l894-J CRONISE — PITCH LAKE OF TRINIDAD. 279 



Washington. The island is separated from South America by the Gulf 

 of Paria ; and LaBrea, the point at which we land to reach the Pitch 

 Lake, is on the west side of the island opposite the easterly coast of 

 Venezuela. Much of the island is wooded and mountainous, the 

 highest of the peaks rising to a height of about three thousantl feet. 



The Lake. 



From LaBrea a walk of a mile over a made asphalt road through 

 jungle and forest leads up to the lake, which is a hundred and thirty- 

 eight feet above the sea-level, the land sloping up to it from three 

 sides. The lake is of somewhat irregular shape, approximately 

 round, and has an area of 109 acres as determined by the government 

 survey. The surface of the lake is a number of feet higher than the 

 level of the ground immediately about it, having been lifted by the 

 pressure from below. [See phi te ij.) 



The material of the lake is solid to a depth of several feet, except 

 in a few spots near the centre where it remains in a soft condition, 

 but usually n(;t hc^t or boiling as often described. Consul Pierce 

 states that in the hottest part of the day he has seen a man walk into 

 this softest part without harm, that it only came to the calves of his 

 legs, and that it was pliable as soft putty but did not stick. Also 

 that in the cool of the morning he has seen a man walk over the 

 softest spot without sinking deeper than his foot. As this part is not 

 always the same it is possible that at times it may have been, as it 

 has been described, a cauldron of boiling pitch. 



Although approximately level, being a few inches highest in the 

 centre, the surface of the lake is far from smooth, being marked by 

 many fissures two or three feet in width and slightly depressed spots, 

 all of which are filled with rain water. In going about one has to 

 pick his way among the larger puddles and jump many of tiie small 

 connecting streams. Each of the hundreds of irregular portions 

 separated by this network of fissures is claimed to have a slow 

 revolving motion upon a horizontal axis at right angles to a line from 

 the centre of the lake, the motion of the surface being from the 

 centre toward the circumference. Such a motion would account for 

 the roots, leaves and bits of wood of comparatively recent vegetation 

 which are constantly being brought to the surface. The motion is 

 claimed to be caused by the great daily change in temperature, often 

 from bo"" at night to 140° in the day, or 80° change, and an unequal 

 upward motion of the mass below, increasing toward the centre of the 

 lake. 



