In the forests south-west of the capital occurs the peculiar _arbol de leche_, whose sap can be used in every way like cow’s milk, though it is slightly thicker. Here and elsewhere the woods are full of valuable timber (mahogany, ebony, lignum-vitæ) and of useful creepers and trees like that which furnishes the copaiba-balsam. These represent to a great extent the undeveloped resources of the State, and side by side with them must be considered the many varieties of fishes inhabiting the waters of the gulf and lake, only a few of which are caught at the present time. No account of the Zulian region could omit a reference to the famous “Maracaibo lights,” or _farol de Maracaibo_, the flash of which can be seen far out at sea and is used by mariners out of range of any of the lighthouses. This vivid and continuous lightning is to be seen nightly over the south end of the lake, and is generally described as visible over the mouth of the Catatumbo. The flashes seem, however, rather to extend all along the line of the mountains, which rise a few miles from the lake to a height of fourteen or fifteen thousand feet. A possible explanation seems to be the following: As the atmosphere over the bare mountains cools rapidly at sunset the heavily-charged hot air of the basin-like depression of Maracaibo rises, so that masses of air at different potentials meet at a great height and emit huge sparks visible for hundreds of miles. Whether this be so or not, it is a fact that the flashes are visible nightly from sunset until sunrise, with little variation in brilliance. CHAPTER X THE ANDINE STATES TÁCHIRA, MÉRIDA, AND TRUJILLO Access—Roads versus railways—Mineral wealth—Maracaibo coffee—Forests—San Cristobal—Water supply—Industries—Roads—Rubio—Táchira Petroleum Company—San Antonio—Lobatera—Colón—Interrupted communications—Pregonero—El Cobre—Old mines—La Grita—Seboruco copper—Mérida—The Bishop and the Bible—Eternal snows—Earthquakes—Electric light—Road schemes—Gold and silver—Lagunillas—_Urao_—Wayside hospitality—Puente Real—Primitive modes of transport—Las Laderas—The Mucuties Valley—Tovar—Mucuchíes—The highest town in Venezuela—The _páramos_—Timotes—Trujillo—Valera—Water supply—La Ceiba Railway—Betijoque and Escuque—Boconó—Santa Ana—Carache—Unknown regions—Possibilities of the Andes.