If the whole coast of South America had been explored for the worst place in twenty thousand miles to build a city, there could not have been found one with greater natural disadvantages, which human ingenuity cannot overcome, than La Guayra, the seaport of Caracas, capital of Venezuela. It is a town of about six thousand inhabitants, stretched along a rocky beach for about two miles. Five hundred feet from the water the Venezuelan range of the Andes Mountains begins, and rises almost perpendicularly to the height of five and six thousand feet. One hundred feet from the houses the bottom of the sea slopes off into a hundred fathoms of water, and a mile out it is said to be two thousand feet deep. There is not the slightest excuse for a harbor, nor the slightest protection for vessels, which always lift their anchors and get out of the way when indications of a storm are seen. The anchor lies on the sloping rock at the bottom of the sea, but it has to be lifted every few hours, or the shifting sand will bury it beyond recovery. The surf always runs very high when a strong breeze is blowing, and under these circumstances vessels are expected to load and unload. Two wharves, or moles, have been built at an acute angle, with the narrow point open, and into this the lighters are steered, where they are comparatively easy while shifting cargoes. The vessels always stay out far enough to avoid the surf, but rise and fall, tip and rock with the swells that go under them with the motion that the billows of the ocean give. Clinging to the little ledge between the surf and the foot of the rocks the town stands. There is only one street along which the warehouses are situated, with a rather imposing custom-house and the invariable plaza, or park, in which stands an equestrian statue of Guzman Blanco, the “boss” of Venezuela. There is said to be a statue of Guzman in every town in the republic, erected by his orders, but at the expense of the Government, while he was President. There are three of them at the capital.