56 TE1NIDAD. 



to that event, the Gulf of Paria was, in all probability, a lagoon, 

 or lake, formed in the delta of the Orinoco. 



At present, and by the gradual accumulation of deposits 

 from the low plains of the Tigre and the vicinity, the waters of 

 the gulf are receding ; " and/' according to Baron von Hum- 

 boldt, "if the level of the soil seems to indicate that the two 

 gulfs of Carriaco and Paria formerly occupied a much more con- 

 siderable space, we cannot doubt that, at present, the land is 

 progressively extending. " 



The presence of bitumen on the mainland, in the Gulf of 

 Carriaco, and at El Buen Pastor, near the Rio Areo, as also its 

 existence in the Gulf of Paria, and throughout the southern 

 division of the island, is another proof of the geological connec- 

 tion existing between the two countries; and that connection 

 may be traced across the gulf, by drawing a line from La Brea 

 to El Buen Pastor — a distance of 105 miles. 



At Manzanilla, between the Point and Oropuche, muriati- 

 f erous clay is met with ; it is of a smoke-gray colour, like that 

 of Araya, and apparently lies on sandstone. Not only was 

 Captain Columbine deceived during his survey of the eastern 

 coast, but several others have been bitterly disappointed at 

 finding salt rills where they expected fresh water to quench 

 their thirst. M On our first attempt/' says Captain Columbine, 

 " to reach the Oropuche, Ave perceived a few small drains of 

 water on the sides of earthy cliffs along the shore, perfectly 

 salt, although far within the range of the sea, and at least 

 twenty and thirty feet above high- water mark ; but three or 

 four days afterwards, rain having fallen, they were found to 

 be fresh.'" 



Baron von Humboldt considers the Brigantine and Cocollar 

 as being of Alpine formation. He says: " Three great parallel 

 chains extend from east to west ; the two most northerly chains 

 are primitive, and contain the mica-slate of Mucanao and the 

 San Juan valley, of Maniquarez and of Chaparipari. These we 

 shall distinguish by the names of Cordillera of the island of 

 Margarita, and cordillera of Araya. The third chain, the most 

 southerly of the whole, the cordillera of the Brigantine and of 

 the Cocollar, contains rocks only of secondary formation; and 

 what is remarkable enough, though analogous to the geo- 

 logical constitution of the Alps westward of St. Gothard, the 



