GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. 41 



W. ; from Point La Brea to Point Icacos it runs W. J S. for 

 nearly twenty-four miles. Besides Point Mono and Current 

 Point already mentioned, we meet, westward of Port of Spain, 

 with Punta Gorda, or Big Point, formed of compact limestone, 

 and which divides the port of Chaguaramas from that of Carenage. 

 Southward of Port-of- Spain are the following points or land- 

 marks : — Large Point, Chaguanas, Cascajal, Cangrejos, and 

 Savanetta — all very flat and muddy ; Lisas and Pointe-a-Pierres, 

 or Stony Point ; south of San Fernando, Sandy Point, very low ; 

 Cape La Brea, which succeeds, is formed of hardened pitch, or 

 bitumen. Between La Brea and Icacos we meet with the follow- 

 ing points: — Guapo or Fortin, Ligoure, Pointe Noire or Grande- 

 ville, Pointe Rouge, Cedros, and Los Gallos, or The Cocks. 

 Icacos, the south-western angle of Trinidad, is a low, sandy 

 peninsula, intersected by several lagoons. 



The northern, southern, and eastern coasts are nearly destitute 

 of harbours. " Between the Bocas and Chupara/'' says Captain 

 Columbine, " there are some large bays, but so much swell sets 

 into them, and the wind is so uncertain and light, close in shore, 

 that it is dangerous to anchor a ship in them, except in those of 

 Maraccas and Las Cuevas. 



u Maqueripe is a cove at the northern extremity of the valley 

 of Cuesa ; Saut-d'-Eau is a very small sandy cove ; Las Cuevas 

 is a sandy bay ; the sandy shore on the eastern side of it is richly 

 wooded, almost close to the sea, interrupted by several breaks of 

 the woods filled by long winding slips of sand, and varied by 

 high rocks and smaller rivulets mingling fancifully amongst 

 them. A mile to leeward of Las Cuevas is the deep bay of 

 Maraccas, open to the north, but affording more shelter than any 

 other on this part of the coast. From Las Cuevas to Toco the 

 coast is chiefly rocky and high, with a few sandy bays which 

 generally contain a small river; but the surf is so heavy that 

 these bays are scarcely more accessible than the rocks ; the only 

 places which we could find were at Rio Grande, Petit Matelot, 

 Trou Bouilli, and Paria Bay. There is also a very small circular 

 cove about half a mile to the N.E. of Madamas, where a drogher 

 might lie in smooth water with the greatest security, being 

 within the breakers. It is closed round with steep rocky cliffs, 

 and did not appear to have any communication with the sur- 

 rounding country. It is very difficult to land at Rio Grande 



