NO. 1 GEOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT AND STATION RECORDS 21 



long and 27 miles wide at its midpoint, with daggerlike peninsulas ex- 

 tending from its northwest and southwest corners in the direction of the 

 South American mainland. These, together with the east coast of Vene- 

 zuela, enclose the Gulf of Paria, a shallow body of water affording safe 

 anchorage in 12-20 fathoms throughout its length and breadth. A moun- 

 tain chain, culminating in El Cerro de Aripo, elevation 3,085 feet, and 

 El Tucuch, elevation 3,072 feet, extends along the north side of the 

 island and represents a continuation of the range forming the north coast 

 of Venezuela, the islands of Chacachacare, Huevos, and Monos standing 

 as steppingstones between. South of this mountain chain, which sends 

 lateral spurs as far south as a line drawn due east of Port of Spain, the 

 island is low and in places swampy with the exception of isolated Mt. 

 Tamana, rising to 1,009 feet in the central eastern portion, and the 

 Trinity hills, attaining 997 feet along the southeastern coast. The only 

 prominence of any size visible from the Gulf of Paria south of Port of 

 Spain is a 582-foot hill marking the village of San Fernando, on the road 

 to the Pitch Lake. 



The island of Trinidad has a population of 484,900 inhabitants of 

 many races: Venezuelan, Negro, East Indian, and, of course, British. 

 Agriculture and petroleum products are the sustaining industries. Cacao 

 has recently outstripped sugar cane as the principal crop, one sixth of the 

 island area being devoted to its culture. Sugar cane and coconuts are 

 important secondary crops. The Pitch Lake in the southwestern portion 

 of the island is the world's greatest source of asphalt, the oil fields which 

 feed it being in 1928 the largest, single producing unit in the British 

 Empire with a production of 7,600,000 barrels. Oil and asphalt are loaded 

 at wharves with pipe lines extending ^ mile into the Gulf of Paria at 

 San Fernando Anchorage. 



Port of Spain 



Port of Spain, the principal city of Trinidad, is located in the north- 

 west portion of the island, fronting on the Gulf of Paria south of the St. 

 Anne Mountains and west of a lateral spur known as the La Ventille 

 hills. It is a modern city of 75,000, the terminus of a railroad from Arima 

 and San Fernando, and shows British influence in its planning, its archi- 

 tecture, and its institutions. The Government House, Royal College, 

 Queen's Park Botanical Garden, and Queen's Park Hotel front on 

 Queen's Park Savannah, an extensive recreational area north of the busi- 

 ness portion of the city. The colonial hospital, many churches, and an 

 institute for the blind are evidences of social and charitable activity. .,■ 



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