Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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It Is A Marshy
Ground Filled With Noisome And Stagnant Water.
The town, which has at
present nearly nine thousand inhabitants, owes its origin to an
illicit commerce, attracted to these shores by the proximity of the
town of Burburata, which was founded in 1549.
It is only since the
administration of the Biscayans, and of the company of Guipuzcoa, that
Porto Cabello, which was but a hamlet, has been converted into a
well-fortified town. The vessels of La Guayra, which is less a port
than a bad open roadstead, come to Porto Cabello to be caulked and
repaired.
The real defence of the harbour consists in the low batteries on the
neck of land at Punta Brava, and on the reef; but from ignorance of
this principle, a new fort, the Mirador of Solano* has been
constructed at a great expense, on the mountains commanding the suburb
towards the south. (* The Mirador is situate eastward of the Vigia
Alta, and south-east of the battery of the salt-works and the
powder-mill.) More than ten thousand mules are annually exported from
Porto Cabello. It is curious enough to see these animals embarked;
they are thrown down with ropes, and then hoisted on board the vessels
by means of a machine resembling a crane. Ranged in two files, the
mules with difficulty keep their footing during the rolling and
pitching of the ship; and in order to frighten and render them more
docile, a drum is beaten during a great part of the day and night.
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