and supporters of Colombia, two hundred thousand fanegas of land, by a contract entered into on the 29th of last November, with their agent, Mr. William C. Jones, and ' Iw* a view of encouraging a beneficial introduction of Europeans into the country. This grant will consist of uncultivated lands in the pro- vinces of Merida, Caracas, and Choco." M \&i COLOMBIA. The privileges granted to the above-numed merchanti in this cession i:re as follows :— 1st, Exemption, in favour of all the settlers they may send, from milit&ry service, except as militia, for Ten years. Sndly, Exemption from iluties of all clothing im- ported for the use of the settlers. Agricultural imple- ments are already exempt from duty. Srdly, Exemptions, in favcur of the stttlsrs, for Six years from direct contributions and ecclesiar'.ical tithes. 4thly, Exemption, for the ^me period, from all ex- port; duties on the produce raised by the settlers. .^'lily. Settlers not to be in any way moles i:ed on account of tfeeu' religious belief. ■i .. ■ ' r TARIFF inti nay Pen un« pie- Six 3B. ex- i or. TARIFF OF DUTIES ON EXPORTS FROM, AND IMPORTS INTO, COLOMBIA, rnoM September 1, 1826. [FF M 2 LAW OF CONGRESS, REGULATING THE DUTIES ON EXPORTS. THE Senate and Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, assembled in Congress, having considered. That the duties paid on the exportation of the Produce and Manufactures of the Republic should, in some cases, be moderate, in order that proper encouragement may be given to national industry and agriculture, and in others totally suppressed, with the view of meeting competition in foreign markets, have decreed, and do decree, as follows : — Art. 1. The following articles shall be free of all duty :-— All goods manufactured in the Republic; Coffee; Bark; Cotton; Rice; Indian Com, or Maize; and all similar productions of the earth of the first necessity; and . ). every kind of Coined money. i ' . Art. 2. The following Productions shall pay the undermen- tioned Duty on Exportation ;— On the Current Price at the Place Oi Exportation. Cacao 10 per cent Indigo •.^•..•t 5 per cent Raw Hides 10 per cent Dye Woods 5 per cent Other Productions of the Soil, Precious Woods, either for Dyeing, Building, &c., of whatever nature 4 per cent ■lii 1 158 APPENDIX. Art. 3. The following shall pay the specifiu duty under- mentioned : — Per Head. Mules y 20 dollars. Horses l6 Asses 6 Homed Cattle 12^ Art. 4. For the purpose of determining the price of those commodities, the duty on which is to be paid on the price current at the place of exportation, the Director of the Customs shall, at the close of every Month, affix to the doors of his office a List of the Current Prices of the different Productions of the Soil, drawn up by two Commercial Men, and three Agriculturists of known probity. . , . Art. 5. The exportation of the following articles is prohi- bited, in conformity with the Laws of the 27th and 29th September, of the 11th year of the Independence:— Platina; Gold and Silver, in ingots or dust; but Gold in bars and Gold-dust, and Silver in bars or ingots, produced from Mines in the department of the Istmus, or imported into the said department from any foreign territory whatever, shall be excepted from this prohibition, and the exportation thereof allowed on payment of a duty of 3 per c^ . t, on Gold that has paid the Quinto duty, and of 6 per cent if the Quinto be not paid, and of 4 Rials for every Mark of Silver. Art. 6. The Executive Power shall, during the continuance of the present War, have authority to prohibit, for a time, in any Ports of the Republic where it may seem expedient to do so, the export of Mules and Horses, as well as of every description of commodity that may TARIFF OF DUTIES. 159 under- lad. lollars. come under the denomination of liio necessaries of life. Art. 7* This present Law shall come into operation on the 1st of July of the present year, in all the Custom- houses of the Republic. Art. 8. The Law of the 7th July, 1824, and 14th of the Independence, on the duties of export, is hereby abrogated. Given in Bogota, the 9th March, 1826 ( 16).— The President of the Senate, Luis A. Baralt ; Presi- dent of the Chamber of Representatives, Cayetano Araelo ; Secretary of the Senate, Luis Vargas Tejada; Deputy Secretary of the Chamber of Representatives, Mariano Mind. Palace of the Government in Bogota, 13th March, 1826 (16). — Let it be executed, Francisco de P. Santander. By his Excellency the Vice- President of the Republic, entrusted with the Executive Power; the Secretary of State of the Finance Department, J. M. del Castillo. LAW OF CONGRESS, REOULATINO TUB DUTIES ON IMPORTS. THE Senate and Chamber of Representatives of the Re- public of Colombia, assembled in Congress, having considered, 1st. That the Republic being one and indivisible, it is essen- tial that the most perfect equality and uniformity should be observed in the Duties levied on goods imported at the diflerent free Ports of Colombia : 2ndly. That this equality and uniformity tend, in the most direct and powerful manner, to promote and encourage Commerce, as well foreign as domestic, by facilitating the despatch of business at the different Custom-houses, and by affording the most efficient means of remedying the frauds and loss of j^evcnue which result from the present confused and unequal system, have decreed, and do decree, as follows : — Art. 1. All duties on goods imported, hitherto known under various denominations, shall hereafter be consolidated, and distinguished by the title of ** Duties on Impor- tation." Art. 2. For the purpose of simplifying the mode of levying 162 APPENDIX. those duties^ all goods and merchandise imported, shall be divided into the following classes ; — 1. Tin Plates; Paper of all qualities; Medicines of all descriptions ; Surgical Instruments, and append- ages ; Cables ; Cordage ; Pitch and Tar. 2. Manufactures of Cotton, Wool, Hemp, Flax, and Worsted, excepting such as are separately specified under another head. • 3. Hats of Beaver, Wool, Cotton, or Silk ; Sperm Oil, manufactured or otherwise; Oils of every descrip- tion; Soap; Gold or Silver Watches; Gold or Silver Lace ; Saddles ; European Earthenware ; Glass and Crystal manufactures of every description. 4. Silks, and all descriptions of silk goods manufactured and produced in Europe; Jewels and Precious Stones; Skins and Hides, prepared or tanned ; Lace, of thread or silk ; worked Handkerchiefs ; ornamental Feathers; and Fans of every description. 5. AU Furniture; and utensils of Silver, Bronze, Steel, or Tin; Dried and Preserved Fruits; Olives; Capers; Provisions of every description. 6. Crystal Chandeliers; Looking Glasses; Carriages of every description ; Playing Cards ; Umbrellas ; Shoes, men's and women's; Boots; House Furni- ture of every description ; ready-made Clothes and Dresses ; Artificial Flo^vers ; Perfumes ; Essences ; Scented Waters and Oils. Art. 3. Articles of the first class, if imported from colonies in Colombian vessels, shall pay 15 per cent duty; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay only 7t per cent. Art. 4. The same iVrticles, if imported from Colonies by TARIFF OF DUTIES. 163 shaU by foreign vessels, shall pay 20 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 15 per cent duty. Art. 5. Articles of the second class, if imported from Colonies, by Colombian vessels, shall pay 17| per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 10 per cent. Art. 6. The same Articles, if imported from Colonies by foreign vessels, shall pay 22| per cent duty ; if im- ported direct from Europe, o( the United States, they shall pay 17g per cent. Art. 7* Articles of the third class, if imported from Colonies by Colombian vessels, shall pay 20 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 12| per cent. ' Art. 8. The same Articles, if imported from Colonies by foreign vessels, shall pay 25 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 1 74 per cent. ■' • Art. 9. Articles of the fourth class, if imported from Colonies by Colombian vessels, shall pay 22^ per cent duty; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 15 per dfent. Art. 10. The same Articles, if imported from Colonies by foreign vessels, shall pay 274 P^' *^®"* duty ; if im- ported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 22^ per cent. Art. 11. Articles of the fifth class, if imported from Colonies by Colombian vessels, shall pay 25 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 174 per cent. Art. 12. The same Articles, if imported from Colonies by f64 APPENDIX. foreign vessels, shall pay 30 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 25 per cent. Art. J 3. Articles of the 6th class, if imported from colonies by Colombian vessels, shall pay 30 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 25 per cent. Art. 14. The same Articles, if imported from colonies, by foreign vessels, shall pay 35 per cent duty ; if imported direct from Europe, or the United States, they shall pay 30 per cent. Art. 15. Articles not enumerated in any of the preceding classes, shall, with the exception of those which pay a specific duty, as detailed in the 21st Article, pajr a cTuty of 25 per cent if imported from colonies in Colombian vessels, or 17i per cent if imported direct from Europe or the United States. Art. l6. Articles not specified in any of the preceding classes, shall, with the exception of those enumerated in the 21st Article, pay a duty of 30 per cent if imported from Colonies in foreign vessels, or 25 per cent if imported direct from Europe or the United States. Art. 17- Ail descriptions of goods, merchandise, and manufac- tures, the produce of Asiatic countries; all the natural productions of Asia, and of the European establish- ments there, with the exception of those belonging to the Spanish government, shall pay 12 per cent if imported in Colombian vessels direct from those coun- tries, and 20 per cent if indirectly imported: if im- ported by foreign vessels, they shall pay 25 per cent, whether the importation be direct or indirect. Art. 18. All goods and merchandise, the produce of that TARIFF OF DUTIES. U5 portion of the American continent formerly under the dominion of Spain, imported direct, in Colombian or foreign vessels, shall pay the lower rate of duties al- lowed on goods imported from Europe or the United States ; but all goods and merchandise, not the produce of those countries, whether imported direct or other- wise, whether by Colombian or other vessels, shall pay the higher rate of duties fixed on goods imported from colonies, except where it is otherwise stipulated by a particular treaty of commerce. Art. 19. Foreign vessels belonging to those nations who have entered into Treaties of Commerce with the Republic, shall pay according to the stipulations in such treaties. Art. 20. The duty on those articles which are not subject to a specific duty, shall be regulated in the following manner : — To the prime cost of the article at the port from whence it is exported, shall be added 20 per cent, and the duty shall be levied on the amount. Art. 21. The Articles specified in the Table, under the head of the 8th Class, if imported in Colombian vessels, from Europe, or the United States, shall pay the specific duties there assigned to them. Art. 22. If the goods and merchandise above specified be im- ported in Colombian vessels from colonies^ they slull pay an extra 5 per cent duty. Art. 23. If the goods and merchandise above specified be im- ported in foreign vessels direct; from Eur(4'.-, or the United States, they shall pay an extra 7^ per cent duty; if from Colonies, an extra 15 per cent. Art 24. When goods and merchandise, on which an ad va- lorem duty is paid, arc imported without an invoice, or when the Invoice, when presented, shall be found to 16(3 APPENDIX. want the formality required in the succeeding Article, they shall be valued at the market price current at the place where the goods are imported, and upon this evaluation the respective duties shall be levied. (Separate Paragraph.) — Go. Js and merchandise saved from shipwreck do not come under the operation of the last article. Art. 25, The Invoices of all goods and merchandise that pay an ad valorem duty, piust contain, at foot, the declara- tion upon oath of the owner or ownei s, provided these parties reside at the port or place whence they were brought, or otherwise, of the agent or commissioner who made the purchase, stating that the value affixed to the goods in the Invoice, is the actual price paid for tiiem in the port or place from whence they are ex- ported, and this declaration must be certified by the consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent of the Republic ; and should there be neither consul, nor vice-consul, nor agent residing at the spot, then by a similar agent of any friendly nation that may have (Concluded a treaty of commerce with the Republic ; or, failing this, by three merchants of the place from whence the goods came. Art. 36. The owner, consignee, or agent who shall receive goods and merchandise from foreign ports, on which an ad valorem duty is paid, immediately on arrival of the vessel, shall present to the visiting officer the Bill of Lsiding, and Invoice of the goods, and shall make a declaration upon oath, before the director of the Custom- house, that the Bill of ' ~ding and Invoice so pre- sented, are the origins ^.nd genuine documents re- ceived by him. Art. 27> The captains of ships, immediately on entering i TARIFF OF DUTIES. 167 port, shall present to the Custom-house officer who shall go on board, a signed manifest of the number of packages received on board, whether belonging to him- self, his passengers, or to merchants, with the marks, numbers, and all particulars, and shall make a decla- ration upon oath before the director of the Custom- house, that he has received no other packages on board but those entered in his manifest. The non-observance of these formalities shall be punished with a fine of from two hundred to one thousand dollars. > Art. 28. Should the director of the Custom-house find reason (.0 suspect that the goods and merchandise imported have been valued in the Invoice at less than their real price in the port or place from whence they are ex- ported, he shall cause an evaluation to be made of them, on the basis of the prices current 4t the place of exportation at the time of their leaving it ; and if the evaluation thus obtained, shall excetd the Invoice value by 20 per cent, then bQ per cent shall be added to the estimated value, and the duty levied on the amount.. (Separate Paragraph. J^-The goods and merchan- dise which shall incur the penalty fixed in the preceding article shall not be subject to the augmentation of the 20 per cent levied on Invoices correctly made out. Art. 29' When the evaluation made by the Custom-house shall not exceed that of the Invoice by 2^) per cent, that evaluation shall be considered the ^rue one, and the duties charged accordingly. Art. 30. The director of the Customs shall select one package out of every ten packages stated in the Invoice, which shall be opened and examined, and if the goods or merchandise therein contained shall not correspond 168 APPENDIX. with the Invoice, a general examination of all the packages shall take place, an evaluation of their con- tents shall he made, and the penalty enforced, accord- ing to the provisions of the 28th Article. (Separate Paragraph.) — If any goods or merchan- dise shall he discovered, not mentioned in the Invoice, the package or packages, vi'iXh. their contents, shall he confiscated. Art. 31. For the purpose of making valuations of goods and merchandise, agreeably with the provisions of the present law, the Executive shall appoint two persons to reside in each of the diflerent free ports of the Re- public, properly qualified for valuing all goods and effects that may be submitted to them by the director of the Customs. These persons shall make oath before the intendant of the department, or the governor of the province, previous to entering upon their office, that they will discharge their duty with fidelity and exactitude. Art. 32. Each of the persons so appointed shall be allowed an annual salary of from six hundred to two thousand dollars, to be determined by the Executive, according to the local circumstances of the port to which they are appointed. (Separate Paragraph) — The person on whom the nomination of pubKc appraiser shall depend, shall not be allowed to exercise the mercantile profession. Art. SS. When the owner, consignees, or agent shall not agree to the evaluation niwle by the public appraisers, he shall have the privilege of naming .'o parties, being commercial men residing at the port, who, after making oath, as directed in the 31st Article, before the gover- Ar Ai TARIFF OF DUTIES. 1G9 1 the r con- ccord- chan- voice, all be nor, or, failing this, bcfoi'c the political chief of the pluc;?, shall proceed, in concert with the public ap- praisers, to examine and appraise the goods and mer- chandise in question, and shall submit to the director of the Customs a note of the value they mutually put upon the same ; or, in the event of a discrepancy of opinion, of the nature and motives of such discre- pancy. And if the owner, agent, or consignee, object to this second evaluation, he shall have the right of appealing to the governor of the province, who, after due consideration of the two evaluations made, as well as of the respective statements of the director of the Customs, and of the party concerned, shall give such judgment as may appear equitable, and from this decLsion there shall be no appeal. Art. 34. The persons nominated by the appealing parties to make the evaluation of the goods and merchandise, shall be constrained to accept the office and to discharge its duties, or they shall be liable to a penalty of one hun- dred dollars. The only persons permitted to decline it, shall be those who are disqualified by any bodily infirmity — or by relationsliip, in the second degree of civil affinity, or the fourth of consanguinity, to the party concerned — or by the fact of their being them- selves interested in the matter pending: all which circumstances shall prevent their acting as appraisers. Art. 35. All confiscated goods and merchandise, and the half of the additional duty of 50 per cent, levied on goods in conformity with the provisions of the 28th Article, shall be distributed among the different officers of the Custom- house in the following manner : One-half shall be equally divided among the three principal officers of N ■■ :.l I ■ •' *1 170 APPENDIX. the Custom-houses, ami the other half equally among the other officers. All fines shall be paid into the public treasury. Art. 36. Goods and merchandise saved from shipwreck shall be valued at the prices current at the place from whence they are exported ; the same form shall be observed in all cases, where a deduction of duty is claimed on ac- count of average, of whatever nature. Art. 37' The person or persons who shall counterfeit the attestations and certificates required by this Law, shall be subject, on conviction before a competent tribunal, to the total loss of the goods and merchandize imported, and shall pay the penalty imposed by the law on offences of this nature. Art. 38. The owner, agent, or consignee, of the goods and merchandise imported, shall give security for the pay- ment of the duties, in two personal securities, resident at the port, who must be approved of by the director of the Customs. (Separate Paragraph. J — The security required by the preceding Article shall be in the mercantile form, and signed by the debtor and his two securities. Art. 39' The payment of duties on Importation, when not made immediately, shall take place as follows ;— One- half in three months, and the other half in six months, reckoning from the day on which the goods are delivered from the Custom-house to the Importer. Art. 40. If, at the expiratbn of the terms specified in the pre- ceding Article, the payment of duties shall not be made, the director of the Customs shall take an execution against the defaulter and his securities, who, in addition to the expense occasioned by this proceeding, shall pay A A TARIFF OF DUTIES. 171 among I to the 1 per cent per month interest from the clay on which the payment became due, to that on which it is actually made. Art. 4-1. The Executive shall transmit to every Custom-house a scale of the value of all foreign money. Art. 42. The following laws shall be abrogated : that of the 2nd of August, 1813, on duties on Importations: that of the 2nd of August, 1813, prohibiting the importation of foreign rum and its com)70unds ; that of the 4th of July of the same year, prohibiting the importation of gunpowder ; of the same date, prohibiting the importa- tion of foreign snufis; that of the 8th of July, 1814, prohibiting the importation of foreign salt ; that of the 2nd of August, 1814, and l6th of April, 1815, fixing the mode, and regulating the amount, of duties on Importations. Art. 43. The present law shall come into operation, in all the ports of the Republic, on the 1st day of September of the present year. Given in Bogota, the 8th of March, 1826 (l6).— President of the Senate, Lris A. Baralt; Pre- sident of the Chamber of Representatives, Cayk- TANO Arbelo ; Secretary of the Senate, Luis Vargus Tbjada ; Deputy Secretary of the In- terior, Antonio Torres. Palace of the Government, Bogota, 13 March, 1826. —Let it be executed, Francisco de P. Santan- T)BR. By his Excellency the Vice-President of the Republic, entrusted with the Executive Power ; Secretary of State of the Finance Depart- menif V. M. djsl Castillo. 172 M O CA « H 3 P •5 o o W <; oj (U 1 o ' ;^ 'O 8 ^ a> 16- -|0( •C Ji C3 ■t. "^ ! Cm (U O fcjc .S g I « in .v 0} «> 3 s ^1^ » t. rt o ill H CO o CO a IS ■ ** i (U o o o O !S o « 3 0) rC -lot 01 I u S 5 i S-2 rt a o 0) rj h 'S > F— I o Q Bt3 33 ° I " I s g «« fa o o 3 CO 12 6 M 0. ^ § 'S ^ j3 4-4 J vh P et E • % 1/ C n 4< (14 c I TARIFF OF DUTIES. 173 01 -101 0-1 8 c^ 8 ^ M I 1 0< 8 0( (U ^ CO § W5 V o u I S s • -> rt is »4 - O ca -30 S CM CD ^ fl 0) « « S: ^. ^^ d » OS 3W 2 : I 2 P3 H "^ ' . c« a> O CO r 'S Sjo< (» ""J n M CO bo's l"=? '73 "= •5 S 1 u 1 1 Hi !&. *i 1^ 12 ^ 0} CO ^ v\ 33 VtfBT MAIN STRUT WIUTIR,N.Y. 145M (71«)S72-4S03 174 m CO o fa i. a •I 11 h 9 01 s w 3 I o n 1 s 1^ s o APPENDIX. /- ^ Ho" Ho» "^Jw «l* p -^ II 2 • *^ o S S ** ;^ '"^ O § (S "^ 01 QJ O fl, a 2 rs g 4^ (h ^ w 'M •5 fl -i'Jj^ ^ •Sis O 3 « .ss o.S > - „ QOQCS 8, y < i fH CO 0« 00 »« oS g ^-i^fS 3 § s »?5 O.U O 3 « 50QCa TARIFF OF DUTIES. 176 a> O i -WHO* , H0» Hw •JH' H'NQN'<«>lo(H(JH^ i-ii-i©l©»©l^eOOOOIr^ OI«5COOIO«rt coco©! i-iiHf 5^ ^lil Ifi^fS o o o o ^^^ ^^^ ^^H ^^1 o o o 176 Ui n |s s| CO g APPENDIX. 9) u If 'W ^ s 1 O « £ 4^ r' «« g II ^ (M 1 l-t 1 1 - !»J .1 Qi 0) Q LAW 9V THE CONGRESS OF COLOMBIA, Nominating certain Ports of Entry, for the Warehousing and Bonding of Goods. Bogota, April 3y 1886. The Senate and Chamber of Representatives have considered that the establishment of free Ports for the warehousing and bonding of goods will be attended with considerable advantage, as well to the Importer, who obtains the facility of re-export- ing, free of duty, those goods which he cannot without diflS- culty dispose of, and to the people in general, who are thus provided with a ready and plentiful supply of various articles of consumption, have decreed, and do decree as follows :-~> OECREK. Art. 1. The Ports of Puerto Cabello and Cartagena on the Atlantic, and of Guayaquil on the Pacific, shall be free Ports of entry for bonding goods and e£fects of every description and sort whatever. Art. 2. All goods and merchandise thus imported, shall, on arrival, be deposited in the storehouses of the Customs, and remain there till reclaimed, the whole or part of them, by the importer or consignee, for sale or re-ex« portation. 178 APPENDIX. Art. 3. If intended for sale, the duties shall be paid either in money, or at the periods prescribed in article of the Laws of Importation ; but the payment shall be con- sidered due only from the day of delivery of the goods from the Custom-house. If intended for re-exportation, ' • either to other ports of the Republic, or to foreign ports, they shall not pay importation duty at the port of bonding ; but if introduced into any other part of the Republic, they shall there pay the regular duties pre- scribed by the Law. . Art. 4. All goods and merchandise bonded in any of the ports nominated in this decree, shall be subject to a duty of 4 per cent per annum on the invoice value, reckoning from the day of entry to the day of delivery, whether for sale or re-exportation. This duty shall be paid at the time of removal of the goods from the Custom- house. Art. 5. The owner or consignee shall present the Invoice and Bill of Lading of the »^3ods and merchandise bonded, according to the regulations of the Importation Law of the 8th of March, 18l6. Art. 6. When the goods and merchandise bonded shall be withdrawn for the purpose oi re-exportation to any port of the Republic, the ctirector of the Customs shallfumish the owner or consignee with a copy of the Invoice, noting therein that the said goods have not paid the importation duty. Art. ?• The Executive shall prescribe the necessary forms and regulations to be observed at the Custom-houses in carr^ring the provisions of this decree into full effect. Art. 8. Upon such goods and merchandise as shall be trans- ported across the Istmus of Panama, from the Atlantic TARIFF OF DUTIES. 179 either in of the .1 be con- the goods portation, ign ports, e port of irt of the uties pre- the ports a duty of reckoning , whether e paid at Custom- to the Pacific, or from the Pacific to the Atlantic, a transit duty of 2 per cent only shall be laid on the amount of the Invoice, which must be presented and certified on oath, agreeably to the form prescribed by the Importation Law of the 8th of March of the present year. The Executive shall prescribe the peculiar regulations to be observed in admitting goods and merchandise impoited at the Istmus for transport to either ocean. Art. 9. The Executive shall take measures for erecting, at the public expence, store-houses and oflSces for receiving goods in bond, if the present Custom-houses should be found too small for the purpose. Art. 10. The laws of the 27th of September, allowing a return of duty on certain articles, is hereby wholly revoked. I Invoice e bonded, n Law of shall be I any port ill furnish Invoice, paid the THE END. ibrms and douses in effect, be trans- I Atlantic T. C. HANSARD, Printer, Pater-noster-row Press, I