208 
THE PITCH LAKE. 
Nature and Art, December 1, 1866. 
that beneath the surface, or rather beneath the 
level of the sea, there is not a slumbering volcanic 
agency which at any time might bring destruction 
on the island. 
It is much to be regretted that so little attention 
should have been paid to this extraordinary pheno- 
menon by geologists and professional surveyors of 
nature. M. de Yerteuil, a native of Trinidad, says 
in his interesting work on the island, published in 
1858 : — “ Excepting Mr. C. Deville, who made but 
a short stay in Trinidad, no professional geologist 
has ever visited the island.” The consequence is, 
that not much satisfactory information is upon 
record to show the character of the formations and 
strata, and, incidentally, the source and origin of 
the pitch springs. Humboldt suggested that they 
probably proceeded from the beds of limestone 
which form the Brigantine and Cocollar on the 
mainland ; and he seems to have had no doubt that 
the causes which produced the pitch springs on the 
main were also the causes of like elfects in and 
around the island. 
Humboldt and all who have given scientific at- 
tention to the subject are of opinion that the island 
was once part of the continent, an idea which 
readily finds credence in the mind of any one 
who has seen the chain of islet limbs which stands 
between the two both on the north and south. 
The geological formation of the continent and the 
island confirms the supposition. On the opposed 
sides of each is found the bluish-gray transition 
limestone, destitute of petrifactions, and traversed 
by veins of calcareous spar ; gypsum, sandstone, 
and micaceous schists, which abound all over 
Trinidad, are abundant in Cumana, and on the 
shores of that province may be seen pitchy springs 
differing in no essential particular from those of the 
island. They exist in the Gulf of Cariaco, and at 
El Buen Pastor, near the Bio Areo, between which 
place and Cape La Brea, a distance of 105 miles, 
De Yerteuil says, the geological identity of the two 
lands may be distinctly traced. 
The following extract is from De Verteuil’s book, 
the only really valuable work on Trinidad that has 
been published. (Ward & Lock, 1858.) 
“Bitumen, or fossil pitch, exists in inexhaustible abund- 
ance throughout the whole of the southern division. Point 
La Brea, in the county of St. Patrick, is formed altogether 
of hardened pitch, which extends into the gulf. The Pitch 
Lake, with the village of La Brea, in the same locality, is 
the great natural curiosity of Trinidad, and is really worth 
visiting. A pond of soft bitumen also exists within the site 
of the town of San Fernando, and another between Moruga 
and Guayaguayare. The latter is known by the appellation 
of ‘ Lagon Bouf,’ from the peculiar noise produced by the 
bubbling of the soft bitumen. At Oropuche, Guapa, and 
Quemada are likewise small craters of the same substance. 
About two miles from the Yaro, in the spring of the year, a 
periodical but brief submarine eruption occurs, throwing up 
quantities of petroleum with which the beach is afterwards 
strewn. Many of these bituminous craters exist at the 
bottom of the gulf along the line of coast from San Fernando 
to Trois ; their eruptions occasionally agitate the waves and 
eject considerable quantities of petroleum. The pitch cast 
upon the beach is generally in the form of lumps or cakes. 
“ It is to me evident that our pitch deposits must have a 
submarine communication with those of El Buen Pastor, in 
the canton of Maturin.” 
Naturally enough it was supposed that the pitch 
of the Pitch Lake would be available for the purposes 
of commerce. No more persevering pursuer of the 
idea than the late Earl of Dundonald, when Admiral 
! Cochrane, and his efforts were supplemented by those 
of a company called the Pitch Company ; but it was 
found that, except for the purpose of road-making, 
for which it is truly excellent, the cost of refining 
so as to render the pitch useful for all other pur- 
| poses for which pitch is used, was so great as to 
exceed the market price of pitch obtained elsewhere. 
Many shipments of it have, however, been made 
within the last few years to America and to France, 
1 and although at present the means have not been 
found to utilise it to the utmost, it is to be hoped 
that science will not rest satisfied with her hitherto 
abortive attempts, but will ere long open a large and 
useful branch of trade in the grim contents of the 
' Pitch Lake. 
At present the uses to which the bitumen is put 
are for flooring stores, for paving purposes (part of 
King Street, Port of Spain, is paved with it), and 
mixed with lime and gravel, for bricks and building 
slabs. United with wood or refuse sugar-cane it 
answers very well as fuel, and from it may be dis- 
tilled a large, percentage of petroleum. 
It seems that the cargoes exported by Lord Dun- 
donald’s company were not of the best. The pitch 
was found to contain from 30 to 35 per cent, of 
earthy and saline matters, and from 15 to 20 per 
cent, of water ; and the cost of getting rid of what 
amounted to about 50 per cent, of the cargo, for all 
of which freight had to be paid, was so great as to 
1 preclude the idea of establishing a trade in it, and 
i the company, not being backed with a capital large 
; enough, gave over their attempts. It has been 
| suggested that pitch taken from nearer the centre, 
I where it is always more or less liquid, is much freer 
from the impurities which discouraged the projectors, 
and might be advantageously worked. Abraham 
Gesner, the American chemist, who says that he 
obtained kerosine first from Trinidad pitch, also 
says that he obtained from one ton of pitch forty- 
two gallons of oil proper for lamps, and eleven 
gallons fit for lubricating purposes. Acoording to 
his observations, the pitch on the borders of the 
lake yielded more oil than that at the centre. The 
smell of it, however, was very offensive, and getting 
rid of that, in addition to the cost of distillation and 
fetching, seems unlikely to allow of petroleum from 
such a source coming into competition with that 
which wells up from the ground direct from Nature’s 
retort. 
As a matter of fact, there is no regular export of 
the pitch. A careful examination of the records in 
the office of the Board of Trade shows that it has 
not up to this time been utilized to such an extent 
as to warrant its being mentioned in the statistical 
returns of commerce. Locally, it is employed for 
the purposes already mentioned, and it is also used 
medicinally for the same objects as Barbados tar, 
to which it bears a considerable resemblance. The 
difficulties in the way of utilizing it on a large scale, 
so as to assure reasonable profit for capital and 
