TOBAGO, one of the Carribee Islands in the West Indies, belonging to Great Britain. It is about 25 miles long, and its greatest breadth is 12 miles. It was discovered by Columbus in 1498. About 1632 it was colonized by the Dutch, under the name of New Walcheren. The NAV. extremi ty of the island is mountainous, but though its sur face is unequal, yet no part of it is rugged or im passible. The soil is rich, and the island abounds with springs. It possesses numerous bays and creeks, many of which afford anchorage for ves sels of 150 tons, while Halifax bay admits ships of 250 tons. The climate is more temperate than its proximity to the equator would lead us to expect, and it lies out of the line of the hurricanes that desolate the West Indies.
Tobago possesses almost all the plants that grow in the Antilles, and also those that are peculiar to Spanish Guinea. The most important of these are Indian corn, Guinea corn, peas, beans, figs, pine apples, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, limes, plantains, bananas, grapes, guavas, tamarinds, prickly pears, papas. The cocoa tree grows in
great perfection. The animals in the island are wild hogs, peccaros resembling swine, armadillos, guanoes, badgers, and Indian rabbits. Horses, cows, deer, asses, sheep, and goats, have multiplied greatly, and were probably introduced by the first settlers. Among the birds which frequent the coast, are herons, the pouched pelican, eagles of the Orinoco, and flamingoes. Among the indi genous birds are three varieties of humming birds, blackbirds yellow and black, white woodcocks, and a bird of the size of the sparrow, having its head and neck of the most beautiful red, the feathers of its wings and tails of a fine purple above, while un derneath they are of a sky-blue color like its belly. In 1810, the exports of this island amounted to /70,787, and its imports to about /200,000. West Lon. 60° 30'. N. Lon. 16'.