TRINIDAD, an island on the east coast of South America, within ten or eleven miles of the conti nent. It is of an irregular square form, about thirty leagues long, and from two to ten leagues broad.
It is the largest and finest of the Leeward Isl ands, abounding with the noblest forests, and pos sessing a soil fitted for the growth of every arti cle of West India produce. The northern part of the island is covered with a ridge of mountains which end with point Galera, and seem to have been a continuation of the Parian Mountains on the continent. They consist of gneiss, and mica slate, with great masses of quartz, and of compact bluish grey limestone. For many leagues to the south, there is little else than a thick fertile argillaceous soil, without a stone or a single pebble. The purest streams issue from both sides of these mountains, and form on the south the river Caroni; which is navigable by canoes and floats for some distance into the interior. The ridge of the Montserrat hills begin at L'Ebranche on the east side, and stretch in a south westerly direction.
The forests contain the finest wood for ship building and ornamental purposes; among which are the red cedar, and a great variety or palms. The articles of West India produce which are ex tensively cultivated are, sugar, cocoa, indigo, cof fee, tobacco, cinnamon, and cloves. There are ex tensive savannahs on the island, on which quanti ties of cattle, horses, and mules are fed in common. Game abounds in the woods, particularly deer, the lap, the cuenca, a species of wild hog of exquisite flavour, and a variety of other kinds. Among the birds are the wild turkey, the raimier, and the par rot. The coasts abound in various kinds of fish. The mangrove oyster, which breeds on the branches of the trees of this name, are very abundant. Lob sters, crabs, shrimps, and prawns are plentiful.
The climate is considered to be as healthy as in any part of the New World. The winter or rainy season begins in June, and terminates in October. The fine season begins in November, when the cold north-east winds from North America give fresh ness to the air. Among the healthiest and mildest parts of the island are the vallies of Sta Anna, Maraval, Diego, Martin, Aricagua, and the heights of St Joseph to the north-west, and the vallies on the north coast. In spring, the thermometer stands
in the day at 80° of Fahrenheit. During the night it descends to and sometimes to 50° in places of moderate elevation.
Among the objects of particular interest in this island, are the pitch or tar lake of Brea, and the Mud volcanoes.
The pitch lake or plane is situated on the leeward side of the island, on a point of land extending about two miles into the sea, and opposite to the Parian Mountains on the continent. The headland is about fifty feet above the sea, and is the highest point on this side of the island. When seen from the sea it resembles a dark scoriaceous mass, but when more closely examined, it is found to consist of bituminous scoriae, vitrified sand, and earth, all cemented together. In some places only beds of cinders are found; a strong sulphureous smell is felt on approaching this cape, and it prevails in many parts of the ground to the distance of eight or ten miles from it. The bituminous plain occupies the highest part of the point of land which shelves into the sea, and the plain is separated from the sea by a margin of wood which surrounds it. At. first it resembles a lake of water, and in hot and dry wea ther it is actually liquid to the depth of about an inch. It is of a circular form, and about three miles in circuit, bounded on the north and west by the sea, on the south by a rocky eminence of porce lain jasper, and on the east by the usual argillaceous soil of the country. Its more common consistence and appearance are those of pit coal, but of a grey ish colour. Dr Anderson regards it as the bitu men asphaltum of Linnaeus. It is ductile by a gen tle heat, and when mixed with grease or common pitch, it is much used for the bottoms of ships, and is regarded as a preservative against the Teredo navalis, which is so destructive to ships on all the coast of Guaiana. The Spanish government found out its value, and intended to have made use of it in their naval yards.