Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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La Guayra
Appeared To Me In General To Be Tolerably Clean, With The Exception
Of The Quarter Of The Slaughter-Houses.
The sea-side has no beach
on which the remains of fuci or molluscs are heaped up; but the
neighbouring coast, which stretches eastward towards Cape Codera,
and consequently to the windward of La Guayra, is extremely
unhealthy.
Intermitting, putrid, and bilious fevers often prevail
at Macuto and at Caravalleda; and when from time to time the breeze
is interrupted by a westerly wind, the little bay of Cotia sends
air loaded with putrid emanations towards the coast of La Guayra,
notwithstanding the rampart opposed by Cabo Blanco.
The irritability of the organs being so different in the people of
the north and those of the south, it cannot be doubted, that with
greater freedom of commerce, and more frequent and intimate
communication between countries situated in different climates, the
yellow fever will extend its ravages in the New World. It is even
probable that the concurrence of so many exciting causes, and their
action on individuals so differently organized, may give birth to
new forms of disease and new deviations of the vital powers. This
is one of the evils that inevitably attend rising civilization.
The yellow fever and the black vomit cease periodically at the
Havannah and Vera Cruz, when the north winds bring the cold air of
Canada towards the gulf of Mexico. But from the extreme equality of
temperature which characterizes the climates of Porto Cabello, La
Guayra, New Barcelona, and Cumana, it may be feared that the typhus
will there become permanent, whenever, from a great influx of
strangers, it has acquired a high degree of exacerbation.
Tracing the granitic coast of La Guayra westward, we find between
that port (which is in fact but an ill-sheltered roadstead) and
that of Porto Cabello, several indentations of the land, furnishing
excellent anchorage for ships. Such are the small bay of Catia, Los
Arecifes, Puerto-la-Cruz, Choroni, Sienega de Ocumare, Turiamo,
Burburata, and Patanebo. All these ports, with the exception of
that of Burburata, from which mules are exported to Jamaica, are
now frequented only by small coasting vessels, which are there
laden with provisions and cacao from the surrounding plantations.
The inhabitants of Caracas are desirous to avail themselves of the
anchorage of Catia, to the west of Cabo Blanco. M. Bonpland and
myself examined that point of the coast during our second abode at
La Guayra. A ravine, called the Quebrada de Tipe, descends from the
table-land of Caracas towards Catia. A plan has long been in
contemplation for making a cart-road through this ravine and
abandoning the old road to La Guayra, which resembles the passage
over St. Gothard. According to this plan, the port of Catia,
equally large and secure, would supersede that of La Guayra.
Unfortunately, however, all that shore, to leeward of Cabo Blanco,
abounds with mangroves, and is extremely unhealthy. I ascended to
the summit of the promontory, which forms Cabo Blanco, in order to
observe the passage of the sun over the meridian.
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