TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



215 



Arima was at one time the centre from which 

 radiated the Indian tribes, although traces of them 

 may be found, down as far as Cedros and Erin ; a 

 quantity of arrow heads, stone hatchets and pottery 

 were found at Erin about twenty years ago on the 

 place where the Police Station is now built. 

 Arouca was the chief pastoral lands of those who 

 settled around Arima. It is said by some that the 

 Caribs were the tribes that inhabited Trinidad, but 

 many old family papers, preserved, and in existence 

 down to 1838, showed that the original tribes were 

 Arouacques and Chimas ; be this as it may, many of 

 the descendants of those who radiated from Arima, 

 can still be traced in the heights of Arima, Caura, 

 Blanchisseuse and Sangre Grande. 



After the Spaniards took possession of the island 

 and began to establish some form of government 

 they divided these Indian tribes into " Pueblas " or 

 missions each under a C( Corregidor ** or Magistrate. 

 Joseph relates an event that took place at a place 

 called Arena, close to Mount Tamana, while one of 

 these tribes was holding its annual festival — the date 

 is given by Mr. Inniss as 1st December, 1699. 

 Joseph's account is as follows : — 



1 1 The other event is a remarkable revolt of the 

 Indians who were settled in the centre of the Island, 

 not far from Mount Tamana, at a place called Arena. 

 By tradition, old papers and an old ballad, we learn 

 that, as was customary, the Governor, the Cabildo, 

 and the clergy went to witness an annual feast of the 

 Indians at Arena ; and that in the middle of one of 



