His body was removed to the cathedral of the capital, where it is enclosed in a monument.

5. Muzo is a small town near the banks of the Magdalena, and on those of the river Negro, which flows into the former.

6. TUNJA or TUNIA, in 5° 5' north latitude, 72° 56' west longitude, sixty miles north-east of Santa Fé, was enlarged into a town by the Spaniards in 1539, and was formerly a very opulent place.

The great church of this place is so spacious that it might pass for a cathedral; and there are three convents of considerable dimensions remaining.

The present population of Tunja does not exceed 400, though it is the chief place of one of the districts into which the province of Santa Fé is divided.

7. LEIVA is a small town, situate at the foot of the Paramo de Guacheneque, north of the capital.

8. VELEZ is 100 miles north of Santa Fé, in 5° 50′ north latitude, and 73° 16' west longitude, on the river Suarez.

9. SAN GIL is a small town on the northern frontier, near the junction of the rivers Sogamozo and Suarez.

It

10. SOCORRO is similarly circumstanced. lies a short distance south of San Gil, near the banks of the Suarez, and is 123 miles northnorth-east of Santa Fé.

The inhabitants amount to more than 3500,

SECTION XVII.

PROVINCE OF MERIDA.

MERIDA is bounded on the north by Maracaibo; on the east, by Venezuela; on the west, by Santa Marta; and on the south, by Santa Fé and Juan de los Llanos.

Its great feature consists in the amazing elevation of a branch from the chain of the Andes, which entirely pervades this province on its western side, rising beyond the lower period of perpetual snow, and to the height of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea.

The climate of this province is very variable, on account of the vicinity of the snowy mountains, and the unequal heights of the land.

The rainy season lasts from March to November, during which time the water descends in torrents; and rains are also frequent, but not so heavy, in the other months.

The Rio Apure, and some other rivers of considerable size, either rise or receive their tributary streams from the mountains of Merida, watering in their courses immense tracts of level and fertile land, which also extend from these mountains to the vicinity of the Orinoco.

When the westerly winds prevail, febrile diseases are common.

Very little is ascertained concerning the interior of this country; but it produces maize,

beans, pease, potatoes, cassada, wheat of the finest quality, barley, rye, &c., as well as the tropical and European fruits, in great plenty. It also contains several plantations of sugar, cacao, and coffee. The cattle are in such numbers, that meat is purchased at a very moderate price.

SECTION XVIII.

THE CITY OF MERIDA, &c.

THE chief city of the province is Merida, from which the whole district has taken its name. This city is situate in 8° 10' north latitude, and 73° 45′ west longitude; 25 leagues south-east of Varinas, 80 leagues south of Maracaibo, and 140 leagues south-east of Caracas. It is seated in a valley three leagues long, and three-quarters of a league in breadth, surrounded by lofty mountains.

The climate of Merida is exceedingly variable: they experience there every day the four seasons of the year.

The rains are heavy: they fall through the whole year, and with redoubled violence from the month of March to November; but at all times they leave some interval of dry weather.

Merida is surrounded by three rivers. The first bears the name of Mucujun, and takes its

course to the north, in what is called Los Paramos de Conejos, the rabbit warrens: it flows from north to south, and passes by the eastern part of the city. The second, known under the name of the Albarregas, comes from the north-west, and passes to the south-west of the town. The third is the Chama: it runs from the east, and directs its course by the south of Merida to the north, until it discharges itself in the Lake of Maracaibo. It receives the first two rivers at a little distance from Merida; and from the waters of a multitude of other streams, by which it is successively increased, it acquires the size of a river of the first order. They cross these rivers, on foot and on horseback, on bridges of wood, constructed with solidity enough to maintain at all seasons a free communication. None of these rivers is navigable, on account of the rapidity of their currents, and the obstacles opposed to navigation by straits, sometimes formed by rocks, and at others by mountains, that contract its bed so as to create falls which no boat can pass without evident danger of being dashed to pieces. A reason for not having sought to overcome these difficulties, is the excessive insalubrity of that part of the Lake of Maracaibo into which the river Chama disembogues..

At a short distance from the capital a college and seminary for the priests is established, and in this also the inhabitants are educated.

Besides these buildings are a handsome cathedral and three convents, with several chapels.

The number of the inhabitants of Merida amounts to 11,500 persons, of all colours and of all classes. That of the Negroes is less numerous than any other. That of the whites has been long divided into two parties-those of Serradas, and those of Guavirias, the names of the two principal founders of the city, who vowed a hatred against each other, which their descendants have preserved with so much obstinacy, that it cannot be said to be even yet perfectly extinguished, though its explosions, heretofore so frequent, have not been for some years reproduced. Without this unfortunate circumstance the population would at this day have been more considerable, and the cultivation more flourishing.

In the college and seminary are masters to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic; and professors of philosophy, theology, morality, the canon and the civil law. All the schools are under the direction and superintendence of a rector and vice-rector, and under the immediate authority of a bishop. An open disposition, a sound understanding, and a love of literature, is remarked in the whites of Merida. No class there disdains labour.

The inhabitants insist, that neither the cold nor the heat is ever felt there to a degree that can inconvenience, and that throughout the