BANKING MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 217 



colony is taken in the Blue Book of 1879 at £50,000— evidently 

 mere guess than from any accurate information. The amount of 

 paper currency was estimated in previous years at £50,000, 

 which is probably very much below the mark. If under this 

 head be included promissory notes discounted by the bank, the 

 amount may be roughly estimated at between £300,000 and 

 £400,000 sterling. 



The accounts are kept by the merchants and the bank in 

 dollars and cents ; by the public departments in sterling. 



The only silver coin in circulation is the English coin. 

 Besides the English gold coin, United States and Spanish gold 

 are received in payments by merchants at their value. The par 

 of exchange, however, has been fixed by Order in Council at 

 $480 per £100. Gold coins: sovereigns, $4*80; half-ditto, 

 $2-40; United States eagle ($10), £2 Is.; half-eagle ($5), 

 £1 0s. 6d. Silver coins : half-crown, 60 cents ; florin, 48 cents ; 

 shilling, 24 cents ; dollar, 4s. 2d. 



Sterling money was rendered the standard coin in the year 

 1845, previously to which period the Spanish or Mexican medium 

 had prevailed. This consisted of the dollar and its subdivisions. 

 There was also for several years in circulation a colonial coin — 

 viz., the quarter dollar and its subdivisions, the smaller of which 

 was equal to six cents and a half. The gold coin long continued 

 to be purely Spanish or Hispano- American — viz., the doubloon, 

 or $16 piece, the 8, the 4, and 2 dollar pieces. 



Banking. — The Colonial Bank is the only establishment of 

 the kind transacting business here, and, as I believe, a very 

 profitable business. The exchange varies from 470 to 480 

 dollars, allowance being made for time and amount; deposits 

 taken at three per cent. ; money discounted at eight per cent. 

 Rate of interest, 8 and 10 per cent, on good security; small 

 sums, however, are often borrowed, on note, at 15, 20, and even 

 30 and 40 per cent. 



Means of Communication — Roads and Bridges. — It cannot 

 be expected that a country but recently settled — only a bit along 

 the sea-shore under cultivation — should possess a superiority of 

 internal communication; and this is precisely the case with 

 regard to Trinidad. Moreover, materials for making roads and 

 keeping them in repair are not only scarce, but the metal being 

 in general limestone, is not very durable, and is procurable only 



