Trinidadone

Trinidad,one of the British West India Islands, the most southerly of the Windward group between lat. 10&deb; 3' and 10° 50' N., and long. 61° 39' and 62° W.; area 1,754 square miles. Its figure is an almost exact square, but promontories at the north-west and south-west angles enclose the Gulf of Paria, the former approaching within thirteen miles of the coast of Venezuela. Three ranges of mountains, densely clad with forests, traverse the island from east to west, the most northerly reaching a height of over 3,000 feet. The intervening plains and valleys are fertlle, and yield an abundant supply of cocoa, sugar, rum, molasses, and coffee. The remarkable pitch lake at La Brea is graphically described in Kingsley's At Last. Trinidad was discovered by Columbus in 1496. It has been a Crown colony of Great Britain since 1797, and is ruled by a governor, assisted by legislative and executive councils.