TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



31 



The first is that the three hills said to have been seen 

 by him when approaching Trinidad are not the so- 

 called " Trinity Hills " at Moruga. My contention 

 is that he could not have seen these hills coming from 

 the direction that he must have been sailing from in 

 his course from Spain. 



One account of his so-called discovery is that he 

 sighted Tobago and Trinidad on the same day. Long 

 before I had read this account — which is but recently 

 — I was, from my intimate knowledge of the whole 

 coast of Trinidad and Tobago, of the opinion that this 

 must have been so, and that the three hills which he 

 did see were the three prominent and high spurs of 

 El Tucutche on the north coast of Trinidad. And 

 in this view I have frequently been supported by 

 captains of the coastal steamers with whom I have 

 sailed at least fifty times. 



The other statement with which I disagree is that 

 Point Arenal, where Columbus is said to have anchor- 

 ed, is not Point Icacos but Point Erin, about 20 miles 

 to the East of Point Icacos. For this assertion I 

 have the authority of an old descendant of the Lett 

 family — of Irish descent — who were the first Euro- 

 peans to settle in that quarter, and hearing the 

 natives call it Arenal, and, struck by the similarity 

 of the pronunciation of Arenal to Erin, called the 

 district Erin, and Erin it has since been called. I 

 often spent hours talking to this old man, who had a 

 good memory, and from him learned many interest- 

 ing old facts and legends. 



