BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 89 
vast forest cropping out of the shore of the Gulf of Paria, about five 
miles to the southward and westward of the mouth of the Irois River. 
* One of my earliest objects after my arrival here was to procure 
reliable information on this material point, of the accessibility of the 
great Mora forests, from the western or protected shores of this Island, 
because, speaking as a professional man, I know the almost insuperable 
difficulty of carrying on an extensive timber traffic from the eastern 
shores of Trinidad, without safe anchorage along its whole length, ex- 
posed to strong trade-winds and a considerable sea for at least nine 
months of the year, and to very uncertain weather for the remainder. 
* Having learnt that the Mora forest abutted, or nearly so, on the 
Gulf shores of the Island, where the water is always as smooth as in a 
river, I sent Mr. Purdie, the Superintendent of the Botanical Garden, 
to the point which I desired most to examine. 
“It will be seen by the accompanying memorandum, that he has 
ascertained that the forest comes close up to the sea-beach, near the 
mouth of the River Irois."' 
Mr. Purdie's Report to the Governor. 
“ [n pursuance of your Excellency’s instructions to ascertain and re- 
port on the extent and facility of access to the vast forests of Mora (Mora 
excelsa) known to exist in this Island, extending from Cedros to the 
valley of the Ortoise, and comprising an uninterrupted belt of forest of 
this valuable timber of more than sixty miles long, I have the honour 
io report that the banks of the Oropouche River, debouching on the 
east coast, are also covered with dense and extensive forests of Mora, 
but they are only acessible a little to the northward of Manzanilla 
Point, where this river finds its way into the sea. . Little, however, is 
known of this river, and anchorage off its mouth, on the eastern or 
exposed shores of the Island, cannot be depended upon. 
“ I have for a long time known of the existence of immense forests — 
of Mora in this Island, having traversed them in various places in the 
most remote and least frequented parts of the country, and I had the - 
honour to direct the attention of our late respected Governor, Lord : 
Harris, to the existence of this vast source of wealth; but the great 
obstacle has always been the difficulty, or supposed difficulty, of ap- 
proaching the eastern or southern coasts of this Island at all seasons of 
the year; consequently, the discovery of easy access to these forests 
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