62 SOUTH AMERICA -THE ANDES EEGI0N3. 



E-ivERs — Climate. 



Thanks to an abundant rainfall, Trinidad is watered by numerous streams 

 whicb are navigable by small craft for a considerable distance from the coast. 

 The Caroni, most frequented of these rivers, bears a Carib name, which recurs in 

 various parts of the neighbouring continent. It flows nearly paiallel with the 

 north coast range, from which it receives its chief affluents, and falls into the 

 Gulf of Paria, near Port of Spain ; but during the floods a considerable portion of 

 its waters are discharged laterally into riverine marshes. The Caroni is navigable 

 by boats for about 24 miles, and it is proposed to connect this waterway with the 

 Oropuche, on the eastern slope of the island, by means of a canal cut through the 

 slightly elevated central waterparting. 



The Guaracuaro, which falls into Naparima Bay on the south-west coast, 

 develops a course symmetrical with that of the Caroni, while the Nariva (Mitan) 

 and Guataro (Ortoir) have a common delta towards the middle of the east coast in 

 tbe great curve extending from Galera Point to Galiota Point. Between the two 

 mouths runs a channel protected from the surf by a fringe of nfangroves. Nume- 

 rous lagoons, the " lagons " of the French créoles, skirt the low-lying coast on 

 both sides of the delta. 



Lying entire!}' in the track of the trade winds, and being practically a part of 

 the mainland, Trinidad escapes from the thousand vicissitudes of climate to which 

 the Antilles proper are exposed. The seasons follow in the normal sequence, and 

 during the rercnio {" spring") or dry season, lasting from November to the end of 

 April, scarcely a drop of rain ever falls. The moisture collected on the surface is 

 derived mainly from the heavy dews. But in the wet season, from May to 

 October, storms are of almost daily occurrence. They are accompanied by sharp, 

 heav}' showers, coming on suddenly, especially in the afternoon, and never at 

 night except a short time before dawn. Neither Trinidad nor its neighbour, 

 Tobago, is ever visited by those terrific hurricanes by whicb Grenada, some 85 

 miles to the nortli-west, is frequently wasted. 



Flora — Fauna. 



As in its geological structure and climate, Trinidad contrasts also with the 

 Antilles proper in its flora and fauna. In their natural history both Trinidad 

 and Tobago are mere dependencies of the South American continent. The former 

 presents in its central part extensive tracts covered exclusively with grasses and 

 plants of low growth in every respect similar to those of the Venezuelan llanos. 

 They are savannas analogous to those traversed by the Orinoco and its affluents, 

 and in the central parts of the island geologists, in fact, suspect the former 

 presence of a great fluvial current. 



But tbe treeless spaces are everywhere encircled by dense tropical woodlands, 

 where flourish, in the closest proximity, nearly all the innumerable species belong- 

 ing to the forests of Guiana. These multitudes of trees, lianas, and parasites of all 

 kinds are amply fed by the yearly rainfall, which is estimated at nearly 80 inches, ''' 



* Mean temperature of Port of Spain, 77° Fahr. Rainfall (mean of twenty-five years), 67 inches. 



