416 S. F. PecMam — The Pitch Lake of Trinidad. 



VII. — On the Pitch Lake of Tkinidad.^ 



By S. F. Peckham. 



AFTER a recent visit to Trinidad I am led to add my testimony 

 to that of the numerous observers, who for more than a 

 hundred years have written concerninoj this remarkable phenomenon. 



The earliest account of a visit to Trinidad, accessible to English 

 readers, was published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of 

 London in 1789, by Alexander Anderson.^ He describes Point 

 La Brea as a promontory fifty feet high jutting into the Gulf 

 of Paria. Ascending to the lake he describes it as three miles 

 in circumference, divided into " areola " resembling those upon 

 a turtle's back, the surface of each being " horizontal and smooth." 

 He was there in the rainy season, and concluded that evaporation 

 on the clear afternoons removed the torrents of water that fell during 

 other parts of the day, as there was no other outlet. He further 

 states that the soil around La Brea consists of cinders and burnt 

 earth, being evidently the product of subterranean fires, as there 

 were hot springs in the neighbouring woods. 



The next visitor is Dr. Nicholas Nugent, who published an 

 account of a visit made in October, 1807.^ He landed on the 

 south side of La Brea Point, which he describes as consisting of 

 a bluflf of porcelain jasper, " generally of a red colour." Ascending 

 to the lake he perceived a strong sulphurous and pitchy smell, like 

 that of burning coal, and soon after had a view of the lake, which 

 at first sight appeared to be an expanse of still water, frequently 

 interrupted by clumps of trees and shrubs, but on a nearer approach 

 it was found to be a plain of mineral pitch with frequent crevices 

 filled with water. " The surface of the lake was not polished 

 or smooth so as to be slippery; the consistence was such as to bear 

 any weight, and it was not adhesive ; though it partially received 

 the impression of the foot, it bore us without any tremulous motion 

 whatever, and several head of cattle were browsing on it in perfect 

 security. The interstices or chasms are very numerous, and, being 

 filled with water, present the only obstacle to walking over the 

 surface. The arrangement of the chasms is very singular : the sides 

 are invariably shelving from the surface, so as to nearly meet at the 

 bottom, but there they bulge out towards each other with a con- 

 siderable degree of convexity. These crevices are known occasionally 

 to close up entirely, and we saw many marks or seams from this 

 cause. The lake contains many islets covered with long grass and 

 shrubs. It is not easy to state precisely the extent of this great 

 collection of pitch ; the line between it and the neighbouring soil 

 is not always well defined. The main body may perhaps be estimated 

 at three miles in circumference ; the depth cannot be ascertained, and 

 no subjacent rock or soil can be discovered. The negro houses in 

 the vicinage, built by driving posts into the earth, frequently are 



1 From the Amer. Journ. Sci. — Third Series, vol. L, N"o. 295, July 1895. 



- Philosophical Transactions, Ixxix, 65, 1789. 



3 Transactions of the Geological Society of London, i, 63, 1811. 



