S. F. Peck/mm— The Pitch Lake of Trinidad. 423 



This report of Mr. Richardson, while seemingly emanating from 

 a wholly disinterested source, presents statements and conclusions in 

 many respects quite different from those reached by Consul Pierce 

 and previous observers. It was for the purpose of satisfying m3'self 

 as to the facts, and also of studying the occurrence of bitumen in 

 Trinidad in the light of such observations as I had made in Cali- 

 fornia and elsewhere, that I lately made a trip to Trinidad and the 

 Pitch Lake. 



On approaching Point La Bi-ea from the north-west, the reef of 

 asphaltum that forms a barrier around the point and against the sea 

 is plainly visible. Upon the point itself and jutting into the sea are 

 what appear like low ledges of rock, which a nearer inspection 

 proved to be masses of asphalt taken from village lots, that had 

 been piled for shipment, but had been so long left in the tropical 

 sun that they had melted and flowed into a solid homogeneous mass, 

 that looked at a short distance off like ledges of slate. The piles, 



Topography of the immediate area of the Pitch Lake of Trinidad. 



whicli were originally about twenty-five feet in height, were not 

 more than three feet thick. Near these masses were other piles of 

 the same material, from which lighters were being loaded, and 

 which had not remained in the sun long enough to melt. Many 

 hundreds of tons were included in these masses, the original pieces 

 of which had so far coalesced that the asphalt had to be again broken 

 with a pick before removal. Passing on shore beyond these piles, 

 the plant of the Pitch-lake Concessionaires was encountered, in 

 which the operation of boiling a mixture of so-called land asphalt, 

 the ordinary lake asphalt, and the soft pitch from the centre of the 

 lake was going forward. The operation is conducted in kettles, 

 resembling open sugar kettles, and is very crude and simple in 

 character. Passing eastward I next encountered a wide area 

 covered with asphalt, that had melted in the sun to a level surface, 

 l-ierhaps two feet in depth. I was told that this asphalt was dug 

 from a village lot, the ownership of which was in dispute; that 

 originally the piles were at least twenty feet in height, but while 

 the owners disputed the piles melted in the sun. 



