There must be great possibilities for such a region as that of the Andes, where much territory remains unexplored, while it includes, as it were, all the climates of the globe. Many plants have already been acclimatised, and of those whose cultivation is already carried on on a larger scale much more might be made; the coffee and cocoa of the moister tropical valleys, the wheat of the open higher zones, the possible cotton of the Chama, Carache, and other valleys are among their number. The possible culture of fruits of all kinds for which a demand might be expected in Venezuela generally as the country develops, and the less permanent resources of mines and forests, make an increasing prosperity for the Andine States almost assured, but adequate and permanent means of transport are required before they can be developed to their full extent. The long mule-trains on the mountain roads are picturesque, but roads fit for wheel traffic would leave these where desirable and yet provide the means of quicker and cheaper transit for the produce of the fertile valleys of the Cordillera. CHAPTER XI LARA, YARACUY, AND FALCÓN The original Venezuela—Ancient cities—Communications—Barquisimeto—Fortified stores—Productions—The Bolivar Railway—Duaca—Aroa copper-mines—A precarious house-site—In the mine—Bats and cockroaches—“_El Purgatorio_”—Blue and green stalactites—San Felipe—The Yaracuy Valley—Nirgua—Yaritagua—Tocuyo—The “coach” to Barquisimeto—Quíbor—_Minas_—Carora—An ill-advised scheme—Siquisique—Steamboats on the Tocuyo—San Luis—Coro—The first cathedral of South America—Goat-farms—Fibre—La Vela—Capatárida tobacco—Curaçao—A fragment of Holland—A mixed language—Trade—Sanitation—The islands. The three States whose boundaries include to-day the Segovia Highlands and the Coro Lowlands represent the greater part of the original province of Venezuela, as known to the Welser Governors. The region is for the most part high, with no exceptional peaks, and therefore may be considered as an elevated plateau, separated from the sea by a belt of plains. In Yaracuy there are fertile valleys, as well as in the northern part of Lara and the south of Falcón; in Lara, too, round Carora, we have llanos for cattle-grazing, and Barquisimeto receives much wheat from the surrounding country. The Coro plains are mostly dry and barren, covered with cactus, which nourishes thousands of goats.