GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. 45 



thereby breaks the roll of the Atlantic ; on the westward by the 

 adjoining part of the province of Cumana ; on the northward by 

 the Peninsula of Paria, the north-western angle of Trinidad, and 

 a few intervening islets ; on the southward by the corresponding 

 portion of the Delta of the Orinoco, the south-western angle of 

 Trinidad, and some interposed rocks. Passages are formed on 

 the N. and S. between the islets ; also between the latter and 

 Trinidad at one extremity, and Venezuela at the other. The 

 northern passages are known as the Bocas del Dragon, or the 

 Dragon's Mouths ; the southern as the Bocas de la Sierpe, or 

 the Serpent's Mouths. 



The islet nearest to Trinidad, in the formation of the Dragon's 

 Mouths, is Monos, or Apes' Islet ; the next Huevos, or Eggs' ; 

 and lastly, Chacachacarreo. These islets present precipitous 

 cliffs to the N., and can be approached only on the gulf side. 

 The different passages or channels known as the Dragon's 

 Mouths bear the respective names of Monos, between the main- 

 land and Monos ; Huevos, between Monos and Huevos ; Navios, 

 or Ships' Passage, between Huevos and Chacachacarreo ; and the 

 Boca Grande, or Grand Mouth or Passage, between Chacacha- 

 carreo and Cape Pena, which is the easternmost extremity of the 

 Peninsula of Paria. The Monos Channel gives admittance only 

 to sloops and schooners, or steamers ; the depth of water is from 

 ten to twenty fathoms, but the channel is very narrow. Huevos 

 Passage allows entrance to vessels bound inward ; the water is 

 very deep and bold — from ten to forty fathoms. The islet of 

 Monos, being very elevated (1,000 feet), shelters the passage 

 from the easterly winds, so that vessels entering run the risk of 

 being becalmed if much in shore of the islet. Boca de Navios, 

 or Ships' Mouth, between Huevos and Chacachacarreo, has a 

 north-western direction, and is the outward-bound passage. The 

 Grande Boca is about twelve miles in breadth ; it is the safest pas- 

 sage for vessels bound both inward and outward, and is that 

 which, although more to the leeward of Port of Spain, is chosen 

 by men-of-war and the larger class of merchantmen. 



The ebb or flow of the tide determines the direction inward or 

 outward of strong currents in the Dragon's Mouths, and vessels 

 becalmed in the Huevos and Navios passages may be drifted on 

 the rocky sides of either island and wrecked. The southern en- 

 trance of the Gulf of Paria is divided into several passages by 



