Among the bridle-paths there are a few with cobble-paved surfaces, dating back to early colonial times, but these have fallen into disrepair, and in Guayana they have been disused for so long that their whereabouts is often unknown, save where the Indian trails cross or follow a bit of the old paving here and there. For the rest the way is generally passable, but sometimes up to the animal’s belly in mud; here there are bridges over the mountain torrents, there none; the deeper streams may have ferries, but to be held up by an extra heavy fall of rain is no uncommon event. The Government spent nearly £80,000 on the Public Works Department in 1908-9, but since not all even of this small sum is devoted to actual road-making or other improvements, it will be seen that things are being only gradually improved; and it may be long yet before the asphalt and rock of the country are applied to the betterment of the uninspiring yet all-important roadways, at once one of the simplest and one of the most efficient methods of developing the nation’s natural resources. The waterways of Venezuela, numerous and general as they appear on the map, are singularly disappointing on closer investigation. The great Orinoco is a fine natural highway, it is true, as far as Pericos, some 600 miles from the mouth, but here the river is broken by the rapids of Atures and beyond by those of Maipures, and it is impossible for large boats to pass through to the upper river. The Apure, Arauca, and Meta are, of course, useful means of communication with the Colombian border regions and the south-western Llanos, but the numerous tributaries on the north side are generally too variable in depth for permanent traffic, and those on the south, as we have seen, are broken up by rapids for practically their whole length. On the other hand, if we take the positive value of the river highways, rather than their actual extent as compared with the number of streams indicated on a map, we can see that they are of considerable importance; the rivers of Guayana and of the eastern Llanos may be of little use for large boats, but the Orinoco forms a great central artery, from which roads, and perhaps eventually railways, can diverge to the limits of the basin. Some of the Llano tributaries, too, are navigable for steamers, and thus the State of Apure is now kept in communication with the outside world—all this without speaking of the great advantage accruing to the State of Zulia from its central lake, with its many tributary navigable rivers, along which large boats can travel throughout the greater part of the State, and on to the boundaries of those of the Andes, as well as into the neighbouring republic of Colombia. Along most of these natural and easily utilised lines of communication there are already services of steamers—nothing very advanced, but still a beginning.