SOIL AND VEGETATION. 65 



alluvials with, a large admixture of vegetable debris. To become 

 tillable, they should be empoldered and drained ; this has already 

 been attempted with some success, and I have no doubt that a 

 good portion of them may be recovered for agriculture. They 

 would then become adaptable to the cultivation of the sugar- 

 cane, but especially to the production of rice. The Caroni and 

 Nariva swamps might be turned into pasturage. The area of the 

 principal swamp tracts maybe estimated asfollows: Nariva, 34,5 60 

 acres; Caroni, 20,480 acres; Oropuche (west coast), 8,960 acres. 



The beaches of Mayaro, Nariva, and Icacos are lined with 

 tracts of blown sand, in which the coco-nut palm thrives 

 admirably. 



"The great diversity of soil," observe Messrs. Wall and 

 Sawkins, "from the heaviest (red soil of Naparima) to the 

 lightest (siparia, Erin) ; from the richest (Naparima marl, 

 Tamana), to the most unpromising (Valencia, Turure), seems to 

 indicate that the country, limited in extent as it may be, is 

 calculated to become the home of a highly varied agriculture. 

 However strong the temptation may be to spread the sugar 

 cultivation into every corner of the island, it should be remem- 

 bered that a country which is dependent on several staples is 

 infinitely more secure than another which relies on one only." 

 This is a sensible remark, and I shall add that, though in the 

 estimation of certain people it may be a matter of regret that 

 there do exist in the colony such extensive tracts of barren land, 

 I nevertheless consider this, to a certain extent, as a relative 

 advantage, since the chances are that these tracts will never be 

 brought under cultivation ; and we shall have thus in store fuel, 

 and even timber, for building purposes; a good area besides 

 remaining covered with forest, we shall not be exposed to suffer 

 from drought, as is the case in some of the older islands. 



Mineral Springs. — Two mineral springs only have been 

 hitherto discovered in the island ; one of these is in the valley of 

 Maraccas, at the foot of a high hill, and nearly in the bed of the 

 St. Joseph or Maraccas river; it is a cold spring. According 

 to Dr. T. Davy, " it has a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen, 

 and there is a disengagement of gas in bubbles at its surface." 

 From an examination of a portion which he took with him, he 

 found it to contain the following ingredients, viz., " carbonate and 

 sulphate of lime, carbonate of potash, common salt, and traces oi 



