

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. 37 



a level country, bearing" no resemblance to the other Antilles. 

 Its mountains have not the towering majesty which distinguishes 

 those of St. Vincent, Dominica, Cuba, &c. ; they do not present 

 separate summits, cone-shaped, steep, and rugged, but form 

 three ranges running in a parallel line from E. to W., separated 

 by two large valleys or river-basins, and being clothed from their 

 base to their utmost summits with stately forests. The central 

 and southern ranges are accessible on all sides; the northern 

 range, which is abrupt on the sea side, slopes gradually towards 

 the intervening valley; it may be ascended, however, along the 

 ridges or crests which separate the water-courses. 



The mountains trending along the whole northern border of 

 the island are in a style of eminent grandeur, stretching south- 

 ward to the plain, and, in many places, along the gulf, down to 

 the sea ; whilst the forms of the hills are strikingly varied by 

 the intersections of the valleys and gullies in opposite directions. 

 The valleys in this range are few, open generally to the south, 

 and transversal. These valleys also present a great uniformity in 

 their general configuration, being contracted in the middle by 

 the convergence of the ridges, and expanding at each extremity. 

 They are level, branching off into smaller vales, and each watered 

 by a stream, from which it commonly takes its name. Such are 

 the valleys of Cuesa or Carenage, Diego- Martin, and Maraval, 

 westward of Port of Spain ; the beautiful and rich valley of 

 Santa Cruz to the eastward, as also those of Maraccas and Caura. 

 These latter are shut in, as it were, by the rise of the land at 

 their entrance. This is still more strongly exhibited at the Valley 

 of Arouca, which is blocked up for several miles by high hills, 

 the river flowing between precipitous slopes. Beyond Arouca 

 the valleys are contracted to a very small span — in fact, to mere 

 gorges. There are also, on the north coast, three or four glens, 

 viz. : — Maraccas, Las Cuevas, Chupara, and Rio Grande. The 

 Maraccas Bay Valley, as it is called, to distinguish it from the 

 Valley of Maraccas, is a small semi-circular plain, bounded on 

 almost every side by steep hills, with a stream of fine water ; the 

 valley of Las Cuevas is extensive, with a copious stream of water 

 running through it, but completely barred up at its mouth ; it 

 is the Quebrada-de-Hierro, or the Iron Ravine, of the old 

 Spanish settlers. Chupara is contracted to a mere gorge by the 

 surrounding mountains ; whilst at Rio Grande the land is undu- 



