=La Guaira=, the chief port of the _Centro_, and the best known of Venezuela, is rivaled by Puerto Cabello, which has a better natural harbor. La Guaira, population 18,000 including its suburbs, as the port of the capital, Caracas, attracts more travelers and at present more trade, much of it coming from or going to other parts of the country. The harbor, a rather open roadstead, was improved at great expense by port works. Though these facilitate the increasing traffic, ships at times are still exposed to heavy swells. The town is hot and unhealthful with a mean temperature of 84.5°, but it has good rail connection with its pleasant suburbs, cooler and more sanitary. The port has good piers, vessels lying alongside. The depth of water is 28-30 feet. =Puerto Cabello=, 65 miles west, in the State of Carabobo, population 20,000, is said to have the best harbor, its depth 28 feet, on the North Coast of South America. With a slightly lower temperature than La Guaira, it has a higher death rate. To this port comes most of the produce of its own State, of Yaracuy, of the Llano States Cojedes and Portuguesa, and some from the Andes region. The enterprise of the Venezuela Meat Syndicate, with new buildings here, promotes stock farming and the traffic of the port. A floating dock receives vessels of 2000 tons; a new one will accommodate ships of 4000 tons. =Carúpano=, far to the east of La Guaira, is the only other port of importance which is visited by large ocean steamers. Although as warm as Puerto Cabello, it has a much more healthful climate. With no real harbor, merely an open roadstead, serving the State of Sucre, it is a port of call for several lines of steamers. The cargo must be transported in lighters. =Ciudad Bolívar=, though far up the Orinoco River, as the official port of entry for half the country, serves an extensive region. It communicates with the outside world by weekly steamers of shallow draught to the Port of Spain, as also by coasting vessels. The steamers returning cross the Gulf of Paria, follow up the Caño Macareo to the Orinoco, and up that river to Bolívar.