TEETIART MICEOZOIC FORMATIONS OF TKINIDAD. 521 



thing is known in those deposits that we regard as Eocene. 

 Lignite and other varieties of carbonaceous matter are abundant in 

 the recognized Miocene rocks of Trinidad, and the asphalt (though 

 found infiltrated into the Eocene deposits) is probably of Pliocene 

 date. I should not be surprised, then, if this ISTariva Series proved 

 to be of Miocene age, and therefore younger than the Eocene Napa- 

 rima Marls. I think it probable that it was merely the position of 

 these beds between the Cretaceous rocks of the Pointapier district 

 and the Tertiary marls of IS'aparima that induced the Geological 

 Surveyors to assign to them an age earlier than that of the Naparima 

 Marls. ^ 



I find that in 1877 I arrived, as regards the age of these beds, at 

 the same conclusion as that expressed above, and stated it in a 

 paper read before the Scientific Association of Trinidad ' On the 

 Discovery of Tertiary Coal at Williamsville, Savana Grande,' 

 printed in the Proceedings of that Association, part xi. p. 110. I 

 think, therefore, that (unless evidence to the contrary is forthcoming) 

 this Nariva Series is not inferior to the Eocene marls of Naparima, 

 but superior to them, being Miocene in date and partly the equiva- 

 lent, on the southern side, of the Secondary rocks of the Caroni 

 Series on the northern. 



No. 3 is a series of red, black, and variegated marls, seemingly 

 much dislocated. These pass into jS^o. 4, beds which are very 

 similar but contain bands, strings, and masses of limestone, not 

 now visible, for they have been hidden by the building of the 

 railway-station and works. These limestone veins, &c., contain 

 fossil mollusca similar to those in No. 7. I have hitherto been un- 

 able to describe or identify these fossils on account of the impossi- 

 bility of developing them or extracting them from the rock ; but I 

 believe them to be for the most part of undescribed and extinct 

 species. These beds I am inclined to think are a repetition of 

 those on the southern side of San Eernando, namely at Bontour 

 Point. 



The foregoing portion of the section is on the northern side of 

 the wharf at San Eernando. The following portion is on the 

 southern side. 



No. 5 is a series of grey marls passing under the Hospital Hill. 

 These marls contain Glohigerina and other foraminifera, and are 

 occasionally interbedded with darker shaly layers. Their strike is 

 approximately W.N.W. ; like all the beds exposed in this section, 

 they are inclined at a high angle, often approaching the vertical. 

 To the north they are terminated by the great fault or series of 

 faults surrounding the Naparima Hill, and to the south by another 



^ The Eocene series of Manzanilla, whose fauna has Httle in common -with 

 that of the Naparima Marls, was deposited on the northern side of the ridge of 

 Secondary strata crossing the middle of the island, and probably in shallow 

 water, since the fauna so far as known would suit a depth of less than 50 

 fathoms. On the other hand, the Naparima Marls were thrown down on the 

 southern side of the Secondary ridge, in water gradually deepening from the 

 beginning of the Eocene period to the close, perhaps, of the Miocene period. 



