The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-03-08
IRINlDAD'S PITCH LAKE.
,,.a, This wonder of the World" Looks
Today After Millions of Tons Have Been
Taken Out of 1t.
-p..Ial Correspondence of The JOurnal.1

.itrS below 1OrC Oh SPAN OH tllo
western coast of Trinidad, will
iIat every one of the citizens of
village is worker in pitch in some
nty. either cutting it out of the
l. blocks, as ice is cut at the
F.. or carrying it to the several
l--down factories, melting it, pack
INTO barrels, or shipping it to New
London, Liverpool and Paris.
leuses and shopS-all built of wood
palm matched, of the lightest
Iluou-are set up on stills, not
insure circulation of air beneath,
+. the intense heat demands, and
Al immunity from ague, but to
It them from sinking gradually
the treacherous foundation of
and finally disappearing alto
Great heaps of crude pitch in
ave of blocks lie all around, and a
..t procession of bullock carts
more pitch comes jolting down
= gentle slope that leads from
..u The instant you set foot on
au are beseiged by negro guides
., as numerous and important
- their lighter-skinned brothers
cara Falls and the Mammoth
. show you all the sights, sab,
small consideration. Having
. YOUR sable conductor and eing
. with ceremony into a mule
n are slowly bumped and ratified
long a pitch road, with IL pitch
Ia which you seem in imminent
# tumbhng, on either SIDE. 1t
ut appear that pitch Injuries vege-
Tough plants do not actually
u t, for the adjacent soil is re-
.Ue for richness, even in this
legion The pineapples of La
famous throughout the W est
Jeing brought to extraordinary
I especial perfection by the ex-
neat and the peculiarltles OF
They grow everywhere about,
ted by fences or hedges, and
fully that nobody misses few
wing negroes or hungry travel
appropriate.
lie is a mile and a half from the
,. the road thereto bordered on
.ae by palm matched hutS, each
pineapple garden and grove of
20 trees, and on the other side
nat is locally known as ''the
mostly dwarf cashew-nut trees,
l with creepers aglow with
, scarlet and purple flowers.
-ssing up the slope the odor be-
S more powerful, the ground more
pitch and the vegetation poorer,
@ whole earth looks like an
pavement half overgrown with
IS hose roots feed in the surface
to which pedestrians are con-
stumbling to their shoe tops,
st-r being hidden under film of
pitch dust.
Ike does not lie in depression,
F would suppose, but at the top OF
Whence the ground slopes away
on two sides. The wonderful
uous sheet has an area of about
rs, and heaven on ~ knows how
4 may be. No bottom has yet
covered and after being indus
worked for many years by
.- companies who have leased
us Of it from the British govern
tAe lneXhaustible supply OF
seems i'll no way diminished.
1t glance it looks like any other
ol lake, containing water in
a Wtch. The edges are covered
lttS of grass or ruSheS, with
r fringes of palm and smaller
places, and in the middle are
wooded islands, and beyond
noble forest of fan palms.
r illusion is Immediately dis
1y the color and consistency of
gan pool, whose black surface,
~ like polished ebony in the
nearly everywhere strong
o bear your weight-hard and
the edges, but growing softer
leI toward the middle. 1t is
IRE broken by innumerable
- where the pitch, which evil
aJzes up from various centers,
W to unite into one compact
IArse assures vary from few
Co. several yards in depth, and
- 10 say-are full of clear, fresh
H which are small ugly-looking
5u set out to walk across the
-aI5 lake, at first with more
#uon than swamped poor Peter;
rsdually acquire confidence as
4 ancanny happens. Some of
Auels or assures you can easily
tlToss, others are bridged by
and over the deeper and more
lus ones you are carried bodily
Jude.
the central islands" are
Those small. semi-fertile oasis
4esert of pitch are as curious
ouutable as any other feature
place. They are covered with
.W shrubs and dense sedge
uguins and other birds find
ontinuing Oh beyond them
apostle side of the lake and
Oh" the edge of the woods, you
Ia the so-called volcanoes,
age little hillocks of pitch, gen.
Dt more than two feet high,
opening in the center few
a diameter. In all these craters
.r' is still in a pure state, here
yelling up to the edge and
MuHs OVERLOOKING, but oftener re-
1 lalf a yard or so below the
lace Here All evil smell of pc
$50 and sulphuated hydrogen com
mPells one irresistably to cut
Ills stay All the water channels
'outs are covered with sulphur
H.t of which loathsome bubbles
arse. The pitch under foot is
tl1t at each step you sink
- there is no doubt that if you
pa- enough on one place you
'9appear, slowly, but surely
.-l, waist-deep, chin-deep-till
i' sugUlfed.
tte farther on the whole surface
.ar Tire best quality of Porto
n3.dsSes-much too soft to be
r' pom. Slight explosions of gas
.lntiy taking place, followed
AopS yapors rising from the
Tug mass, accompanied by little
.f.r ST rp1ruc Of pura yyatav and