CHAPTER XIII. 



LA BEEA AND THE PITCH LAKE. 



To write of Trdnidad Then and Now without 

 describing its world-wide famous u Pitch Lake " 

 would be to ignore one of its most conspicuous fea- 

 tures, and not only that, but also one of the sources 

 of its wealth, enabling it, as it has done, to tide over 

 what at one time threatened to be a disastrous period 

 in its history, and still continues and will continue to 

 be its prop towards prosperity. 



Many people are under the impression that this 

 wonderful work of nature is a huge lake of water 

 with pitch floating here and there on its surface, and 

 indeed one of the writers whom I have recently read, 

 unblushingly so describes it ; he even goes so far as 

 to state that he visited it and saw what he describes. 

 I am afraid that he was either what many people, 

 when they don't want to use an ugly word, call an 

 Ananias — although why choose poor Ananias more 

 than many other greater historical characters des- 

 cribed in the same book has always been a mystery to 

 me — or that he drew greatly on his imagination. 

 It is not so, and I shall now set out to describe it not 

 only as it was in my time but long before it. The 

 first I shall choose is Dr. Anderson, who was in his 

 day attached to the regiment stationed here some 



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