TRINIDAD, ono of the British West India islands, is situated on the north-east coast of Colombia, from which it is separated by the Gulf of Perla, and extends between 10° 5' and 50' N. lat., 61' and 62° W. long. The Serpent's Mouth, a paaaage 7 miles wide, separates it from the delta of the Orinoco at the southern extremity of the gulf; at the northern extremity it is separated from the peninsula of Paris by the Dragon's Mouth. a peonage 13 miles wide, divided into four straits by three small islands. The whole length of the gulf, which agents good anchorage throughout, is 100 miles, with an average breadth of 40 miles. The island. which is of an oblong form, with a projection at each of the eagles except the south-east, is 50 mike to from north to south, and 30 miles broad at the centre, where it is slightly compressed. Its area is 2000 square miles, or 1,250,000 acre., of which almost 43,000 acres are waste, and 200,000 acres are private property. About 60,000 acres are under cultivation. The population In 1534 was 43,678 ; in 1845 it was 59,815; in 1851 it we. 68,600, of whom 727 were natives of Great Britain and Ireland. Tires ranges of hills, corresponding to those on the adjacent coast of Ycnezuels, cross the island from west to east ; the highest runs close to the northern coast, over A breadth of about 10 miles, and is broken in many places into deep valleys and rugged peaks, with an extreme elevation of 3000 feet. The second range occupies the centre of the island in a series of flat or round-topped hills from 600 to 1000 feet in height, and a range of nearly the same elevation extends along the southern coast. these ranges the surface of the island is divided into two extensive valleys, which unite on the western coast in a low sandy plain, Interspersed with oocaeional swamps. In other parts they are diversified by level and undulating tracts, and in some places, ly towards the south, are considerably broken. The northern) =I ro is watered by two navigable rivers, one of which, the Caroni, flows westward into the gulf of Pada, receiving several tributaries from the hills to the north. The Oropuche, which flows eastward to the Atlantic, rises not far from the CaronL In the same valley, the Lebranche falls into the Atlantic to the south of the Oropuche, and the southern valley is drained towards the same coast by the Native and the Ortoire, which collects numerous tributaries from the centre of the island. A number of small streams fall into the Gulf of Pada.
A great part of the island is alluvial and seems to have been formed by the mud of the Orinoco, opposite to which the coast is receiving constant accessions. The mountains, like those on the mainland, consist chiefly of the clay-elate and mica-elate formations. Among the minerals found in the island are milky quartz, pyrites, arsenic, alum, sulphate of copper, plumbago, and sulphur. The most abund ant ie asphaltum, which in Lake Brea, or Pitch Lake, in a volcanic district ou the west coast, occupies an area of 160 acres in extent, and of unknown depth. At the inner edge it is cold and firm and rent into shallow chasms from 3 to 30 feet wide ; nearer the sea it is heated and liquid, continuing in a state of slow ebullition with strong exhalations of bitumen and sulphur. It requires too much oil to be profitably applied to the ordinary uses of pitch or tar, but has been employed with advantage in the formation of roads. Volcanic traces appear in various parts of the island. Bitumen is thrown up by the sea at a spot on the south side of Point Brea, and there is an active mud volcano at the extremity of the southern promontory.
The climate is hot, but is free from the destructive droughts which visit the other islands. At Port of Spain, the capital, the tempera ture ranges from 74' to 86' in the hottest months, and from 70° to 81' in the coldest The nights are generally cool and pleasant, and in some parts of the interior the temperature is mild and the air elastic all the year round. The dry season extends from December to May. The heat increases till June. In Juno and July showers are frequent, and in the three following months the rains are heavy and attended by violent storms. The fail of rain is about 65 inches during the year. Slight shocks of earthquakes are occasionally felt, but the island is beyond the range of hurricanes. Fevers end dysentery are fretrently fatal, especially among the white population.