MAEACCAS — LAS CUEVAS. 283 



respect, and are for the most part hilly — Maraccas and Las 

 Cuevas especially. The soil is in general of the best quality — 

 light and sandy in the valleys, and a clayey loam resting on 

 schists and limestone on the hills ; these are generally steep, and 

 the valleys rather damp and warm. The valley of Santa Cruz — 

 in all respects the richest, and also the largest, in Trinidad — is 

 entirely cultivated in cacao, and contains some of the finest cacao 

 estates to be found in the island. They were once exclusively 

 owned by the Spaniards — the first settlers and proprietors of the 

 island — but the greater number have changed hands within the 

 last twenty years. Coffee and provisions are cultivated on the 

 hills. The valley of Santa Cruz branches off into several smaller 

 glens, each being irrigated by its respective stream, which carries 

 off its water to the Aricagua river. The road to Santa Cruz 

 once traversed the village of San Juan. Its direction has been 

 altered, and it now runs up along the right side of the stream to 

 the head of the valley. A branch road establishes a communica- 

 tion over the saddle with Maraval, while another section crosses 

 the mountains at the end of the Gasparillo glen to Maraccas bay, 

 in the ward of Las Cuevas ; it is but a mere path through the 

 high woods. Population, 1881, 2,191 ; 1871, 2,252. 



The valley of Maraccas extends northward of the town of St. 

 Joseph, from which it is separated by an elevation of the land ; it 

 is much more contracted than Santa Cruz, and the surrounding 

 ridges are higher, particularly at its extremity. Cacao, coffee, 

 and provisions are the only cultivations. The vale of Acono is 

 a dependency, or branch, of the Maraccas valley. 



Las Cuevas is still more hilly than Maraccas, and does not 

 contain above 800 acres of flat land : these form the two estates 

 of Maraccas and Las Cuevas, situated respectively on the bays of 

 the same name, and separated by a steep ridge. These two 

 estates are cacao plantations, drained by the two streams of 

 Maraccas and Quebrada de Hierro, or the iron ravine. Produce 

 from Las Cuevas is conveyed to town in small sloops ; that from 

 Maraccas bay is carried through to Santa Cruz on mule-back, and 

 from thence carted to town. 



The highest mountain of the colony is situated between Las 

 Cuevas and the extremity of Maraccas valley ; it is called Las 

 Cuevas, or el Tocuche, and is 3,100 feet high. At the bottom of 

 Maraccas valley is a waterfall, from a height of about 340 feet, 



