230 



TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



this article too long so I will content myself by giv- 

 ing one more quotation from his history. He re- 

 lates an old legend in connection with the supposed 

 origin of " The Pitch Lake," related to him by an 

 old half-caste Indian, who though still active at the 

 time of relating the legend was not less than an hun- 

 dred years old. It is as follows : — 



" It may, perhaps, be worth while to here re- 

 count an Indian tradition connected with the pitch 

 lake. Formerly (say the Indians) the spot on which 

 stands the pitch lake was occupied by a tribe of 

 Chiman, who built their ajoupas here, because the 

 land abounded in pine apples, and the coast in oysters 

 and other shell fish ; the finest turtle and fish were 

 taken and its clear springs were frequented by count- 

 less flocks of flamingoes, horned screamers, pauix, 

 blue rainier and humming birds ; but the inhabitants 

 of this Chiman encampment having offended the 

 Good Spirit by wantonly destroying the humming 

 birds, which were animated by the souls of their de- 

 parted relations, the Good Spirit, to avenge their 

 impiety, in one night made the encampment to sink 

 beneath the earth with all its inhabitants ; the next 

 morning nothing remained of the Chiman 's village, 

 but instead the Lagoon of Asphaltum appeared. " 



Joseph 's legend — although only a legend — has a 

 good deal of poetic beauty about it, particularly the 

 idea of the pretty, timid, humming bird being pos- 

 sessed of the souls of deceased relatives. Such old re- 

 ligious feelings or superstitions — call them what you 

 will — began with the world's beginning and will not 



