396 TRINIDAD. 



of an intertropical American country. The variety of its soil 

 and formations, the abundant supply of water with which it is 

 blessed, give to the vegetable covering of this island the glowing 

 colours, the richness and grandeur of forms which astonish and 

 charm the admirer and lover of Nature, and invite the thoughtful 

 and scientific mind to study and meditation. No wonder that 

 the grateful Indian called this spot a paradise, swinging away 

 his eventless life in the chinchorro, whilst below and around the 

 teeming soil spontaneously afforded him not only the necessaries, 

 but even the luxuries, of life. 



" Mollia securse peragebant otia gentes ; 

 Ipsa quoque immunis, rastroque intacta, nee ullis 

 Saucia vomeribus, per se dabat omnia, tellus." 



Ovid i. 12. 



u The character of a population depends greatly, though no 

 solely, on the aspect of the vegetable world of a country/' say 

 Von Humboldt, in his " Views of Nature." Were I possessed o 

 the pen or pencil of a Humboldt, I would essay to place in thei 

 mutual relation the luxuriance and grandeur of our forest- woods 

 with the careless though amiable character of the Trinidadian ; 

 but this is hardly within the scope of these pages. I may here, 

 however, as well enregister my conviction that Trinidad — like 

 other fertile tropical countries — will, from its own boundless 

 luxuriance, never nourish a very industrious population. 



The general character of our flora approaches that of Guiana ; 

 partaking, however, more or less, of that of the West India 

 islands in general, as will appear hereafter. The botanic: 

 traveller will therefore find the works of Aublet as useful an 

 necessary to him in his researches as those of Swartz, Bonpland 

 and Kunth. This is, however, not to be understood in the sense 

 that we have absolutely the same species of plants that grow in 

 and characterise Guiana and the Antilles, for I have found this 

 to be true in respect of genera only; but as genera, in most 

 cases, exhibit the same vegetative characteristics in all, or most 

 of their species, this is quite sufficient to demonstrate and explain 

 the similarity of general aspect between our island, its con- 

 tinental neighbour, and the sister-islands. 



With regard to species, I must say that of them I have not 

 been able to determine a great number, and have, therefore, 



1a 

 al 



X 



