Considerable railway construction is talked of, but the only immediate probability is of a road from the port of Castilletes on the Gulf of Venezuela to a coal property near Lake Maracaibo, belonging to the Caribbean Coal Company. A port is to be constructed admitting vessels of 35 feet draft, the present depth being 16 feet. The railway 93 miles long of standard gauge is to have a one way capacity of 10,000 tons daily, with maximum freight charges lower than any at this time on existing lines. As no port charges of any kind are to be collected, if the construction and mining development are carried out as expected, it will be a most important industrial development for Venezuela which may affect the trade of Curaçao and Maracaibo. As this port will be but 595 miles from Colon, and as the coal is said to be of the best quality, it is important for ships making use of the Canal. The Venezuelan Government now gives generous concessions to foreign companies or individuals, undertaking railway construction. OTHER METHODS OF COMMUNICATION =Roads.= Aside from the railways, a meagre supply for a country of its size, other means of transportation are inadequate. Street railways exist in the chief cities: Caracas, Valencia, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Bolívar, Barquisimeto, Carúpano, and Cumaná. The great water power available for electric traction and for other purposes should be largely developed in future. Some automobile and cart roads exist, 1636 miles at the end of 1919, but to a large extent transportation is over bridle paths or _caminos_. An excellent automobile road leads from La Guaira to Caracas. From the capital such roads branch in several directions. One goes east to Guatire, two south to Ocumare del Tuy, one of these with a branch south from Cua. A good road leads through Maracay to Valencia; from midway, a branch leads south through Villa de Cura to Ortiz in Guárico, from which point construction is being continued to Calabozo, the capital, and thence to San Fernando, capital of Apure. Another road leads from Ocumare de la Costa to Maracay. From Puerto Cabello one may go by auto to Valencia and to Guigüe, south of the lake; also from the port to San Felipe and Barquisimeto. From the city of Maracaibo a road goes north to San Rafael near the mouth of the Channel, and one southwest to Perija, west of the centre of the Lake, passing two petroleum sites. From the terminus of the Táchira Railway, Uracá, a road leads to San Cristóbal, and one to Cúcuta in Colombia. From Motatán a good wagon road goes to Trujillo. Pack animals serve from El Vigia to Mérida. In the east there is the long road from San Felix on the Orinoco to El Callao and Tumeremo.