The foreign trade of Maracaibo is at present carried by the National boat _Venezuela_ or by the boats of the American Red D Line, which in many cases transfer them to other lines in Curaçao; the greater part of the exported produce is carried by sailing-boats. The wharves and warehouses are under public control, and there is a fixed scale of charges from 65 centimos per 100 kilos. for exported goods to B12.0 for imported goods destined for merchants in Maracaibo or in transit to Colombia. The last-named trade is very considerable, as all the foreign goods consumed in the province of Santander enter through Maracaibo. The chief exports are coffee, cocoa, quinine, copaiba-balsam, dye-woods, sugar, and hides. If one ignores the fact that the great majority of the streets of Maracaibo are as Nature made them, it is possible to admire the extent of the city and flourishing aspect of the port, but on a hot afternoon (and this is worse than La Guaira for heat) the dusty walk or drive to one’s hotel does not add to the pleasure of the first experience of the place. The city had a population of 34,740 at the last census, but there must now be nearly half as many again living in the capital. There are no Anglo-Saxons at present in Maracaibo, the larger business houses being entirely managed, though not always owned, by Germans, from all of whom, including the British Vice-Consul, Mr. Schröder, our party met with the greatest kindness. The town being built for use rather than ornament, there are no public buildings of particularly striking appearance. The Legislative and Municipal Palaces in the Plaza Bolivar and the spired church of the Immaculate Conception are among the most noticeable buildings. There are hospitals and two clubs, and the Teatro and Plaza Baralt, with many statues, keep in memory the name of one of Maracaibo’s most famous citizens, who wrote the first comprehensive history of Venezuela. Factories for candles, soap, hats, boots, tanneries, and saw-mills are among the more prominent industries of Maracaibo, whose products command a sale in Colombia as well as in Venezuela. The town has a well-equipped electric light plant, a tramway to the south of the town, which is shortly to be electrified, another out to the Bella Vista suburb, worked by steam, a more or less efficient water supply, and restaurants, shops, and other means of administration to the public comfort, not to mention _coches_ equal to those of Carácas. The chief needs of the city are really efficient water supply, paving and drainage systems; with these it ought to be, though hot, one of the healthiest cities of the republic; as it is, the death-rate is high.