which
had overtaken the beautiful valley of the Tuy. This valley lies to the
south of the city of Caracas, at an elevation of twelve or fifteen
hundred feet above the sea, and is noted for being one of the most
fertile of the many rich agricultural districts in which Venezuela
abounds. The river Tuy, two hundred miles in length and navigable for
about forty miles, flows through the centre, fertilizing the soil and
causing it to become the granary of the capital, its abundant crops
usually sufficing, in fact, for the consumption of the whole province.
Indeed, were there more public highways its surplus products might find
their way to still more distant portions of the republic. The whole
valley is studded with towns, villages and plantations: of the former,
the principal are Ocumare, Charallave, Santa Teresa, Santa Lucia and
Cua.

The city of Cua was beyond comparison the richest and most flourishing
of all, being situated at the head of the valley, where it opens toward
the vast _Llanos_ or plains, and being also the emporium of many
extensive districts producing the staples of the country, such as
coffee, cocoa, sugar and indigo. There too had been transported enormous
timber from the still virgin forests--timber of the most valuable kind,
whether for ornament, for building or for dyeing purposes. Nor was the
city more remarkable for its advantageous situation and the importance
of its commerce than for the refinement of its society. Unlike the
generality of inland towns in South America, where the constitution of
society is apt to be rather heterogeneous, Cua was the residence of many
of the principal families of the country--gentlemen at the head of
wealthy commercial establishments, or opulent planters owning large
estates in the neighborhood, but making the city their permanent abode.
Hence the society was far beyond what might have been imagined as
regards position and general cultivation. Cua, like all Spanish American
towns, was laid out at right angles, while many of the houses rivalled
the handsomest in Caracas, and were furnished with equal splendor.

Such was the state of things in this smiling valley when, at the same
moment precisely at which we in Caracas felt the shock of the
earthquake, all the above-mentioned towns--Ocumare, Santa Lucia,
Charallave, etc.--were shaken to their foundations. The latter
especially suffered greatly, for not a house was left uninjured or safe
to inhabit, although the occ