86 TRINIDAD. 



that event, the gulf of Paria was, in all probability, a lagoon, or 

 lake, formed in the delta of the Orinoco. 



At present, and by the gradual accumulation of deposits from 

 the low plains of the Tigre and the vicinity, the waters of the gulf 

 are receding ; " and," according to Baron von Humboldt, " if 

 the level of the soil seems to indicate that the two gulfs of Car- 

 riaco and Paria formerly occupied a much more considerable 

 space, we cannot doubt that, at present, the land is progressively 

 extending." 



The presence of bitumen on the mainland, in the gulf of 

 Carriaco, and at El Buen Pastor, near the Rio Areo, as also its 

 existence in the Gulf of Paria, and throughout the southern divi- 

 sion of the island, is another proof of the geological connection 

 existing between the two countries; and that connection may be 

 traced across the gulf, by drawing a line from La Brea to El Buen 

 Pastor a distance of 105 miles. 



At Manzanilla, between the Point and Oropuche, muriatifer- 

 ous clay is met with ; it is of a smoke-gray colour, like that 

 of Araya, and apparently lies on sandstone. Not only was Cap- 

 tain Columbine deceived during his survey of the eastern coast, 

 but several others have been bitterly disappointed at finding salt 

 rills where they expected fresh water to quench their thirst. " On 

 our first attempt," says Captain Columbine, " to reach the Oro- 

 puche, we perceived a few small drains of water on the sides 

 of earthy cliffs along the shore, perfectly salt, although far within 

 the range of the sea, and at least twenty and thirty feet above 

 high- water mark ; but three or four days afterwards rain having 

 fallen, they were found to be fresh." 



Baron von Humboldt considers the Brigantine and Cocollar 

 as being of Alpine formation. He says : " Three great parallel 

 chains extend from east to west ; the two most northerly chains are 

 primitive, and contain the mica-slate of Mucanao and the San 

 Juan valley, of Maniquarez and of Chaparipari. These we shall 

 distinguish by the names of cordillera of the island of Margarita, 

 and cordillera of Araya. The third chain, the most southerly of 

 the whole, the cordillera of the Brigantine and of the Cocollar, 

 contains rocks only of secondary formation ; and what is remark- 

 able enough, though analogous to the geological constitution 

 of the Alps westward of St. Gothard, the primitive chain is much 

 less elevated than that which was composed of secondary rocks." 



