TRINIDAD S ASPHALT LAKE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3117, 13 January 1911, Page 7

TRINIDAD S ASPHALT LAKE.

SCIENTIST’S DESCRIPTION

One of tlie natural wonders of the world is tlie great pitch lake of Trinidad, the most southerly island of the British- West Indies. Paying better than any gold or diamond mine, the lake is known locally as the “The Black Diamond.'’ An American syndicate handles most of this natural asphalt under a concession from the Government, and from one corner of tlie lake obtains 800 tons every day. The- material is shipped in enormous quantities to America, England, and other parts of the world, where it is in demand for street- making. Close to the village of La Brea the lake is inspected every year b.v numerous visitors to the island for it is a curiosity not to bo seen elsewhere. The lake lies 138 feet above the sea, and is three miles in circumference. How deep it is nobody knows, for though many attempts have been made to fathom it, all have failed. To all appearances this is indeed “the bottomless pit.” Scientists describe the pitch substance as “bituminous matter floating on the surface of water.” For three feet down the pitch is solid enough to hear the weight of - men ape! allow of their digging it up in great slabs with packaxe and spade. Under that hard substance is liquid pitch cast up by subterranean fires, and under that again is the fresh water of the lake. Though the American syndicate secures several trainloads every day, next morning when the army of negroes return to their work the surface is level and hard as before. An inexhaustible supply is therefore at hand without any preliminary expenses. Columbus discovered Trinidad in 1498, hut Spaniards, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, and Englishmen fought for the possession of it till it finally came under British rule in 1802.—Barton- “Transcript.”