282 TRINIDAD. 



of St. Joseph was founded towards the year 1577, and was for a 

 long time the chief town of Trinidad. It stands on a narrow 

 eminence at the entrance of the Maraccas valley, has some few 

 neat and comfortable houses, and is mainly inhabited by Spanish 

 families, descendants of the former possessors of the island. 

 Two streets, pretty steep, lead from the Royal Road into the in- 

 terior of the town. At the north end of St. Joseph's were once 

 barracks, in which was generally stationed a company of white 

 troops ; in 1838, however, they were occupied by a corps of 

 blacks, recently formed of Africans liberated from slavers. On 

 the night of the 17th of June, 1838, these savages revolted, 

 fired on their officers, and part of them succeeded in making their 

 way eastward, in march, as they fancied, to their native country. 

 They were met at Arima by an armed militia force, and several 

 were killed ; in fact, this attempt at rebellion ended in the death 

 of forty of those deluded men, of whom three prisoners under- 

 went military execution. 



In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh having entered the Gulf of 

 Paria, sent some of his boats up the river Caroni, from which 

 passed into the St. Joseph tributary, and, having landed his m 

 near the town, captured and burnt it. St. Joseph is a Cathol 

 parish, with a neat stone-built church, from the tower of whic 

 one has the command of a most extensive view. The Maraccas 

 ward-road joins the town near the barracks. 



The hilly parts of the above wards are inhabited by small 

 proprietors, the majority of them being emancipated labourers ; 

 they cultivate provisions, some coffee and cacao, and generally 

 work out on hire. The plains are cultivated in canes ; and in 

 Laventille is found one sugar estate ; in Cimaronero two estates ; 

 two in Aricagua, on one of which is a water-mill; six in St. 

 Joseph. A quarry of excellent building-stone has been lately 

 discovered in the ward of Aricagua, and supplies macadam for the 

 adjoining portion of the Royal Road ; very pure gypsum may 

 also be obtained from the hills near St. Joseph, and a snow-white 

 clay, at the foot of the high ground on which the town is built. 

 This latter is used for whitewashing. 



Northward of the above wards are the following : — Santa 

 Cruz, Maraccas, and Las Cuevas — the latter stretching along the 

 sea-shore, and bounded on the south by Santa Cruz and Marac- 

 cas. They bear the greatest resemblance to each other in every 



or 



