TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



185 



fortunately been removed. The rivers are bridged 

 over and this sax miles of road is now a credit to the 

 Public Works Department by whom it is maintained 

 and by whom the bridges were built. 



To give a complete account of the state of the 

 roads in those days would greatly surpass the limit 

 which I proposed at the outset of these sketches. I 

 have seen the old " Indian trails," formed before the 

 advent of Columbus, converted dnto carriage roads 

 over which the humble donkey cart and the fashion- 

 able automobile can now travel in comfort ; I have 

 seen places that it took three long, weary days of 

 dreary riding to reach become accessible in as many 

 hours. I have seen the main roads of the colony, 

 ankle deep in dust in the dry season and knee deep 

 in slushy mud in the wet, become well graded maca- 

 damed roads equal to any and superior to many in 

 Great Britain. I have seen roads climbing in dreary 

 Indian fashion straight up and down, over hill and 

 through hollow, become diverted round the bottom 

 of hills over which they climbed, thus making them 

 accessible to all kinds of locomotion, I have seen many 

 of the, at times, impassable rivers and mountain 

 streams bridged and made safe for all to travel over. 



I had hoped to be able to give a complete account 

 of all the improvements that have been made in the 

 roads of the colony, but I find that the space at my 

 disposal will not allow it without compelling me to 

 leave out matters that are of equal importance. I 

 have shown that when I came to the colony the roads 

 were under the control of either Wardens or country 



