Vlll PREFACE. 



Port-of -Spain, on whose shores stands the capital of the island." 

 Mr. Martin, therefore, classes as one of the chief ports resorted to, 

 in the Gulf of Paria, Chaguaramas Bay, whereas vessels never 

 resort thither, except at intervals, to take in ballast. Let me 

 here observe again, that Port-of-Spain is the name of the town, 

 and not of a port. Mention is likewise made of the " Mariquire 

 Bay" near which is the " Napanma hill," and yet, Mariquire 

 Bay is, I believe, totally unknown to the inhabitants of Trinidad. 

 Not more readily could any one of them ever have imagined that, 

 from Mount Tamana " the lovely and fertile valleys of Maraccas 

 and Las Cuevas extend themselves before the eye," for this good 

 reason, that, between Tamana and those valleys, the northern 

 range rises nearly 1,400 feet above the former. Again, never 

 was Rio Crrande a good roadstead the only safe harbour, on the 

 whole northern coast, being Maraccas Bay, which is not even 

 mentioned in Mr. Martin's work. 



According to the census of 1851, the natives of Europe, then 

 in the colony, amounted to 1,494, and Mr. Martin sets down that 

 number as representing the whole of the white population of the 

 island, which is about 4,500. He correctly states that the sugar 

 crop of 1852 was, at least, 50,000,000 pounds, and, in a few 

 lines after, he writes, " The crop of the year 1852-53 season was 

 equal to about 56,000 hogsheads ;" but, the Trinidad hogshead of 

 sugar being, generally, reckoned at 1,600 pounds net, the 

 56,000 hogsheads would have given the enormous quantity of 

 89,600,000 pounds, which would be a gross exaggeration. The 

 exact quantity was 30,555 hogsheads, 3,505 tierces, and 6,601 

 barrels equal to 35,220 hogsheads. And yet, the British public 

 is undoubtedly satisfied that Mr. Martin's work is a correct record 

 of facts, and that implicit reliance may be placed on his state- 

 ments. 



In preparing the following pages, my anxious desire has 

 mainly been to make Trinidad better known to the British public 

 in general, and to its own inhabitants in particular. It is really 

 surprising how uninformed even Trinidadians are regarding their 

 own country. Our best schoolboys are able to give the names 



