316 TRINIDAD. 



quantity of asphaltum, or pitch — brea, in Spanish; brai, in 

 French — which is found everywhere in this district, and forms 

 the Pitch lake, is, on this account, one of the most interesting 

 districts of the island. Every stranger who can spend a few days 

 in Trinidad will do well to pay a short visit to this great natural 

 curiosity of the country. A steamer which plies between Port-of- 

 Spain and Cedros, stopping at San Fernando, touches three times 

 a week at La Brea, viz., every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, 

 on its way to Cedros, so that there is sufficient time to visit the 

 lake during the interval of its return. The early morning, how- 

 ever, is the best time for visiting the lake, as the heat on its 

 surface becomes almost insufferable after nine o'clock. The best 

 plan, perhaps, would be to sleep at San Fernando, and start early 

 next morning for La Brea in a boat. This might be attempted 

 on one of the three days that the steamer goes to Cedros, so as to 

 catch it on its return. 



The lake and its scenery have already been described by so 

 many persons, that it would be a work of supererogation to enter 

 into many details here. I shall, therefore, limit myself to 

 offering only a few remarks. The Pitch lake, or great asphal turn 

 deposit of Trinidad, is situated at Pointe La Brea, at about one 

 mile from the sea, and at an elevation of 138 feet ; it covers an 

 area of about 100 acres. The road to the lake is the ward-road 

 of the quarter. 



The appearance of the lake is that of a dull, still, dark waste 

 — atra regna. It is irregularly circular, and its surface percep- 

 tibly convex, being more elevated in the centre, and thence 

 insensibly declining on all sides. In the centre also the asphal- 

 tum is quite soft, in fact, semi-fluid ; but it becomes more and 

 more hardened as it approaches the circumference. Excepting 

 the soft central parts, the surface is intersected in all directions 

 by numerous fissures or chasms, varying in breadth from two to 

 twelve feet, and from a foot to five feet in depth. The sides of 

 these fissures are slanting downwards, thus forming inverted 

 angles; these crevices are at all times filled with rain water. 

 The insulated spaces between the chasms exhibit a slight curva- 

 ture, of which the apex occupies the centre. Here and there, 

 where the asphaltum is mixed with earthy matters, grow lichens 

 and mosses, with a few coarse grasses {graminea and cyperaceai), 

 whilst stunted jicacos, some annonacese, etc., and caratas 



