PEOPLE, LANGUAGES, AND KELIGIONS. 
39 
otlier patois. Tlie nouns, for tlie most part, are the same 
as in good French, hut the verbs and particles are siti 
peneris. A Frenchman, himself, is probably more snr- 
j)rised than one not thoroughly acquainted with F rench, 
at the strange sounds which greet his ear upon first con- 
versing with the people of Trinidad. He is led to doubt 
his ears ; he thinks he is listening to French, but he has 
to ask many questions, and to listen attentively before 
he can understand all that is said. But those who are 
au fait at it, speak highly of it, and say that it is 
very expressive and concise. There are some who think 
tliat the Trinidad patois is worthy of being raised to the 
dignity of a language ; and it is doiibtful whether one 
of the most intelligent and learned of the Trinidadians 
does not entertain the purpose of writing a grammar 
and a dictionary of this dialect. The chief peculiarity 
of this tongue is, that the verbs have no inflections 
or terminations, but the tenses are made by particles 
affixed or prefixed. There is, also, a mixture of Spanish 
and Indian words, which makes it more troublesome to 
understand. Still no one who knows French is long 
perplexed with its difficulties. This- is the language 
spoken most widely, the lower orders scarcely using any 
other, though they can nearly all of them speak English. 
But among themselves this patois is the medium of 
thought. It is, moreover, the language which the Afri- 
can and the Coolie, and the stranger in general, learns 
first, and of course, for the simple reason that he hears 
it most frequeiitly spoken. Its vituperative epithets are 
numerous and forcible ; and I am afraid are the best 
known, because the most frequently in use. 
Spanish is largely spoken in certain districts and 
villages, in which the people are almost entirely of 
Spanish descent. In the dry-goods stores as they are 
called, the linen-drapers, Spanish is in constant use, for 
some of the best customers — the largest buyers — come 
from the IMain, where Spanish is the only language 
in common use. Clerks in stores, therefore, must be 
