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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The Cause Was Tried, And The
Tribunal Condemned The Offender.
We find near Turmero and the
Hacienda de Cura other zamangs, having trunks larger than that of
Guayre, but their hemispherical heads are not of equal extent.
The culture and population of the plains augment in the direction
of Cura and Guacara, on the northern side of the lake. The valleys
of Aragua contain more than 52,000 inhabitants, on a space thirteen
leagues in length, and two in width. This is a relative population
of two thousand souls on a square league. The village or rather the
small town of Maracay was heretofore the centre of the indigo
plantations, when this branch of colonial industry was in its
greatest prosperity. The houses are all of masonry, and every court
contains cocoa-trees, which rise above the habitations. The aspect
of general wealth is still more striking at Maracay, than at
Turmero. The anil, or indigo, of these provinces has always been
considered in commerce as equal and sometimes superior to that of
Guatemala. The indigo plant impoverishes the soil, where it is
cultivated during a long series of years, more than any other. The
lands of Maracay, Tapatapa, and Turmero, are looked upon as
exhausted; and indeed the produce of indigo has been constantly
decreasing. But in proportion as it has diminished in the valleys
of Aragua, it has increased in the province of Varinas, and in the
burning plains of Cucuta, where, on the banks of the Rio Tachira,
virgin land yields an abundant produce, of the richest colour.
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