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Charles R. Darwin (1809-1882) was born in Shrewsbury, grandson of Erasmus Darwin, student of Divinity and then of Medicine in Edinburgh. Darwin travelled widely and it was on the hundredth anniversary of his visit to the Galapagos Islands that Ecuador issued the stamp bearing his portrait.

Universally known for his theory of Evolution and many scientific works including The Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of the Species, and The Descent of Man.

Charles Darwin c. 1854

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Official website: www.copaphil.org

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The series of stamps treated of in the present article are those catalogued in Gibbons as “Revenue stamps used for postage,” Nos. 501 to 521. They have been but little appreciated by collectors, partly because their status has not been fully understood, and partly because postmarked copies are exceedingly rare. Nevertheless, it has been stated on good authority that they were the only stamps used for postage in Venezuela from March, 1871, to August, 1873, and they were also largely employed for postal purposes in conjunction with the square “Arms” type, with control overprint, from this date onwards to 1879, when both were superseded by the larger-sized “Escuelas” stamp as catalogued in Gibbons under date 1879. A stamp of this design was first chronicled in the Stamp Collector’s Magazine for February, 1872, and a confession of ignorance expressed as to whether Escuelas “is one of the Venezuelan provinces or states,” and also as to the “name and claims to notoriety of the person re-presented” but it was admitted that the stamp “has a genuine look.” In the same journal for 1874, p. 74, there is a short notice by “Fentonia” on these stamps, reviewing various fantastic theories as to their employment, but coming finally to the conclusion that they were neither more nor less than “insignificant” fiscals. The mystery of the inscription “Escuelas,” which is Spanish for “schools,” is explained by the fact that the revenue accruing from the use of these stamps was intended to be applied for the purposes of public instruction, and the reason that they are so rarely found postmarked is because only a very few places in Venezuela possessed a cancelling stamp at this date, and when used on letters they are generally found pen-cancelled. At the same time it is true that the great majority of the copies found to-day have been fiscally used.

This series of stamps is, however, of considerable interest to the philatelic student, and should especially appeal to philatelists who are fond of “plating.” They are lithographed, the heads being laid down first and the frames added afterwards. The oval round the head where the head portion and the frame join afford many evidences of the process employed, and show marks of various kinds by which the different transfers can be recognised. Very definite results may therefore :ie arrived at in the case of most of these stamps, but certain of the yellow ones are difficult to examine on account of the colour, and some of the later printings are so very coarsely printed that difficulties arise on this score. Many of the sheets of these stamps were very large, consisting of 255 stamps, so that it will probably never be possible to reconstruct the whole sheets in these cases as material is not very abundant, especially in blocks. It is, however, possible to recognise the different transfers used in making up the stone, and in most cases these appear to be comparatively few in number. This method of laying down the transfers has also given rise to sundry interesting “errors” by the accidental insertion of the frames upside down. These are termed “inverted heads” in the Catalogue, but it is really the frames which are inverted. Five values have been recorded in this condition, viz. the 1 c., 2 c., 5 r., 9 r., and 15 r., but no copies are known of the 1 c., 5 r., and 9 r., so that it seems as if these should be expunged from the Catalogue.

The stamps have never yet been properly catalogued. They fall into three groups, viz.:

A. With control overprint in upright microscopic letters in two double lines reading ”BOLIVAR, SUCREM, MIRANDA” and “DECRETO DE 27 ABRIL DE 1870.”

B. With control overprint in microscopic italic letters in one double line reading “DECRETO DE 27 DE JUNIO DE 1870 “many times repeated, the lines of lettering being tete-beche.

C. With the same overprint as B, but in two double lines, As far as is known there were eight issues of these stamps, as follows :-

(I) Lithographed by Enrique Neun of Caracas and issued on the 4th March, 1871. Overprinted as “A” above. Fifteen values, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 c., yellow; 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 r., rose; 9, 15, 20, 30, and 50 r., green.

(2) Lithographed by Felix Rasco, Caracas, and issued in June, 1871. Overprinted as “A” above. Total issue 5oo.000. The sheets of all values of this issue probably bear the inscription “2A EMISION DE 500,000″ on the bottom margin. In any case blocks with bottom margin bearing this inscription are known of the following values, 1 c., 5 c., 3 r., 9 r., and 20 r. There is no 2 c. value in this issue, otherwise the values are as in (I).

(3) Lithographed by Felix Rasco, Caracas (1872 ?). Overprint as “B” above. New stones, No 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., or 4 c. in this issue, otherwise values as before.

(4) Lithographed by ? (1874?). Overprint as “B” above. Values as in first issue from 1 c. to 9 r. No 15, 20, 30, or 50 r. values.

(5) Lithographed by Felix Rasco (1874?). Clear, sharp impressions. Overprint as “C” above. Values 1 c., 2 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r. The 2 c. is found with inverted frame.

(6) Lithographed by Gabriel José Aramburu, March, 1875? Overprint as “C” above. Printed on laid paper. Values 1 c., 2 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 20 r.

(7) Lithographed by Felix Rasco ? Date ? Overprint as “C” above. Values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c.

(8) Lithographed by ? March. 1876. Coarse impressions, widely spaced. Several settings. Values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 15 r., 30 r., and 50 r. The 15 r. exists with inverted frame.

I proceed to add a few facts “with regard to each of these issues. Those philatelists who require fuller details are referred to the London Philatelist for 1918 and 1919.

1871. With overprint “A.” First setting. Clearly printed in bright colours. 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 5 c., yellow to orange-yellow ; 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 7 r., bright rose ; 9 r., 15 r., 20 r., 30 r., 50 r., bright green. The size of the sheets is not known, but the centavos values contained ten or more rows of 9 stamps. Each row of stamps shows the same transfer, but only five transfers were used for the whole sheet. It has been stated that the sheet of the 1 r. contained 120 stamps, and, if so, the sheets of the other values in reales, up to the 7 r., were probably of the same size. Five transfers only were used in the make-up of the sheets of each value, except in the case of the 7 r., of which there is only one type. The sheet of the 9 r. contained fifty stamps in five rows of ten, showing five types; that of the 15 r., 20 stamps in two rows of ten, showing two types; the 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r. were printed in strips of ten. There is only one transfer for each of these three values.

Second setting. The stamps of this setting may easily be recognised by their inferior printing and shades. The centavos values are in bright yellow, the real values up to 7 r. in pale dull rose, the 9 r. and upwards in grey-green. There is no 2 c. in this issue. The size of the sheets from the 1 c. to the 7 r. is again unknown, but ten transfers seem to have been employed in every case for the makeup, except in that for the 7 r., for which there is only one type. The size of the sheets for the 9 r. up to the 50 r. is the same as that for the corresponding values of the first setting, but they are not made up on the same plan. The number of transfers in each case has not yet been fully determined, but up to the present six have been recognized for the 9 r., three for the 15 r., four each for the 20 r. and 30 r., and three for the 50 r. The lower values of the setting, up to 3 r., are more often found with the control overprint inverted.

1872. With overprint “B.” The first issue of this series (see Issue (3) above) contained no 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., or 4 c. values, and the second issue (see Issue (4) above) contained no values from 15 r. upwards. Hence there is only one setting for the values 1 c., 2 c., 3 c., 4 c., 15 r., 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r., but two each of the values 5 c., 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., 5 r., 7 r., and 9 r.

The size of the sheets of the 1 c. to 4 c. is unknown, and owing to the heavy printing and unsuitable colour, viz. bright yellow, the different transfers used have not been distinguished. The last remark applies to the first setting of the 5 c., but the stamps of this value belonging to the second setting are printed in a deep brown-orange, and sixteen different transfers have up to the present been recognised. The stamps from the first settings of the 1 r., 2 r., 3 r., and 5 r. are printed in a pale dull rose. Five transfers were used in each case in making up the sheets, and the same transfer occurs in each vertical column in the sheets, the size of which is, however, unknown. The stamps from the second setting of these values are printed in bright rose, but in each case ten or more transfers were used. The 7 r. seems to occur in only one type, but the colour is the same, pale dull rose for the first setting and bright rose for the second setting. The first setting of the 9 r., green, and the single one of the 15 r. each consist of five transfers, the same in each vertical column of the sheet. The colour of the stamps from the setting of the 9 r. is sage-green. There are four types of each of the 20 r., 30 r., and 50 r.

1874 ? With overprint “C.” The first issue with this overprint (see Issue (5) above) consisted of only the values 1 c., 2 c., and 5 c. in bright orange-yellow and the 1 r. and 2 r. in bright rose. The impressions are clear and sharp, a dozen or more transfers being employed in making up the sheet. The 2 c. is found with inverted frame and exists in four types, two of which show small transfer folds.

The second issue was printed in sheets of 255 stamps, probably fifteen rows of seventeen. These may be readily distinguished as they are printed on laid paper. The shades of the centavos values are very variable, from yellow to brown-orange, the 1 r. and 2 r. are rose and the 20 r. green.

The third issue (see Issue(6) above) are very rough impressions in sheets of 255, fifteen rows of seventeen, each row showing the same transfer. The shades are variable from yellow to brown-orange.

The stamps of the fourth issue show still coarser impressions. There are two or more settings of each of the values from I c. to 5 r. and one each of the 15 r., 30 r., and 50 r. There are no 7 r., 9 r., or 20 r. stamps in this issue. In one setting of the 1 r. there are 223 stamps and one blank space where a stamp has been removed and the inscription “223 unreal” inserted. The sheet of the 15 r. contains at least one stamp with inverted frame. The shades of the centavo values are pale to deep yellow, pale ochre or brownish yellow, the reals values from 1 r. to 5 r rose, carmine, or pink, and the 15 r., 30 r., anc 50 r. blue-green.

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The front door of the Republic of Venezuela is the Caribbean port of La Guayra. There are such side doors as Puerto Cabello, from which you can connect by train with the capital, pretty Carácas, in its upland valley, and there are isolated out-buildings, as it were, such as the new and enormously developing Maracaibo region, and there is the huge back door of the Orinoco’s mouth, leading to the up-river town of Ciudad Bolivar and the vast little-known Ilanos (plains) of Apure and the huge southward-bending area of Amazonas.

Above: Pack-donkeys laden with country merchandise passing through a street of Carácas. Carácas, the capital of Venezuela, lies in a beautiful mountain-girt valley watered by the river Guaire and nearly 3,000 feet above sea-level. Sugar and coffee plantations surround the city which, owing to its altitude, enjoys a moderate temperature, and claims to be the most perfectly and salubriously situated of all the South American capitals. The narrow street are paved with cobbles in the outer part of the city, in the centre with cement, and lined by one-storeyed houses which usually turn their blindside to the street, the barred windows and stuccoed walls suggesting little of the comfortable and even luxurious quarters behind them

La Guayra (a “guaira,” by the way, is a beacon fire set upon a hilltop) presents an unchanging face in every season. The steamer manoeuvres close to the wall of dark-red, sweltering rock, upon whose feet the narrow streets of the port run, steep and precarious and dirty. The sea is deep and blue against this mountain barrier, and the sun, all the year round, beats down upon the winding town and is reflected back from the crimson rock. Everybody of consequence wears white clothes, and the poorer folk tread, barefoot, the cobblestones of the tilted ways, jostling the mules.

La Guayra Gay with Flowers
The well-to-do, and certainly all the foreigners engaged in business pursuits, dwell in airy houses, with the living rooms often placed upon the second floor, the first being devoted to offices. These houses are built of wood, with heavy red-tiled roofs; the rooms are enormously large and rendered cool by wide balconies, numbers of unglazed windows, and a series of connecting doors which guarantee the utilisation of every faint breeze. Gay flowers, the pretty pink coralillo vine and the viuda alegre’s delicate mauve, the daring patchwork of the crotons and the scarlet blaze of hibiscus, the long trail of bougainvillea, adorn every balcony.

When Drake Fought the Spanish Don
A mile or so to the eastward, along the slender strip of shore, lies the pretty watering-place, Macuto. A motor-car, driven by a Venezolano with a bush of black hair and the usual Latin-American passion for rapid transit, carries you along the uneven coast road to a cool hotel and a bathing beach; on the way you pass the four-square white house, inside high walls draped with brilliant flowering vines, where in Kingsley’s “Westward Ho!” the Spanish don held the “Rose of Torridge” a prisoner.

From La Guayra runs the railway up to Carácas. There are two other ways; first, the splendid motor road that winds more steeply down the sides of the mountains, skirting precipices and ravines; and, second, the most dizzy route of all, that is nothing but a clambering footpath. According to a very likely tradition, it was up this goat-path that Drake climbed with his band of sailors in Elizabeth’s day; it was a Spaniard of Carácas who acted as guide and betrayed his town into the hands of the English invaders. Drake hanged him for his trouble.

The railroad is a fine piece of mountain engineering, and as the train ascends and the fresher air of the hills is reached, you look out of the window and down upon bare purple-red rocky shoulders, with sparse verdure in clefts, and an emerald strip on the shore where a patch of soil gives foothold to a grove of coconuts.

Above: Dark-eyed daughter of Latin America. The houses of the Spanish of Carácas are usually built in similar fashion to those in their Mother Country. The windows are barred, and a private or court, affords a rendezvous for family gatherings

There is not so much as a village in the hills between the port and the capital, but Carácas itself is placed in a narrow and lovely vale with a delicious perennial-spring climate. The whole strip is a garden of flowers and birds, with white and pink and blue houses set in this blossomy frame, Every afternoon, when the sun is sinking behind the hills, it is the custom for the citizens to drive, ride, or even walk, along the beautiful stretch of gardens that border the valley, the Paraiso, which is covered with great thickets of bamboo, splendid mahogany and ceiba trees hung with a score of tillandsias and lianes, and beds of roses and lilies.

A string of houses edges the slope of the hills, their private gardens running up at a sharp angle. Many are sumptuously adorned, in a land where gay pictures may be painted on the exterior wall and suffer no damage. For one of these, standing a little back from the road behind tropical foliage, the visitor will spare a curious glance, for this is the palacio built for his pleasure by Cipriano Castro, that dictator of Venezuela who once upon a time defied the Powers, and upon another occasion got together an army to march upon the United States by land. All the flooring of this palacio was specially made of fine tiles with the entwined initials “C.C.”

As a result of the modern policy of highway construction, in the dry season the traveller may go right across the huge territory of Venezuela from La Guayra to Ciudad Bolivar by motorcar, in less than four days. From the beginning of the rains, about the middle of May, until December, interior Venezuela is no place for the visitor; water descends in a solid sheet, the plains are blotted out, the roads are roaring cataracts. But in the dry season the fertile country teems with wild life, and the Venezuelan reaps his harvest without the slightest fear of a troubled sky.

No better example of the fine highroads built of late years and their effect upon the enterprising farmer, can be seen than that between Carácas and Maracay. It plunges out into the green, hilly country westward from Carácas, rising to an altitude of 4,000 feet at one breezy spot, Los Teques, frequently skirting the precipitous sides of mountains and dipping to delicious green valleys. All this road is dotted with rich sugar estates, the red-tiled houses nestled among a sea of waving emerald.

It is an all-day run between Carácas and Maracay, and the warm, scented dusk of the little town is illuminated by a blaze of electric lights in the flowery plaza. All the houses are painted with pink or blue or some other delicate colour, the pavements are of stone mosaic, the roads asphalted, and although the residence here of the President is but one storey in height, it is equipped with such modem conveniences as electric fans and telephones.

Above: Street in Caracas showing the prevalent style of architecture. Earthquakes are frequent in Caracas, and a terrible shock practically destroyed the city in 1812. The houses, therefore, are low, with strong adobe walls, and there being littl or no need of fires for warmth, chimneys are seldom seen. Though alike in style, the houses are relieved of monotony by their colouring, and the red-tile roofs are singularly effective against the mountain background.

On the model farm of General Gomez at Maracay, splendid cattle of British breeding fill the beautifully planned and kept stables; at the aerodrome a score of French planes form the nucleus of the military aviation schools. There is a big wireless installation, which enables Venezuela to speak with points all over the Caribbean. The military hospital is a perfect copy of a European model. A paper factory makes pulp from the rushes growing thickly about the margin of Lake Valencia, a large and lovely sheet of water, dotted with islands, ringed with villages, that lies a stone’s throw from Maracay. From a highway running northward to the Caribbean, upon a mountain crest three thousand feet above sea-level, shaded with enormous tropical trees festooned with orchids and climbing ferns, you look down a sweeping declivity to the blue, sparkling bay of Ocumare.

Above: Common mode of travel in the mountains of Venezuela. The roads of Venezuela are rarely worthy of the name; with the exception of a few high-roads, only bridle-paths are available to the traveller, and these are often of very indifferent quality and some are scarcely passable for mud. The donkey is the chief pack-animal, and is often seen carrying not only country produce and its own provender, but its master as well

Below: Venezuelan water-carrier starts his rounds. In the streets of Venezuelan cities cooling “frescoes” are seldom lacking, and inviting drinks concocted from delicious fruits are refreshing, though not always effective thirst-quenchers. On his patient beast – almost every burden is borne by donkeys in Venezuela – the water-carrier makes his rounds, and has many customers, for in the torrid climate a glass of cold water is a boon

All this Maracay region is a centre of efficiency, typical of the ease with which. modem equipment and up-to-date public services can create a new atmosphere in South American towns. Water-power is plentiful, and since the coal-beds of South America have only in a few instances served for public utilities, and the making of gas for illuminating purposes is limited, upon the whole continent, to towns whose number can be counted upon one hand, the installation of electric systems is simplicity itself. The house built of adobe – dried mud brick – with a tiled or thatched roof, the home-made dip candle, the cooking fire of charcoal or sticks, is readily scrapped in exchange for reinforced cement, electric lamps and electric cookers, just as human labour is exchanged for the Diesel engine, or long line transmission.

Above: Balling cotton in a settlement of Venezuelan aborigines. The settlements of the Waiomgomo Indians, scattered about the vast dense forests of Guayana, are sometimes little more than a collection of miserable huts consisting chiefly of thatched roofs on supports, but providing, nevertheless, shelters for numbers of primitive creatures to whom they stand for home. Handmade hammocks, earthenware pots, and calabashes lie promiscuously about the earth floor

Before Ronald Ross discovered the guilt of the mosquito as a fever carrier, all the Caribbean margin was a hot-bed of such virulent diseases as yellow and blackwater fevers; La Guayra was a pest-hole and the sister ports only less dangerous in proportion to their diminished size. But to-day, with the “vigorous operation of sanitary services, the worst of the fever plagues have been banished, and careful measures are being taken to reduce infant mortality, to check contagious diseases by vaccination and inoculation, and to raise the standard of public health by regular inspection of foodstuffs and milk. Too much credit cannot be given to the Venezuelan, Dr. Chacin Itriago, trained in England and formerly the head of a department in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, for the creation of these nation-wide services in Venezuela. In so far as it is possible to counteract the result of an insouciant negro element in the coastal towns, and of a persistently hot chmate, Venezuela has benefited enormously from the few years of trained attention to civic sanitation.

Above: Making arrows, primitive pastime of a primitive people. The Waiomgono Indians branch of the Caribs, still inhabit their original haunts around the river Caura. In the more fertile regions, they cultivate miniature plantations, while in some of the higher forest land the collecting of the odoriferous tonka bean constitutes their chief industry. They generally shun civilization, caring nothing for its comforts and conveniences.

Work such as this, and the construction of the far-reaching network of roads, demands a good deal of money, and in Venezuela the government revenues are mainly obtained from indirect taxation – that is, from export and import dues and from internal dues upon sugar, tobacco and alcoholic liquors.

Nearly two-thirds of the national revenues have their origin in the Custom House, and there is also a yield to official pockets, for any flaw which can be detected in the invoice of goods brought into the country results in such goods being impounded without redress, and the hawk-eyed individual who discovers the error receives a halfshare of the value.

Above: A lake dweller. Dull, heavy faces are comon among the women of the Indian races who live in pile dwellings around Lake Maracaibo.

The bolivar, the national unit of currency in Venezuela, takes its name from that Venezuelan-born soldier of fortune, the Libertador of the Independence struggle, Simon Bolivar, who, having seen Napoleon enter Paris on one occasion during the Corsican’s heyday, became imbued with the same grandiose schemes; you will see in Carácas the house where he was brought up, with some delightful colonial period furniture, and you may see upon the walls of a government hall some rather excruciating paintings of the glorious victories obtained over the Mother Country; and, seeing these, you may remember, if you happen to have seen it, the old farmhouse among the banana groves of Santa. Marta in Colombia, where the disillusioned Libertador ended an embittered life, exiled and overthrown by the very people for whom he had done so much, and among whom he had posed as a semidivine hero.

Above: Women of the Maquiritare tribe. Near relatives of, if not identical with, the Waiomgomo, the Maquiritare occupy remote parts of the hinterland of Guayana. Convention makes little or no demand upon them and a practical absence of dress is one of their tribal characterisitics

Speaking generally, life is expensive in Venezuela for those who eat and drink, wear, and furnish their dwellings with, imported commodities; it is cheap for those who make the country provide them with all they need. The contrast between Venezuelan houses, built, for example, in the airy upland capital and upon themargin of Lake Maracaibo, displays a difference that is one of kind rather than of degree.

The Carácas residence lies not within the city, but a mile or so outside in a garden suburb developed during the last few years, approached by a charming flower-hung road. A broad motor-car drive runs up to the open front door, giving access to a wide, awning-shaded veranda and the cool rooms of the lower floor. Everybody has a car. Much of the population is of pure Spanish blood.

Above: In workaday garb. Short lengths of coarse material, or aprons of palm fibre, are the everyday garb worn by the aboriginal Indians of Venezuela

Here, on such an occasion as a children’s party, you appreciate the constancy with which Latin America looks across the seas to Western Europe, for all the little guests are dressed like delightful bisque-china dolls in French clothes; their manners are quite beautiful, and they dance gaily among the pink silk chairs. The parents, arriving in the glowing dusk to take away their offspring, are not the formal folk of Spanish traditon, by which the women are still all but secluded. There is an atmosphere of freedom and comradeship a frank interchange of thoughts and ideas between the sexes that speak eloquently of new ways.

Above: Conservatism in the backwoods. In his forest-clad habitat, surrounded by the solitudes of the Guayana jungle, the Waiomgomo fosters the beliefs and customs of his pagan ancestors, finding their inefficient ways of life more comfortable than those prescribed by the white civilization

It is true that you must drink liqueur with your tea, and that there are more extravagant sweets than you are accustomed to see, that the crystal-clear Spanish idiom is in your ears; but there is nothing “foreign” here; this is a society that conforms to the pleasant international standard. The parents of your hosts live in the city, in an “old” (i.e. 50 to 100 years old) house upon one floor; the heavily grilled windows open on to a main street, the enormous saguan door leads, through a wide opening, to the inside patio – a courtyard full of flowering shrubs with a pila playing in the middle; a veranda runs all about this patio, with every room of the four-square house opening on it.

Beyond, a second patio is surrounded by the kitchen and the servants’ quarters. With the saguan door barred, this is a fort, or rather, it follows the mode of Oriental houses constructed for the seclusion of women, the mode that the Moors carried to Spain, and that Spain carried to South America four hundred years ago.

Above: Sultry Afternoon in the main street of Peurto Cabello. Peurto Cabello, lying to the west of La Guayra, the port of Caracas, is practically at sea-level and is extremely hot. It has a considerable export trade and its harbour is one of the best in Venezuela; even the name, meaning Hair Port, was bestowed by the Spaniards to signify that a ship could be held with a hair in its tranquil waters.

No clmate could be sweeter than that of Carácas. But for white races none could be more pernicious than that of Maracaibo. Here, along a green, mosquito-haunted, heavily-hot coast, is an enormous lagoon, entered by none but small vessels because the sand-bar across its mouth prohibits ships of any considerable draught. Early Spanish explorers, discovering this bay, saw the same oddly built native houses that you may still find, perched above the margins of the water upon thin, shaky wooden legs, and constructed of wood and palm-thatch.

A primitive ladder, consisting sometimes of nothing more than a stout, notched bamboo pole, leads to this crow’s nest, and it was the sight of these lake-dwellings that gave the region the ironical name of Venezuela – “Little Venice.” Cassava root, plantains, beans and fish form the staple foods, the hammock is the chief article of furniture, and the villagers inherit much of the blood of the real natives of the country, those implacable “Indians” whose immense bows and poisoned arrows are still feared by the traveller who ventures into the deep interior.

Above: Lottery tickets for the many, lucky tickets for the few. Large public gambling schemes are in vogue in many of the cities of South America. Some governments have suppressed them as being injurious to the public good, while other legislatures authorise lotteries in order to devote their proceeds to public improvements. In Venezuela these games of chance are very popular and at La Guayra there is a church which was built by the sale of lottery tickets.

To-day these lake dwellers look down upon scenes of activity that bid fair to affect the life of all Venezuela. For it has been discovered that the great oil belt that lies all across the north of South America, from exterior islands such as Barbados to promontories in Ecuador, has formed huge deposits in the Maracaibo region. For years a keen competition between rival great companies has been fought upon this sweltering soil. All over the heat-hazed swamps near the lagoon, armies of geologists and engineers and road-makers have been brought in; thousands of tons of machinery, endless loads of construction material, carried into the bush and brought into service. Huge territories as big as Balkan kingdoms have been surveyed, probed, made to yield their underground stores of oil. Ten years of preparatory work and four or five millions of pounds sterling have paved the way for the stream of petroleum just commencing.

One thousand Venezuelans are labourers in this field, and the native-born, dark-skinned, dark-eyed, part Indian, part negro, with a dash of Spanish, has accustomed himself to regular hours and sustained toil. Wherever, in the colonial period, land was found suitable for sugar-cane crops, African slaves were imported, and the gregarious negro is still clustered in the same spots. He works as readily in the oil-fields as upon agricultural lands, and when you see him engaged in half a score of other occupations in Veneuzela you cannot deny his versatility.

In the miasmic swamp of Lake Bermudez the men work up to their waists in water, digging out the oozy asphalt; just across a strip of sea from the port of Cumaná is the pretty island of Margarita, where pearl-divers fetch up gems to the value of half a million bolivares annually; in the dry zones the collectors of the divi-divi pods, for tanning, fill thousands of sacks; the cocoa and coffee plantations call for another class of skill. Near Carúpano is a copra and coir factory; in the deep forest near Ciudad Bolivar on the Orinoco are the gatherers of balata (rubber), and of the chicle used for chewing-gum.

Profitable Egret Plumes
The fearless riders of the Ilanos, those wide plains which are only equalled by the pampas of Argentina, are expert cattlemen; there is the nucleus of a mercantile marine in the Venezuelan owned and operated steamship line which has the monopoly of navigation of the river Orinoco, and there is a unique occupation of certain interior regions near water – that of the men who tend the garzeros.

The garza is a bird of the heron family yielding the dainty white feathers known as egrets, grown and shed in the breeding season. These birds come annually to well-known open, watered areas in such numbers that the ground is white as snow when they settle, and the locality, the garzero, is defined by law and patrolled by armed watchers for the birds’ protection. The same authorised guards collect the dropped feathers at the end of the season; any man found selling the feathers without a licence is sent to gaol.

Religion and Strong Family Ties
The Venezuelan, apart from the civic centres, is a tough, open-air, individual, temperate, inclined to piety, accustomed to the lack of many comforts which are necessities in other climes. The part that women play in Venezuelan affairs, whether in a beautiful house in Caracás or a hut on a river bank, is purely domestic; the woman worker is practically unknown, and the feminist movement in Venezuela is not perceptible.

The hold of the Roman Catholic church is strong upon the women folk and they are as a rule perfectly contented with the interests of their large families. Here, as in many other parts of South America, relatives have a close call upon each other, and there is no out-of-work member of a family who cannot transfer his hammock and his wife and offspring to the house of a cousin or uncle, sure of receiving a welcome until he gets another job, when he will probably receive in like manner half a dozen relatives of his spouse.

With two chief exceptions, the centres of population of Venezuela are clustered close to the Caribbean. They are ports, with their backs to the vast national territory. Here is the asphalt port, Cristobal Colon; Guanta, shipping coal from the state-owned mines; Puerto Cabello, with its British-owned frozenmeat factory, drawing supplies from the cattle plains; Maracaibo, sending out sugar and oil, and Colombia’s coffee from the Bucaramanga region; La Guayra, doing the chief business of the country; La Vela, Cumanà, Carùpano, shipping coconut fibre and copra and pearls and the famous rum, the ron anciado sold in every cantina.

Damp and Deadly Hinterland
Behind lies a huge region, with great areas of water-threaded forest that are almost as they were in the Stone Age, where the trader seeking supplies of serrapia (tonka beans) and balata rubber takes to the river roads, in native piragua or curial (dug-out), his life in his hands. He fears the ubiquitous biting insects of the sweltering, encompassing forest as much as he fears the blow-gun and the curare poison of the wild Ventuari Indians; he risks death in the many cataracts of the Orinoco’s tributaries, or in an encounter with the caiman (alligator) that infests these banks. The headquarters of this trading is the odd river-port of Ciudad Bolivar, situate three hundred miles from the Orinoco’s mouth and fifty miles above the junction of the Caroni, that runs from the south and the legend-haunted mountains of Pacaraima; wood-built, cobble-paved, electric-lit, the town lies steeply on the river bank, a precarious, jungle-surrounded stronghold, where gambling runs high and lives are cheap.

The Ilanos, the cattle plains where the gauchos are bred, and the fine hilly country from which the rivers run, form another world. The trading centre for the stock-breeder of the plains is San Fernando de Apure, far removed from gracious, bedecked, Europeanised Carácas by more than mileage.

With a population of about seven persons to each square mile Venezuela will be for many generations a “new” country, with plenty of room to grow; so new, indeed is she, that only now are her boundaries being definitely inscribed. With Brazil and with British Guiana a definite conclusion was reached last century; but the question with Colombia has only recently been settled two commissions of Swiss experts.

Above: Cleaning orchids in a forest of tropical Venezuela. Venezuela lies wholly within the tropics, and full one half of the country is forest, penetrable only with considerable difficulty. These dense forests, much choked with undergrowth, abound in wild life, and among the exuberant tangled greenery orchids flourish abundantly. Here the orchid-lover can find numerous fantastic flowers in glowing and exquisite colours

The country is divided into three separate zones: the mountainous, the plain, and the forest region. Of these, the first is formed by an arm of the Andes range which passes through Trujillo and Tachira, and along the sea-line to the Paria peninsula; the region of the plains extends to the margin of the giant Orinoco river; and the forest area from the right bank of that river to the frontier of Brazil. In the first the climate is very variable, from cold to salubrious; in the second it is for the most part warm and healthy; and in the forests, tropical and unhealthy. The chief mountain peaks are the Sierra Nevada (16,437 feet), Naiguata and Maraguata. Volcanoes are absent, but thermal springs exist.

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This rare and very early article was first published in The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine (1869). It was written by F. P. Hassen, of the Buenos Aires post-office.

Above: Paraguay 1870 1r, 2r and 3r

That much doubt and confusion should exist in Europe as to the postal affairs of the out-of-the-way republic of Paraguay, is a matter of small surprise, when we see the discussions to which have given and give rise, the stamps of the quondam Argentine Confederation, and of some of the states forming part thereof, although this country maintains extensive commercial relations with the Old World. It shall be my aim now to enlighten my brother amateurs respecting the postal administration of Paraguay.

Paraguay, like the republic of Uruguay, originally formed part of the vice-royalty of the Plata, and, in common with its sister states, used for postal purposes a hand-stamp bearing the word FRANCA. Subsequently, on obtaining its independence, the hand-stamp here represented was adopted, and remained in use up to April, 1865.

I should premise, however, that this latter stamp did not immediately replace the “Franca” stamp, being adopted not many years ago. It did duty on all correspondence despatched from Paraguay down to the last-mentioned date, and showed that the letter on which it was printed was prepaid (like the Franca stamps of the colonial epoch). The ink used was black.

In April, 1865, war broke out between Paraguay and the Argentine Republic. The war still rages, and since then, consequently, no correspondence or mail matter whatever has been received from the post-office of the former country.

To the declaration of war ensued a blockade, strict and unbroken, of the Rio Parana, which runs through Argentine territory, and which conbtitutes the only avenue of maritime access to Paraguay.

These facts establish that no adhesives could ever have been seen on Paraguayan letters despatched by the post-office of that republic, previous to the rupture with the Argentine. Since then, no correspondence having circulated, in what manner can the authenticity of the so-called Paraguayan adhesives be proved?

The nation to which they are reputed to appertain being closed up to foreign commerce, and correspondence being interdicted, in what manner have they come to light? Have any obliterated copies been seen, not cancelled á fantaisie, but with a genuine cancelling mark? The character of the stamps catalogued in some manuals as Paraguayan may thus be judged of. But whilst we may condemn such fabrications as stamps, we must not couple the essays with them. From an authentic source I learn that during the Paraguayan envoy’s stay in France, a design for postage stamps was presented to him, but whether it was or was not employed remains a mystery, though its non-employment would appear most probable.

When a few months ago the allies occupied Assumption, the capital of the republic, among the articles forgotten in the evacuation and captured by our troops, was a die bearing the annexed design, being no doubt, the one offered to Lopez. This type is at present in the possession of the editor of a newspaper in this city, and I enclose with the present an impression from the original stamp, which I have cut out of his paper.

The fact that Paraguay, owing to its present abnormal condition, is debarred from all correspondence with other nations, added to the circumstance of the interior of the country being dotted with but few and insignificant towns, has probably prevented the employment of this type by the Paraguayan government.

To the foregoing I may add a piece of news of some importance to timbrophilists. The allies being in possession of the capital of the republic of Paraguay, as I have previously observed, are endeavouring to institute a provisional government there. This once accomplished, an emission of postage stamps will soon follow. Already the Argentine postmaster in Assumption has received instructions to turn over the post-office under his care to the authorities the Paraguayan provisional government may name, so the accomplishment of my vaticination probably will not be long delayed.

Meanwhile the postal service in that portion of Paraguay occupied by the allies (the most important section of the country) is under an Argentine chargé, the stamps used being also Argentine, obliterated by an H surrounded by lines, thus.

Touching on this subject I may state that in the army of the Argentine republic letters circulate free, bearing the imprint, in black ink, SIN CARGO (literally, “without charge”), enclosed in a transverse oval.

The Brazilian army envelopes, mentioned in catalogues, are confréres of the fictitious Paraguayan stamps. The greater part of the mail matter for and from the army in Paraguay, passes through the central post-office of this city, yet the so-called army envelopes have never been seen here, or at the allied camp.

* * * * *

The writer of the above being an employé in the Bueuos Ayres post-office, his negative testimony respecting the new Paraguayan designs is of value, as he sooner than most others would have known had any stamps been issued. He clenches the arguments as to the improbability of there having been any emission; and there can be no question of the spurious origin of the labels, which we regret having been led to support.

That our contributor has but recently become a stamp-collector, and has not had access to the standard catalogues of stamps, is evident from his giving intelligence of the Paraguayan essay, figured above, as of an entire novelty; but to the well-known facts respecting it, he is able to add some new and interesting particulars.

His account of the finding of the die in Assumption is confirmed by Dr. Magnus, who has received from a trustworthy source two proofs struck from it, which were also found by the allies at the late Paraguayan capital. To be accurate, however, we should observe that it must be a cast from the original die which has been discovered, as the latter ia certainly at Paris, in the possession of M. Hulot.

Dr. Magnus observes that the proofs he has received are on a coarse yellowish paper, quite differed from that on which are printed the proofs already known, and he conjectures that the cast whence they have been taken is a simple leaden one. He further notices that the right upper corner of the impression is flattened, as if the cast had been injured by a blow or fall. He is probably correct as to the cast being of lead, for we find on the impression before us, cut out by our correspondent from the Buenos Ayres paper, similar evidence of impression from damaged type; more especially, the outer line is broken or bent in several places, and the angles are blunted. It is very possible that more than one cast has been found, and the impressions from each one would show different defects. That they are copies of the original die is, notwithstanding, unquestionable, and as one, at any rate, of these casts has already got into the hands of a Buenos Ayres editor, we may anticipate that it will ultimately be bought up by one of the stamp speculators of that city, and be used for the fabrication of a new lot of essays. Such essays, however, can have but a mediocre interest for collectors, and we would forewarn our reader against giving extravagant prices for them.

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Through the courtesy of the Staten Island Philatelic Society we are enabled to publish the official decree, authorizing the issue of the new stamps surcharged with the portrait bust of General Morales Bermúdez. We reprint the original Spanish as furnished, and follow with our translation.

TIMBRES POSTALES.

LIMA, Octubre 23 de 1894.

Vista la exposición precedente del Director General de Correos, en la que dá cuenta: de que está agotarse, la existencia de timbres poatales en actual circulación; de que, en cumplimento de la resolucion suprema de 23 de Enero del año en curso, ha mandado habilitar más de dos millares de timbres retirados ce circulación, con un valor representativo de ciento cinenta y tres mil cuatrocientos cuarenta y nueve soles, y de que ha enviado á cada una de las officinas de la Unión Postal Universal, cinco colecciones de esa especie valorada, de conformidad con lo dispuesto en el articulo XXXIII, párrafo 2, inciso 2º del Reglamento de Orden y Detalle, sancionado por el Congreso Postal de Vienna; y

Considerando:

Que es indispensable que la Dirección de Correos disponga de la cantidad de formas de franqueo necesaria para las exigencias del consumo; y que, habiéndose cumplido las prescripciones de la Unión Postal, reapecto de las timbres resellados con el busto del General Morales Bermúdez, no hay inconveniente para emitir estos:

Autorízase á la Direción de Correos, para que ponga en circulación los timbres mencionados, sin que esta medida importe el retiro de los que están en so actualmente, los que continuarán expendiédose hasta que queden agotados.

Regístrese. – Rúbrica, de S. E. – Chacaltuna.

_

LIMA, Peru, Oct. 23, 1894.

In view of the exposition made by the Post Director General in which he announces that the supply of postal stamps now in circulation is nearly exhausted : that in compliance with the Supreme Resolution of 23d of January of the present year he has ordered the habilitation of more than 2000 (likely an error, meaning 2,000,000), with a representative value of 153,449 soles, and that he has sent to each one of the offices of the Universal Postal Union five collections of such revalued kind in accordance with the prescriptions of article 33, paragraph 2, section 2 of the Regulation of Order and Detail sanctioned by the Vienna Postal Congress, and-

Considering that it is indispensable for the Post Direction General to determine the prepaying postage necessary for the demand of consumption, and-

Considering that the requirements of the Postal Union have been complied with, regarding the surcharged stamps with the bust of General Morales Bermúdez, all obstacles for their issue are removed – It is resolved : that the Post Direction General put in circulation the above mentioned stamps, without implying by this Resolution the withdrawal of those now in use, which sale is to be continued until they are exhausted.

Be it registered -
Signature of His Excellency, CHACALTANA.

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