334 Murphy, Birds of Trinidad Islet. [j\)jy 



samples from Trinidad, " as well as many of the geological features 

 of the island, such as the remarkable peaks of phonolite associated 

 with basaltic lavas, suggest analogies between Trinidad and the 

 Island of Fernando Noronha, off the coast of Brazil, a thousand 

 miles to the north, so that it appears possible that the two islands 

 owe their origin to a very similar, if not contemporaneous, volcanic 

 outbreak." Over all the island the brittle, standing rock has 

 assumed grotesque forms through extreme weathering. In the 

 words of Mr. Knight, Trinidad " is rotten throughout, its substance 

 has been disintegrated by volcanic fires and by the action of water, 

 so that it is everywhere tumbling to pieces." Tremendous physio- 

 graphic changes are brought about by the collapsing of outworn 

 mountain sides. One of these changes is vividly described by 

 Knight in the 'Cruise of the Alette.' The author, with a compan- 

 ion, was vainly searching for a ravine through which he had de- 

 scended to the northeastern coast of Trinidad nine years before. 

 Eventually he found the way, which, however, was no longer a 

 ravine. "The mountain on which we stood," he w T rites, "had 

 fallen away, leaving a precipitous step some fifty or sixty feet in 

 height, and from this step there sloped down to a depth, I should 

 say, of quite 1,500 feet a great landslip of broken rocks, the debris 

 of the fallen mountain. This landslip appeared to have taken 

 place not long since. It was composed of rocks of all sizes and 

 shapes, almost coal black, piled one on the other at so steep an 

 angle that it was extraordinary how the mass held together and 

 did not topple over. It was indeed in places more like an artificial 

 wall of rough stones on a gigantic scale than a landslip." 



Rainfall is rather plentiful at Trinidad, but the porous soil sucks 

 up much of the water of the springs before it can flow to the sea, 

 and recurring drought is one of the chief objections to human 

 colonization. Another serious handicap is the island's boisterous 

 shore, for the waves render landing almost continuously impossible 

 during the winter months of June, July, and August, as well as 

 during a large proportion of the remainder of the year. Southwest 

 winds raise the heaviest seas, but the effects of far away pamperos 

 are frequently manifested by huge breakers even when the weather 

 is locally serene. During northerly winds there is a good lee, and 

 relatively quiet water, along the southwestern coast. The wind- 



