228 



TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW 



whole will be divided into nearly equal divisions. 

 Joseph's account is also curtailed, at is as follows : — 



" On landing a respectable looking village pre- 

 sents itself ; here and there thick layers of as- 

 phaltum of several tons weight overspread the sur- 

 face of the soil, appearing as though they had been 

 placed there by man, although in fact these layers 

 have burst through the soil which rests on immense 

 strata of asphaltum. This substrata affects the 

 soil and the buildings on it in an extraordinary 

 way ; the posts that support these occasionally 

 sink perpendicularly into the earth and asphaltum, 

 but more generally the layers of pitch affect the 

 posts so as to make them lean in an alarming manner, 

 in an oblong direction, apparently endangering the 

 structure, but this does not alarm the inhabitants, 

 who, of course build them of light material. Often 

 when a house is on the point of falling, in conse- 

 quence of the leaning to the right, it begins to resume 

 its perpendicular and then gradually commences 

 leaning in a contrary direction." 



" Leaving this singular village you. take a wide 

 and good road to the lagoon, which m situate 

 about five furlongs from it at an elevation of 

 eighty feet above the level of the sea. The road is 

 flanked with large cashew trees whose fruit is more 

 luxuriant than any I ever saw ; to the right is an 

 elevation on which many small hills, half composed 

 of particles of bituminous matter and is remarkably 

 fertile ; dark red and yellow pine apples are here 

 produced, of matchless quality. The pine apples of 



