. The land of Bolivar; or, War, peace, and adventure in the Republic of Venezuela . he shore. Friendly hands were stretched out tograsp mine, and I found myself upon the landing-stage. This is a handsome covered promenade, fullof bustle and business, and graced once or twice a dayby the presence of the belles of the town, when it be-comes a perfect garden of beauty. My l)aggage wastaken to the Aduana, or custom-house, and was soonsurrounded by a (trowd of officials, who, seeing thatthe new-comer was a foreimier and an Enolishman,were extremely civil, and took in very good part mydesperate atte
. The land of Bolivar; or, War, peace, and adventure in the Republic of Venezuela . he shore. Friendly hands were stretched out tograsp mine, and I found myself upon the landing-stage. This is a handsome covered promenade, fullof bustle and business, and graced once or twice a dayby the presence of the belles of the town, when it be-comes a perfect garden of beauty. My l)aggage wastaken to the Aduana, or custom-house, and was soonsurrounded by a (trowd of officials, who, seeing thatthe new-comer was a foreimier and an Enolishman,were extremely civil, and took in very good part mydesperate attempts to utilise the knowledge of Spanishwhich I had worked up on the passage. It was agreat disappointment to find that my very bestphrases and idiomatic turns, which had been expectedto excite envy, were not understood; whilst to com-pensate, the revenue-officers talked a dialect ofSpanish quite unintelligilile to me. Seeing that Iwas making very heavy weather of it, a Venezuelan,Mr. R. P. Syers, standing by, who had been educatedin England, came to the rescue, and his friendly. << O o HccO Q. LU I\- Chap, i.] THE AD UANA, 17 assistance enabled me to arrange matters. All myl)ackages were readily passed, except a fowling-piece,which was rated at a very high figure, as, in con-sequence of the civil war, it was not considered wiseto encourage the indiscriminate importation of suchdangerous instruments. * The Aduana is a two-storied edifice, with wallsstrong and thick enough to be both bomb andearthquake proof. Some pretensions to architecturaleffect have been achieved, but its constructors werechiefly guided by utilitarian motives. The com-modious stores, occupying the whole of the buildingon the ground floor, make it admirably adapted fora custom-house. It is situated at an easy elevationfrom the wharf, and connected with it by a in front of the building is an awning fixedon pillars, rendering its alcoves delightfully cool andpleasant. Like most of the larg
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidlandofboliva, bookyear1878
