As an outcome of this condition of affairs the ordinary traveller in Venezuela has, for the purpose of petty commerce, to be acquainted with three methods of reckoning. In La Guaira and Carácas and other towns affected by commerce with the United States and the West Indies dollars and centavos represent respectively 5 bolivars and 5 centimos, and English-speaking Venezuelans always use American monetary terms; in the towns, however, the bolivar is often voluntarily used as the unit in speaking, and will always be so used on request. In the country the old Spanish nomenclature is everywhere employed, having the _real_ as the unit, equivalent to 25 centimos, with its subdivisions the _medio_ (12½ centimos) and the _cuartillo_ (6¼ centimos). In Maracaibo and the Andine States, for large sums, the _onza_ is employed as a unit, or more commonly the _morrocota_ (20-dollar gold piece). Finally, in commerce on a large scale and for all accounts, pesos and centavos are employed, representing respectively 4 bolivars and 4 centimos; there are no coins corresponding to these sums, and in writing the dollar sign is used, a practice bound to lead to some confusion when the sign is occasionally used in the correct way. Thus, a tradesman will present a bill for $12.50—_i.e._, 12½ pesos or 50 bolivars, the proper market price for the article supplied, and will receive from a new-comer (who may think the figure dear, but remembers that he is buying goods imported under a heavy tariff) the sum of $12½, which gives an unscrupulous seller an extra profit of 12.50 bolivars. Throughout the country, however, people know the Venezuelan terms, and can be asked to explain any account, verbal or otherwise, in bolivars or centimos. The metric system is in general use throughout the civilised parts of the country. As in all Spanish and most American cities, the towns of Venezuela are regularly laid out, with a _plaza_ or square as centre, from which roads diverge towards the four cardinal points. Round the plaza are generally the Government offices, the church, and other principal buildings or private houses; the ground within the square is either occupied by gardens or trees or (in the smaller towns and villages) is grass-covered. Away from the centre the streets show little sign of arrangement in the buildings, old Spanish houses of imposing design standing out here and there, conspicuous among the smaller, more modern edifices.