Government troops, and committed other acts that exasperated the party of wealth and respectability which had placed him in power. In January, 1848, the Congress, which had begun impeachment proceedings against Monagas, was broken up by the mob and the Liberal Militia, an organization substituted by the President for the regular army which he had disbanded. Paez led a revolt against the dictator, but could not raise enough men to make a long fight. The hostile political leaders were executed or sent into exile, and for ten years Monagas ruled despotically and corruptly under constitutional forms, the Presidency passing in succession to members of his own family. He was overthrown in 1858 by a rebellion headed by Gen. Tovar Castro, who became President. In the struggle which ensued between the Federalists or Monaguistas, upholders of a loose confederation, and the advocates of a strong centralized union, Castro was deposed because he identified himself with the Monaguistas Gen. Paez was called from his exile in New York to take command of the army, and when Castro's successor, President Gual, feeling strong enough as leader of the Liberal party to stand alone, demanded his resignation, Paez was upheld by the Federal Council, and Gual himself was forced out. Paez was made President with dictatorial powers for the purpose of fighting the rebellion led by Gen. Juan C. Falcon. The rebellion gained ground, and in the spring of 1863, when Gen. Antonio Guzman Blanco lay before the capital with a victorious rebel army, Paez made terms, the result of which was that he retired, and was succeeded by Castro, with Guzman Blanco as Vice-President. The democratic and progressive elements were in the ascendency for the first time since the Liberal administration of Paez in 1843, and Guzman Blanco, the real political leader, had the statesmanlike gifts necessary to guide the movement and direct the intellect and energy of the nation into channels of peace and progress. A new Constitution was proclaimed on March 28, 1864, which established the rights of petition and free assembly, popular suffrage, the inviolability of the mails, and the right of imprisoned persons to speedy examination and release in case the charge fails, guaranteed free elections, and declared the autonomy of the States. In 1867 partisan quarrels brought on a civil war which lasted till December, 1871, when Blanco, as leader of the Federalists, was proclaimed Provisional President or Dictator. Blanco was elected President in 1873, and in 1877 he was re-elected, and also in 1881, after suppressing two uprisings in 1879. He was the controlling spirit behind every administration, including that of Gen. Crespo, who was chosen President in 1884. Under his direction an admirable system of compulsory public instruction was organized, a telegraph and postal system was established, and railroads were built connecting Caracas and Valencia with their seaports. An amended Constitution, adopted on April 27, 1881, consolidated the 20 States which had constituted the Republic from the beginning, into 8 States, 5 Territories, and 1 Colony. Long tenure of power rendered Blanco vain, self-willed, and arbitrary, and his extortionate greed in accumulating a vast fortune out of the public wealth made him so unpopular that he was over

thrown by a popular revolution in 1888. Dr. Pablo Rojas Paul was elected President for the term ending Feb. 20, 1890, and he was succeeded on March 7, 1890, by Dr. Raimundo Andueza Palacio for the term expiring Feb. 20, 1892.

A revised Constitution, adopted on April 16. 1891, divides the country into 9 States, 1 Federal District, 3 Territories, and 2 Colonies. The Senate is composed of 27 members, 3 from each State, who are elected for 4 years by the State Legislatures. The Chamber of Deputies numbers 57 members, 1 for every 35,000 inhabitants, elected also for 4 years by direct suffrage in the individual States. The President holds office for 2 years. He is assisted by a cabinet of 6 Ministers and by the Federal Council, consisting of 19 members who are chosen every 2 years by Congress. The Federal Council has for its Presi dent the President of the Republic, who is elected from among its members by the Council after it is constituted in the beginning of each biennial session of Congress, and is not eligible for the next succeeding term, nor can any member of the Council be appointed twice in succession. The National Legislature consists of the two Houses, one of Senators and another of Deputies. These bodies meet every year in the capital, Caracas, on the 20th of February, and their sessions last 70 days and may be prolonged for 20 more. Each house may be organized with two-thirds of its total members, and once they have commenced to hold sessions they can continue them with two-thirds of those who opened them, provided the number of members present be equal at least to one-half their full number. Both houses discharge their functions separately, having, however, the power to meet in joint session in certain cases, or when one of the two deems it necessary. The election of the Federal Council takes place in the first and third year of each term of office of the legislative body and within the first 15 days of its meeting.

Area and Population.—The area of Venezuela was 1,043,900 kilometers before the recent ratification of the Colombian frontier. The population of the different States and Territories, according to the census of 1891, is as follows:

12,785; Ciudad de Cura, 12,198; Merida, 12,018; Ciudad de Bolivar, 11,686; Guanare, 10,880; Capatarida, 3,606. The number of marriages registered in 1889 was 6.705; births, 76, 187; deaths, 55,218; surplus of births, 20,969. The number of immigrants in 1890 was 1,555. Commerce and Communications.-The following values were exported of the principal commercial products of the country in 1889-90: Coffee, 71,168,000 bolivars; cacao, 9.329,000 bolivars; gold, 9,072,000 bolivars; hides and skins, 4,728,000 bolivars; copper, 1,972,000 bolivars; live animals, 1,290,000 bolivars. The total value of the imports was 83,614,411, compared with 81,372,257 bolivars in 1889, and the value of the exports was 100,917,338, compared with 97,271,306 bolivars.

There were 430 kilometers of railroads in operation in 1891. The state telegraphs had a total length of 5,645 kilometers. The number of dispatches in 1890 was 419,724. The receipts were 326,904 bolivars, and the expenses 949,846 boliThe post-office forwarded 1,572,292 letters and cards, and 1,365,576 items of printed matter. The expenses for 1890 were 961,815 bolivars.

vars.

Finances. In the budget for 1890-91 the total receipts of the Government were set down as 35,976,000 bolivars or francs, of which 25,000,000 bolivars were the estimated receipts from customs, 162,000 bolivars represent other duties, 6,060,000 bolivars indirect taxes, and 4,916,000 bolivars rents. The expenditure was made to balance the revenue, 7,340,406 bolivars being allocated to the Interior Department, 2,004,969 bolivars to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 2,685,437 bolivars to the Department of Fomento, which includes colonization, posts and telegraphs, and the state printing-office; 3.758,158 bolivars to the Ministry of Public Instruction, 5,790,767 bolivars to the Ministry of Public Works, 4.953,226 bolivars to the Ministry of Finance, 5,445,120 bolivars to the public debt, and 3,997,917 bolivars to the army and navy. Since no budget was passed for the financial year 1891-92, the same one, under the Constitution, was applicable for that year.

The public debt on Dec. 31, 1890, amounted to 110,938,687 bolivars, of which 38,130,077 bolivars constituted the consolidated national or internal debt, 67,388,462 bolivars the foreign consolidated debt, and 5,420,148 bolivars a debt raised in Spain, France, and Germany.

The Army and Navy.-The permanent army consisted in 1891 of 11 battalions, each of 4 companies of 120 men, 2 separate companies of infantry, and 2 companies of artillery with 15 guns, and numbered altogether 5,760 men. For 1892 the effective was fixed by Congress at 5,000 men. The fleet in 1891 was composed of an iron steamer and 3 sailing vessels, and there were 4 gunboats under construction.

Constitutional Dispute.-Amendments to the Constitution adopted by Congress in June, 1891, and approved late in the year by the State Legislatures, provided that Congress should elect the President, instead of the Federal Council, prolonged the Presidential term from 2 to 4 years, restored the original 20 States, and introduced changes tending to enlarge the powers of the central executive and of Congress at the expense of State sovereignty. Under the old Constitution

it was the duty of Congress on assembling in February, 1892, to choose a Federal Council, which should immediately proceed to elect a President to succeed Dr. Andueza Palacio for the term of two years beginning Feb. 20. President Palacio and his Cabinet and supporters in Congress held that Congress should immediately declare the new Constitution in force and elect a President in accordance with its provisions. The Opposition insisted on proceeding under the old law and proclaiming the new Constitution only after the inauguration of a new Administration. They suspected that Dr. Andueza Palacio, prompted by Dr. Casañas, Minister of the Interior, and other members of the party in possession of the offices, was scheming to have himself continued in power by the election of a candidate who would be a mere stalking-horse for his schemes and was accused of attempting to secure the election of a temporary President or be made provisional President himself until a Congress elected under the new Constitution could assemble. They dubbed his party the Continuists, while they called themselves Legalists, as upholding the legal and constitutional mode of procedure. The contending factions both formed part of the great Liberal party. When the time for the assembling of Congress came, the Continuists kept away, as they had been placed in the minority by the action of the State Legislatures in electing Senators opposed to Palacio and his supposed dictatorial projects, and hence the Legalists, who met at the regular date and organized Congress, were unable to elect a Federal Council, not having the necessary two-thirds quorum in the Senate. The Senate therefore closed its doors, and did not afterward meet. The House of Deputies had enough members to proceed to business, and continued in session. The Opposition held that in such an emergency Congress should organize a Provisional Government, but the President's faction asserted that in the absence of a constitutional successor he was the rightful President in the interim. He therefore held over, though he was denounced as a usurper and all his acts were declared to be illegal by the Constitutionalists. Palacio tried to win over the less determined of his opponents, and when persuasion failed, he attempted to intimidate his enemies by arresting some of the most prominent of them. On March 8. 1892, a formal protest was signed by 46 members of Congress. who then withdrew. As soon as it appeared Palacio assumed dictatorial powers, and ordered wholesale arrests. The Rotunda or city prison of Caracas was filled with political prisoners, and all who escaped to Curaçoa or Trinidad were proscribed and prohibited from returning on pain of death. The seats of the imprisoned or exiled Legalist members were filled by Presidential decree with creatures of Palacio and Casañas, in some cases by policemen. While rebellion was breaking out in the provinces, the sympathizers with resistance in the capital appealed to the Federal Supreme Court to decide the question whether Palacio's continuance in office was legal. On March 26 the judges rendered a unanimous decision pronouncing Palacio's retention of office unconstitutional. When Palacio heard this he was so transported with anger that he ordered the judges to be imprisoned. All except those who evaded arrest were thrown into jail, and kept

there for weeks. This act and the arbitrary dissolution of Congress that followed it caused those friends of order who had stood by the President to go over in great numbers to the Opposition and greatly strengthened the cause of the revolution. Palacio offered to resign the Presidency as soon as his successor should be elected and the centralized form of government proclaimed under the new Constitution, and when Congress refused these terms he closed it with military force and ordered the arrest of the members who voted against his proposal. While Gen. Crespo was gathering, arming, and drilling an insurgent army in the South, Caracas was placed under martial law by the President. All men suspected of disloyalty were placed behind bars, and when the prisons overflowed private houses were turned into jails. Every member of the Federal Council was imprisoned. A strict censorship was kept over the press, and no news was published except such as the Government gave out. Eventually all the newspapers except the Government organ were suppressed or discontinued. Troops patrolled the city and guarded the outlets to prevent the supporters of the insurgents from getting away. Many of the merchants were imprisoned and trade came to a standstill. The President, in answer to a manifesto of the leader of the revolutionists, issued a proclamation disclaiming any personal motives or ambitious designs, and solemnly declaring that his only purpose was to safeguard the liberties of the people, preserve the independence of the States, and avert the horrors of civil war. The principal passages were as

follow :

Fellow Patriots-Complying with a solemn duty as President of the Union, as guardian of the tremendous responsibilities of the future, as leader of the grand revolution toward liberal reform, and as principal and most zealous guardian of the sovereign autonomy of the States and of the rights and privileges of the municipalities, which are the prime source of authority in any democratic government, I announce unto you the imminent danger which menaces the popular cause and the most noble of the aspirations of the Republic, viz., the reform of the Constitution sanctioned by the last Congress and by the Legislatures of the States in past sessions and their declared opinion in favor of its immediate consideration and adoption. My period of constitutional command is now nearing its end. In sight there is the road to happiness, but in a dark corner I see a shadow that threatens to dispel this happiness, and it belongs to me as helmsman of the ship of state to call the necessary forces of the nation to its rescue.

The most terrible catastrophe that can happen to the liberal cause is being quietly prepared, and with it the federation, with all its great conquests and hopes, must perish. Why? Because a group of men in the body of the National Congress-some because of personal ambition, others for hatred to the great Liberal party-are prompting the immoral combination, which will cover the Republic with blood, with ruin, and with desolation-a sinister group, a most hybrid offspring of the most vicious ambition and of the most unpatriotic of all schemes. The former Congress has already voted upon the reform Constitution, approving it without a single protest or saving vote. The very same people are to-day conspiring for a fresh postponement of its consideration and are conjuring up a farce more in accordance with popular aspirations. It was submitted to the Legislatures of the States, eight of which approved it unanimously, without any alteration whatsoever,

and seven have asked for its immediate enforcement. It is a universal rule of right that the commander has to submit suggestions for instructions to those ciple of the most pure and radical liberalism that who give commands, and it is an undeniable printhe follower is at all times authorized to revoke the powers which he has conferred upon his leader. Congress, then, has in the present case a limited sovereignty by an express and authoritative vote of the States, the municipalities and the people, who reserve unto themselves, as accorded by constitutional mandates, their immediate sovereignty over themselves. From the moment that high body exceeds its powers or debases the nature of this mandate, it exercises an authority usurped from the people and consequently is null and without effect. The constitutional point cannot be clearer, more simple, and more evident in favor of the people, and the Representatives and Senators cannot legally separate themselves from a liberal criticism. am and will be principal guardian of the ConstituFrom the eminence of the supreme magistracy, I tion and the law, of your guaranties, and of your rights. I am and will be the watchful sentinel of peace and ever the patient champion for public liberty. And never shall I permit the Liberal flag, that symbol of glorious conquests, of civilization, and of progress, to be trampled upon, conquered, and humiliated. The ignominious epoch of autocracy has passed forever. I do not aspire to establish a personal government, which I in my strict republican convictions abhor, and I swear that I do not accept nor will I accept, even though force be used toward me, a new constitutional period of power. This would be a stain on the country and an indelible stain upon the liberal cause.

I simply aspire to revindicate the autonomy of the twenty States of the ancient and glorious federation and to give back unto the people a suffrage at once universal, direct, and secret for the election of its magistrates.

The revolts that were begun in various States were fostered and aided greatly from the begin. ning by the ex-President, Dr. Rojas Paul, whom Palacio has exiled on account of his influence and popularity. His agents and other exiles in the West Indies procured arms and ammunition, which were smuggled in to the troops that Crespo and his lieutenants were drilling.

The Cabinet resigned after Palacio's assumption of the dictatorship, and a new one was appointed on March 28, which was composed as follows: Minister of the Interior, Dr. Benito Guillerte Andueza; Minister of Foreign Relations, Dr. Manuel Clemente Urbaneza; Minister of War, Gen. Julio F. Barrio; Minister of Agriculture, Manuel Antonio Mattas; Minister of the Treasury, Dr. José Angel Ruiz; Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Gen. Dominio A. Carvajol; Minister of Public Instruction, Dr. Manuel Palacios Rengifo; Minister of Public Works, Carlos José Monagas.

Civil War.-Ex-President Joaquin Crespo, who had retired from active political life, and was managing his extensive coffee plantations in Zamora, offered his services to the exiled Senators and Deputies in Curaçoa and Trinidad, and they formed a Junta and nominated him commanderin-chief of the Constitutionalist or Congressional forces. The people of his province who had taken part in the rebellion of 1888 had hidden in mountain caves about 800 rifles, which Crespo had afterward refused to deliver up to Rojas Paul. These weapons served to arm the nucleus of the insurgent army which he now set about raising

for the overthrow of Palacio. By the middle of March he had 1,500 men organized in the Apure country, whence he pushed northward after the imprisonment of the Federal judges, fighting unimportant skirmishes with the various Government garrisons in Zamora,

Meanwhile Gen. Eliseo Aranja began collecting a body of revolutionists in the State of Los Andes. Crespo, an experienced fighter, crossing into Miranda, marched on toward Caracas, engaging the scattered forces of the Government. His force was not strong enough or well enough equipped for a descent on the capital, and the other bodies that were recruited in distant parts of the country were unable to cooperate in such a maneuver. Arms and equip. ments were wanting for all the revolutionary forces, but arrangements were made for introducing them from the West India Islands and from New York and Hamburg. Crespo therefore adopted waiting tactics, and began a series of maneuvers intended to draw the Government troops out upon the plains, where his cavalry, hardy llaneros mounted on strong mustangs and expert with the lance, could deliver their impetuous attacks. The Government forces were much better provided with arms in the beginning of the struggle, but an extravagant administration had left the Treasury empty, the Government being necessitated to obtain an advance of 3,000,000 bolivars from the Bank of Venezuela at the start, and after a while even the wretched pay of 20 cents a day which was decreed for the common soldier was held back and cut down, while, when food rose to famine prices in the cities held by the Presidential forces, rations were reduced to less than was necessary to sustain the strength and preserve the contentment and loyalty of the soldiers. Palacio's generals pushed out in strong columns, for it was necessary for them to strike quickly and also to occupy the principal towns in force. Crespo's bands did not attempt to stand before them, but disappeared after firing away their scanty supply of ammunition from behind stones and trees, inflicting usually much heavier losses than they received. These skirmishes were chronicled in the Government reports as important victories, and the revolutionary army was stated in the reports sent abroad to have been dispersed and Crespo and his generals to be fugitives, at the time when they were gaining recruits faster than they could arm them and after they had begun to gain battles and were joined by whole battalions of Government soldiers who deserted with their arms, and were drawing their lines constantly closer to Caracas. Dr. Sebastian Casañas, a politician of force and ability, but inexperienced in military affairs, was made commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force that was sent out against Crespo when hostilities began. He made his headquar ters at La Victoria, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, half-way between Caracas and Valencia. A large number of rifles and cartridges were seized by workmen on the railroad near La Victoria, who cut down the escort of 60 soldiers, and went off to the rebels with the six car-loads of munitions. Arms and ammunition were smuggled out of Caracas to the insurgents who swarmed in the neighboring mountains. There was no difficulty in landing arms at Guanta, the port of Barce

lona or other places on the coast or on the Orinoco or Apure rivers, especially after the capture of a Government war vessel had given them the naval command of the Orinoco. A war steamer was captured carrying military supplies by a party of young revolutionists who surprised the captain and crew on Lake Maracaibo. In the evening of March 24, a dynamite bomb was exploded with terrifying force in the garden of the Casa Amarilia, the President's official mansion in Caracas. It caused all the military and police to rush to the defense of the President, and thus accomplished its object, which was to enable numerous revolutionists who understood the signal to pass through the unguarded streets and make their escape to the mountains.

The first regular engagement was fought near El Totumo, only 3 days' march from Caracas. The insurgents were successful at first, driving back the force which had been sent to occupy Gen. Crespo's cattle ranch at El Totumo, but reenforcements came up, and with 7,500 men, outnumbering the enemy three to one, the Presidential troops made a stand on a hill, which the Crespists tried to storm three times, losing 300 killed, and then retreated, being pursued in their turn, in the direction of Crespo's base in eastern Zamora. Skirmishes took place almost daily for the next two months, but the revolutionists did not again rashly join battle with the troops that Palacio hurried into the field. The next encounter of any importance took place at Ortiz, where Gen. Rodriguez attempted to intercept a force that was marching from the Orinoco to join Crespo. Here the Government troops were com pelled to fall back, leaving the town of Ortiz, in the State of Guarico, in the insurgents' hands, and on the heels of this victory for the rebels came the seizure of the National gunboat "Nueve de Julio," which was stationed at Esmerelda on the Orinoco river. Two transports loaded with arms for the Government were captured subsequently. On April 1, three dynamite bombs were exploded in the Plaza Bolivar in front of the Casa Amarilla, and in the midst of the confusion that followed the prisons were broken open by the revolutionists, who released the political prisoners. A large part of a regiment quartered in the Caracas barracks deserted at this time to the enemy, with its commander, Gen. Pulgar.

On April 6 the Governor of Zamora issued a proclamation denouncing Palacio as a tyrant and usurper, and calling for volunteers to expel the dictator from Venezuela. On the same day 600 infantry and 5 troops of cavalry left to form a junction with a body of insurgents from the State of Lara, who were advancing to join Gen. Crespo, who then had his headquarters in the State of Carabobo. Gen. Polanco marched out from Valencia to intercept them, and on the morning of April 7 he overtook the rebels, who had combined under Gen. Manzano, and numbered 5,000. A fierce battle ensued, in which both sides lost heavily, and the Government troops, who were greatly inferior in numbers, but were better armed and trained, forced the rebels to abandon the town of Araure and fall back toward Acaragua, which Manzano had taken possession of a day or two before. In the night, re-enforced by 500 cavalry, the rebels made a

stand, and when Gen. Polanco attacked them at noon of the 8th with only half his force of the previous day, Manzano cut through the Government ranks, retook Araure, was joined by more cavalry coming from Miranda at Tinaquilla, camped near Valencia, where he received arms and money from sympathizers in the city, and then passed eastward to join Crespo.

On April 14 a large Government force attempted to dislodge Gen. Mora, who was intrenched beyond Polito for the purpose of covering the landing of arms on the coast. After two furious but unsuccessful assaults, Palacio's troops fled in disorder in every direction, and were pursued by the insurgents. Many fell on both sides, but the loss of the Government was the heavier, the official report making it onethird of the force. A considerable proportion of the troops went over to the enemy. On April 18 one of Palacio's most efficient commanders, Gen. Juan Quevedo, was assassinated by the villagers of Los Teques, who hated him for his cruelties. When Gen. Crespo effected a junction with Gen. Mora on the shores of Lake Valencia, he not only threatened La Victoria, which was the key to Caracas, but cut off Gen. Casañas and Gen. Alejandro Ybarra, with 4,000 men, at Calabozo, Valencia, and Puerto Cabello, from the main body of Palacio's army. A son of Gen. Crespo was taken prisoner, and it was reported that Palacio threatened him with death if his father advanced to within a league of Caracas.

A battle was fought at Tompit de Colon. The Government troops, though they repulsed the Federalists, lost 350 killed to 110 on the other side. Gen. Pedro Aranjo, an experienced cavalry officer, who collected a large force from the shores of Lake Maracaibo, attacked Gen. Cipriano Castro at that point on March 29. The battle was suspended after 4 hours of severe fighting, but Aranjo by a diversion held Castro's attention while a detachment intercepted a large quantity of ammunition intended for Castro, after which he retired, joined forces with Gen. Baptista, and defeated Gen. Diego B. Ferrer at Canitos. A commission was sent into Los Andes by Palacio to treat for peace, without being able to effect an arrangement. The President of the State of Los Andes issued a stirring appeal calling on the citizens to rise and expel the troops of the usuper. The Government forces, amounting to 1,500 men, were victorious at Merida and in other engagements, but Gen. Castro was compelled to divide his army to operate against various points, and in the constant fighting his excellent troops melted away. Aranjo cut them off from receiving re-enforcements from Barquisimeto. On April 16 Gen. Castro gained a technical victory at Cuchicuchi, where he attempted to intercept a body of 500 men who were marching to join the insurgent Gen. Cordona. The latter occupied Cuchicuchi first, and repulsed the veteran battalion, which made a stand on the mountain slope until the rebels were out of ammunition, when on the arrival of re-enforcements they drove the insurgents back, and occupied the town. There were 200 killed of the insurgents and 235 on the Government side. The Government force was so reduced that it could do no more than hold the city of Merida, and Gen. Leon Farias was in the same condition at Maracaibo.

Dr. Casañas advanced imprudently to Calabozo in the beginning of the campaign, leaving his rearguard in an unprotected condition. His aim was to get at Crespo and crush his force before it could be trained and armed. In this he was prevented by Gen. Guerra and Gen. E. Rodriguez, who harried his column while Crespo was receiv ing arms and re-enforcements. He was at length shut in at Calabozo, and in a number of encounters, in which his forces were cut down, he attempted a desperate battle with Crespo's army on the plains, in which his division was used up, after which he escaped, badly wounded, to Caracas, with only 374 men left. His defeat was the turning-point in the war. Fresh dynamite explosions in Caracas on April 30, one alongside of the Federal Palace and one in the military barracks, added to the dictator's alarm, but he was compelled to denude the capital of troops to succor the forces that were in a precarious position in the field. A new army was sent out under Gen. Domingo Monagas and Gen. Francisco Esteban Rangel. The forces of Marcos Rodriguez, Francisco Batalla, Guillermo Esteves, and Eleazar Urdaneta were mostly recruited in the country, and were often successful in coping in guerrilla fashion with the partisans of Crespo, who was not provided with the means of keeping large bodies of men in the field, and after reverses or inaction saw his forces dwindle as well as those of the Government under like conditions. Want of arms and ammunition prevented him from striking a decisive blow, and after pushing for ward his line to San Sebastian, where he expected to be joined in the investment of La Victoria by Guerra, who had been harassing Casañas at Calabozo, he was compelled to retreat before the wellequipped troops, greatly superior in numbers, that were advancing. His force was well armed, and consisted at that time of 3,000 infantry and 1,200 horse. The towns that were captured could not be held. The Government were occupying Maracaibo, Trujillo, Merida, Barquisimeto, and Bolivar, as well as Valencia and the seaports of La Guayra and Puerto Cabello in the beginning of May, but the coast and rivers and the mountains were in the hands of the revolutionists, and arms were then coming in for them from abroad. In Curaçoa, with the financial support of Rojas Paul, Gen. Leon Colina raised a force of Venezuelan refugees and sailed for the Venezuelan coast with arms and ammunition sufficient to equip a considerable army that had been raised and was ready to march under his command as soon as he should appear in the Coro district. On May 11 a bomb was exploded in Caracas in front of the residence of Señor Mattos, a relative of Guzman Blanco and president of the Bank of Venezuela, who had assumed the Ministry of Finance. In a fight near Los Teques a Government battalion, commanded by an American, repulsed 350 of Crespo's lancers after a sharp fight, killing one-third of them. Crespo retired to Calabozo, where he concentrated several bodies of troops under revolutionary leaders and received arms enough to supply an army of about 11,000 men. Valencia was closely invested by Gen. Mora, and after a series of skirmishes and sorties, Gen. Ybarra's army was totally defeated. In Los Andes the Legalists were not so successful. Mocoti Gen. Ferrer was defeated and badly

At