An immensely profitable industry here followed is the raising of goats, which feed on the cactus plains. The extensive coal deposits and _salinas_ count for little in comparison. The northern part of the State is rather barren, but the highlands at the south are forest clad, with fertile valleys raising a variety of agricultural products, chiefly for home consumption. There is one considerable river, the Tocuyo, several hundred miles long, which rises in the mountains of Lara, flows north, then east through Yaracuy and Falcón to the sea. With many affluents, the two of importance are the Carora and the Baragua on the left. The Rio Tocuyo comes down through a long valley, while many short rivers rising on the outer range descend rapidly to the sea. The situation is excellent for the cultivation of _cocuiza_ and other aloes from which sacks and hammocks are now being made. Other industries are soap making and cigarettes; in some sections excellent tobacco is raised. Coro, the capital of Falcón, the second oldest town in the Republic, contains the first cathedral in the new world. Located on the plains at the base of the Paraguana Peninsula, it is 8 miles from its seaport La Vela and 200 miles west of Caracas. The important port Tucacas is at the mouth of the Tocuyo River. The Dutch island, Curaçao, lies not far off the coast, with which it has close connection; some smuggling is said to be carried on. =Yaracuy=, a small State with a very short coastal strip, is between Falcón on the north and Carabobo southeast, with Lara southwest. It is noted for its copper mines at Aroa. Besides the capital, San Felipe, where a cloth factory has lately been organized, the chief towns are Nirgua, population 3000, at the south, amid fertile plains with varied agricultural products, and Yaritagua 20 miles west, where good tobacco is raised, as well as sugar and coffee which grow everywhere. =Lara=, an interior State, borders on Falcón, Yaracuy, Cojedas, Portuguesa, Trujillo, finishing with Zulia on the west. Besides the usual agricultural products, there is fibre from aloes, employed in manufacturing sacks, hammocks, and bridles, for which Barquisimeto is noted. The fertile hills and slopes, many now undeveloped, the virgin forests of valuable timber, with areas where petroleum is indicated, will receive attention now that better transportation is afforded. Barquisimeto, the capital, 2000 feet above the sea, and 90 miles from Puerto Cabello, is the most important city of this section, a centre of traffic for the northern Andes region as well as for the State of Lara. * * * * * East of the Segovia Highlands are the States belonging to the _Centro_, the section near and including the Federal District. These are Carabobo, Aragua, and Miranda.