In 1800, eight thousand mules were embarked at Barcelona for the West India Islands, and it is computed that the plains of the government of Caraccas furnished annually 30,000 of these animals to the Spanish, English, and French islands. Barcelona has been lately fortified, by having a small fort erected on an eminence on the right bank of the Neveri, about 400 feet above the sea. But this is commanded on the south by a more lofty hill. The distance by sea between Cumana and Barcelona is twelve leagues, but by land considerably more, and over a most difficult road. At Cumana the river _Manzanares_, which is only navigable for canoes beyond the town, is noted only for having its shores lined with the most fruitful plantations. Beyond Cumana, the mountains approach so near the coast, that they leave no room for any streams of importance to flow; and therefore proceeding round the point of Paria, and verging towards the Orinoco, the next river we find, of any consequence, is the _Guaripiche_ which flows into the Atlantic by a broad mouth just above the first estuary of the Orinoco; this river rises in the interior as has been before mentioned. Of the rivers which join the Orinoco and flow through the plains of Cumana, the _Mamo_, the _Pao_, and the _Suara_ are the largest; and on the banks of these are some newly erected settlements. _PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA AND CORO._ The government of Venezuela comprehends Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper and Coro. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; east by Barcelona; west by Maracaybo and Varinas; and south by the great plains of Varinas, and the Orinoco. This extensive government was named Venezuela from the towns inhabited by Indians which were seen by the Spaniards on the lake Maracaybo, having a resemblance to Venice. In 1801 the population of Venezuela, including Varinas, amounted to 500,000 persons. The soil of Venezuela is fertile, and yields in abundance all the products of the West Indies, besides many others, which those islands do not possess. Its most noted commercial article is cacao, which is inferior to none in the Americas; vanilla, maize, indigo, cotton, sugar, tobacco and coffee, are a few of the richest objects of cultivation; wild cochineal, dyewoods, medicinal drugs, gums, resins, balsams, sarsaparilla, sassafras, liquorice, squills, storax, cassia and aloes, here find that climate the most favourable to their growth; and the immense plains in the interior feed multitudes of cattle, horses and mules, and in the valleys and mountains, sheep and deer are numerous. All kinds of game are found in this country, the rivers of which also abound with fish.