326 TRINIDAD. 



ground of Mayaro, and, owing to their being regularly dyked 

 by the sand thrown up by the surf, expand at their mouth into 

 small lagoons ; of these only one is worth notice — the Lagon- 

 doux. 



I must now say a few words of the Guataro or Ortoire. My 

 information is drawn partly from Captain Columbine's survey, 

 and partly from reliable private sources. The Ortoire has its 

 mouth to the northward of Point Radiz, after rounding which 

 point it runs for some miles in the rear of Mayaro, and thence 

 takes a W.N.W. direction. Its lower course winds in the most 

 eccentric manner, particularly towards its mouth, where the 

 country is very flat. Its banks are low, and the bed muddy ; 

 but the former rise proportionately with the elevation of the 

 adjacent lands. The Ortoire is navigable for large canoes f< 

 eighteen miles. Captain Columbine surveyed it for twelve mil 

 upwards, and, at that distance, found it thirty feet wide an 

 eighteen deep. It does not seem that the Ortoire receives an 

 considerable affluent from the south ; the great body of i 

 water descends from the central range, between Tamana an 

 Montserrat; its tributaries in that direction being Pure (n 

 Poole) or Upper Ortoire, Guarapiche, Guanapure, Anapa, an 

 Caranache. 



Moras grow abundantly in the low lands along the Ortoire ; 

 the best tracts, cedars and robles. Should this part of the islam 

 ever become settled, a village might be formed at the head of th 

 river navigation, and a tram-road laid down from that point 

 La Brea, or rather to Pointe-a-Pierres. Or, again, produce mig 

 be carried down to the landing-place at Mayaro, since a distan 

 of only 1,270 yards across the Mayaro estate separates the rive 

 Ortoire from the beach ; a tram-road should then be laid dow 

 as a connecting-link between the river and the sea, thereb 

 avoiding the difficulties, not to say the impossibility, of entering 

 the Ortoire, and the dangers of a navigation to the north wa 

 of Point Radiz. 



Except a narrow belt along the shore, the entire county o 

 Mayaro is crown property; its surface, to all appearances, is 

 uneven, rising into hillocks towards the S. and S.E ; it is said to 

 be rugged, and everywhere cut up by deep ravines, especially to 

 the rearward of the Mayaro ward and the three sisters. 



The two counties of St. Patrick and Mayaro belong to the 





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