La Guaira is more a bay than a harbor; the sea is always rough, and boats are exposed to dangerous winds, sandbanks and mist. Disembarking is very difficult as large waves prevent mules from being taken ashore. The negroes and freed mulattos who carry the goods on to the boats are exceptionally muscular. They wade into the water up to their waists and, surprisingly, are not scared of the sharks that teem in the harbor. The sharks are dangerous and bloodthirsty at the island opposite the coast of Caracas, although they do not attack anybody swimming in the harbor. To explain physical phenomena simply people have always resorted to marvels, insisting that here a bishop had blessed the sharks in the port.