10 



TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



shed rivers of blood and whose almost forgotten 

 episodes once teemed with romance ? Have you 

 never heard of the hospitality of its hospitable 

 inhabitants — particularly its planting class ? Have 

 you never heard of its splendid hotels not easily 

 surpassed 1 Have you never heard of its beau- 

 tiful health-giving climate ? I have 'enjoyed all and 

 can never forget them. Have you never seen a grace- 

 ful Trinidad girl dance or sing ? Well, if you have 

 not, then from my heart I pity you. Come out 

 and visit us and you will return to this foggy 

 climate rejuvenated and happy. There are at 

 least half a dozen places in the southern parts of 

 America and the West Indies named Trinidad ; but 

 the one from which ■ I hail/ as you call it, is 

 the pearl of them all. Why, man, in what be- 

 nighted part of the globe have you been hidden not 

 to have heard of all these things so well known to 

 the world in general ! ' ' 



I was about to change the conversation when 

 my travelling companion, who was accompanied by 

 a lady, evidently his wife, said something to her and 

 then turning to me said, ' ' You asked me if I had 

 never heard of ' Siegert's Angostura Bitters ? ' and 

 you said it is made in Trinidad. Yes, I have seen 

 and tasted it, a few drops in a glass of sherry makes 

 it very palatable ; but we would like to know why it 

 is called ' Angostura Bitters ? ' Is Angostura the 

 name of an herb from which it is made ? ' ? 



"No," I replied, "although there is the bark of a 

 tree, the Galipea cusparia, found in Venezuela called 



