GEOLOGICAL VIEW. 57 



primitive chain is much less elevated than that which was com- 

 posed of secondary rocks." It is evident that our mountains 

 also belong to the same formation. 



Excepting Mr. C. Deville, who made bat a short stay in 

 Trinidad, no professional geologist has ever visited this island ; 

 but that gentleman's work on the Antilles is still in print, and 

 part of it only has yet been published, so that it is rather 

 difficult for me to give any account or comprehensive view of 

 the geology of Trinidad. 



Since writing this in 1857, two competent explorers — Mr. 

 Wall, from the Government School of Mines, and Mr. Sawkins, 

 geologist — were appointed to undertake a general survey of the 

 economic geology of Trinidad, an undertaking which they 

 executed with credit to themselves and to the satisfaction, I 

 believe, of the governments which employed them. I am there- 

 fore in a position to make this new edition of my book more 

 comprehensive and interesting. 



When Messrs. Wall and Sawkins began their survey, not 

 even one-fourth of the island had been recovered from its virgin 

 state, and the uncontrolled luxuriance of the forest vegetation 

 presented an almost impenetrable barrier to their exploration. 

 Many and various were the difficulties they had to contend with. 

 The allowance of £1 a day to cover personal and travelling 

 expenses was barely sufficient for the purpose. They had been 

 at work for two years, and yet they required twelve months 

 more to perfect their work ; they were particularly anxious to 

 explore more minutely the coal formation of the island, and to 

 follow up the seams at different places in the coal district. To 

 do this, they required men, not only to carry personal luggage 

 and provisions, but also tools, through the entangled forest ; 

 men to build their huts and assist in digging where required. 

 This being hard and unpleasant work, the men asked for high 

 pay, and, upon calculation, Messrs. Wall and Sawkins found 

 that they could not carry on the survey without further assis- 

 tance ; and that assistance was refused, so that the work was not 

 brought to the perfection these gentlemen had contemplated. 



In accordance with the principle generally accepted, of 

 naming geological formations which are examined or described 

 for the first time, after the localities where they occur, Messrs. 

 Wall and Sawkins propose to name Caribbean group that series 



