418 S. F. Peckham — The Pitch Lake of Trinidad. 



is the case new ones invariably appear in the vicinity. The mud 

 is fathomless, yet does not overflow, but remains within the cir- 

 cumference of the crater. From what I recollect of the Crimea, 

 I should say that there is a remarkable similarity between it and 

 Trinidad — geologically speaking : in both there are mud volcanoes, 

 in both there are bituminous lakes, and both have been frequently 

 visited with earthquakes." 



The next observer was Mr. N. S. Manross, who visited the lake 

 in 1855, and has been widely quoted. He says: "The village of 

 La Brea stands on a projecting tongue of land which owes its 

 preservation from the inroads of the sea to the fact that it consists 

 entirely of hardened pitch, which withstands the waves far better 

 than the loose materials of the accompanying formations. The shore 

 for miles, both north and south, consists mainly of the same material, 

 and juts boldly out into the pea wherever it is thus pitch-bound. 

 A road leads up from the landing to some sugar estates beyond the 

 lake. It ascends a gentle slope of hardened pitch, which, where left 

 to itself, is covered with a dense growth of reeds and bushes. The 

 road itself is a fine illustration of the adaptation of pitch to the 

 purpose of paving. Where too much mixed with earth it has become 

 pulverized to a depth of a few inches, but in many places it is still 

 so pure and solid that the wheels of heavily loaded sugar wagons 

 and the hoofs of horses make but a slight, and even that a transient, 

 impression. In no part of the ascent to the shore of the lake 

 does the stream of pitch appear to be covered by more than one 

 or two feet of soil, while in most places it is entirely bare. In 

 places where the surface is not protected by vegetation it becomes 

 so far softened by the sun as to be still making progress downward. 



" On nearing the lake the ascent becomes steeper. Here the pitch 

 is bare, or but slightly covered with grass. Its appearance is not 

 that of a sudden simultaneous overflow in a single smooth stream, 

 but that of a great number of streams each but a few yards or 

 rods in breadth. Their surfaces are drawn out into all manner 

 of contortions, and where the edges meet, small ridges have been 

 thrown up and the pitch broken into fragments not unlike the 

 scorite of lava currents. These fragments of pitch were on fire 

 in several places, having been kindled by a fire that ran through the 

 ' bush ' a few weeks before." 



" On ascending the last slope of this pitchy glacier a singular 

 scene meets the eye. A black and circular plain of pitch one-half 

 mile in diameter lies flush with the edge of the stream. It is 

 surrounded by a dense wall of forest, in which various species of tall 

 palm are most conspicuous. The lake itself is entirely bare of 

 vegetation, except about twenty small clumps of trees which are 

 arranged in a sort of broken circle about one-half way from the 

 center to the circumference." 



" The entire surface of this circular plain is seen to be interspersed 

 by a network of water channels. Its appearance is exactly that 

 of marbled paper. The pitch is divided into flat or slightly convex 

 areas, mostly polygonal but sometimes circular. They vary from 



