SOIL AND VEGETATION. 69 



vegas, the height of thirty feet, and yields a successive produce 

 throughout the year; the coffee, as well as the cotton and castor- 

 oil plants, attains the proportion of copse-wood; rice grows to the 

 height of six and seven, maize to that of eighteen, and even 

 twenty, feet; the farinaceous roots of the Manioc, and the 

 tubercles of the Yam mature, in proper localities, to enormous 

 sizes ; Plantains furnish, with but little trouble, an abundance 

 of alimentary provision, whilst in rich sandy loams, Pumpkins 

 and Water-melons are reproduced on the same spot for years, 

 without the slightest care. Fruit-trees, when planted, are usually 

 left to their own un tended growth and development, unaided 

 even by the pruning-knife ; but they fail not, in due season, to 

 pour forth the exuberance of their luscious treasures; the Nutmeg 

 and Cinnamon trees also grow to the fullest perfection. Yet 

 man — neglectful man — satisfied with Nature's proceedings, at- 

 tempts but feebly to turn to advantage the gratuities of a boun- 

 tiful Providence. 



Earthquakes. — Although there exists no authentic record of 

 Trinidad having ever suffered, to any great extent, from earth- 

 quakes, yet the island is not unfrequently visited by those subter- 

 ranean convulsions ; and a year seldom passes away without the 

 recurrence of one or more of such, visitations. They were rather 

 numerous during the prevalence of the long and severe drought 

 of the year 1846, when as many as seven shocks were felt in the 

 month of September alone. In October, 1761, the island suffered 

 from a rather severe earthquake, and the mountain to the N.E. of 

 St. Joseph, known by the name of "Cerro de Don Pedro Indio," 

 was rent to a large extent, the fissure or chasm remaining open 

 for a long period. For many years, and until lately, a mass in 

 honour of " Nuestra Sefiora de la Guadalupe"" was celebrated in 

 St. Joseph on the date, and in commemoration, of that event. 

 In September, 1825, the steeple of Trinity Church was thrown 

 down, and the walls of several houses in Port of Spain were 

 dangerously cracked during one of the severest shocks within the 

 memory of the inhabitants. 



It has been remarked that earthquakes are more prevalent 

 during the hottest months, namely, in August, September, and 

 October. Their movement is either from S.S.W. to N.N.E., or 

 from E. to W., that is to say, in the direction of the Antillan 

 range, or the Grand Cordillera of Venezuela. 



