TRINIDAD: THEN AND NOW- 



211 



will take the road which sweeps along the base of the 

 hills till we reach the road leading to Gasparella 

 village and pass over part of the northern range 

 in which is situated Tucutche, Trinidad's highest 

 mountain, till we once more get a view of the 

 ever varying sea, and wend our way to a part over- 

 looking Maracas Bay, from which, by glancing to the 

 north-east, we obtain a hazy glimpse of little Tobago 

 in the distance, which though, till recently despised, 

 at one time played an important part in the history of 

 our Empire ; for the possession of which our ancestors 

 — be we of English or French descent — shed rivers 

 of blood, and, according to our inclination or patriot- 

 ism, describe the valour displayed by either side. On 

 one hill we can descry the great fort erected by the 

 English, called 66 Fort George," and on another, and 

 much higher one, the fort erected by the French com- 

 manding the greater part of the island ; the hill, long 

 before, so often used by Robinson Crusoe for viewing 

 the distant hills of Trinidad, and, perhaps, those of 

 Venezuela. 



We can by the aid of our glasses, and a little im- 

 agination, see Robinson Crusoe's cave surrounded by 

 a pallisade, where he and his man Friday and the 

 goats, lived in such awe-inspiring solitude. We can 

 try to correct the erroneous idea that Juan Fernan- 

 dez was the place of his enforced exile — although an 

 error once established is hard to kill — still we must 

 show something to bear out our contention that To- 

 bago was the place of his enforced exile, and in 

 support of it we give the following passage to be 



