OHAPTEE V. 
NATURAL PHENOMENA. 
Any one entering tlie Grand Bocas of Trinidad wonld feel 
at once that the island M'as at one time part of the 
Spanisli Main, and he wonld most probably conclude 
that the island M’as separated by some convulsion of 
nature. The conformation of the land, the alternate 
mountain and valley, and their same direction, as Avell 
us the geological structure of the island, all point 
to, and seem to necessitate, this conclusion. The flora 
and fauna are identical, Mdiile in Trinidad we have 
animals, insects, and vegetation unknown in the other 
isles of the Caribbean Sea. 
Previous to the separation of the island from the main, 
the Gulf of Paria must have been a wide-spreading 
lagoon, and one would think, must have been stag- 
nant and pestiferous, there being then no outlet ; 
but noAV, from the conformation of the gidf, the currents 
are very rapid and the ■waters are very salt, vdiich cir- 
cumstances together make the gulf a healthy as Avell as 
a beautiful piece of water. In the animal kingdom we 
find the following objects for comparison : — The howling 
monkey and weeping ape among cpiadrumana ; the tiger- 
cat or ocelot, the gata-melao or taira, and the otter 
amongst carnivora ; the lapo among rodentia ; the tatoo 
or cachicame, with the great and small sloths, among 
edentata ; the guaroupita amongst ruminantia ; and the 
pecari amongst pachydermata. In the feathered tribe I 
may mention, among numerous species, the vultures papa 
and urubu ; the crested gavilan {spizaehis crnaUis ) ; the 
