Spain, equal in flavor their parent stocks. In many quarters of the island quarries of limestone, resembling, in some degree, marble, abound. Bricks and articles of pottery are likewise burnt. Of late tanneries have been established, and a substitute for hemp in making white rope has been discovered, and proved of use to the planters. On extensive wild savannahs quantities of cattle, horses, and mules, are fed in common, but might be extended to exportation, and the woods abound with game. Trinidad is situated out of the parallel of hurricanes, which have never as yet shifted so far to the south; although, on the 12th of August, 1810, a very violent indication happened; it luckily lasted only a few hours, blowing only from the south-west. Shocks of earthquakes have been felt, but very slight, and not of such consequence as to cause alarm. Dr. Nugent, in the Geological Transactions, has thus described the great natural curiosity of this island, the pitch lake :

We ascended the hill, which was entirely composed of this rock, to the plantation, where we procured a negro guide, who conducted us through a wood about three-quarters of a mile. We now perceived a strong sulphureous and pitchy smell, like that of burning coal, and soon after had a view of the lake, which at first sight appeared to be an expanse of still water, frequently interrupted by clumps of dwarf trees or islets of rushes and shrubs; but, on a nearer approach, we found it to be in reality an extensive plain of mineral pitch, with frequent crevices and chasms filled with water. The singularity of the scene was altogether so great, that it was some time before I could recover from my surprise so as to investigate it minutely. The surface of the lake is of the color of ashes, and at this season was not polished or smooth so as to be slippery; the hardness or consistence was such as to bear any weight; and it was not adhesive, though it partially received the impression of the foot; it bore us without any tremulous motion whatever, and several head of cattle were browsing on it in perfect security. In the dry season, however, the surface is much more yielding, and must be in a state approaching to fluidity, as is shown by pieces of recent wood and other substances being enveloped in it. Even large branches of trees, which were a foot above the level, had in some way become enveloped in the bituminous matter. The instertices or chasms are very numerous, ramifying and joining in every direction; and in the wet season, being filled with water, present the only obstacle to walking over the surface. These cavities are generally deep in proportior to their width, some being only a few inches in depth, others several feet, and many almost unfathomable: the water in them is good and uncontaminated by the pitch; the people of the neighbourhood derive their supply from this source, and refresh themselves by bathing in it; fish are caught in it, and particularly a very good species of mullet. The arrangement of the chasms is very singular; the sides, which of course are formed of the pitch, are invariably shelving from the surface, so as nearly to meet at the bottom, but then they bulge out towards each other with a considerable degree of con

vexity. This may be supposed to arise from the tendency in the pitch slowly to coalesce whenever softened by the intensity of the sun's rays. These crevices are known occasionally to close up entirely, and we saw many marks or seams from this cause. How these crevices originate it may not be so easy to explain. One of our party suggested that the whole mass of pitch might be supported by the water which made its way through accidental rents; but in the solid state it is of greater specific gravity than water, for several bits thrown into one of the pools immediately sank. The lake (I call it so because I think the common name appropriate enough) contains many islets covered with long grass and shrubs, which are the haunts of birds of the most exquisite plumage, as the pools are of snipe and plover. Alligators are also said to abound here; but it was not our lot to encounter any of these animals. It is not easy to state precisely the extent of this great collection of pitch; the line between it and the neighbouring soil is not always well defined, and indeed it appears to form the substratum of the surrounding tract of land. We may say, however, that it is bounded on the north and west sides by the sea, on the south by the rocky eminence of porcelain jasper before mentioned, and on the east by the usual argillaceous soil of the country; the main body may perhaps be estimated at three miles in circumference; the depth cannot be ascertained, and no subjacent rock or soil can be discovered. Where the bitumen is slightly covered by soil there are plantations of cassava, plantains, and pine-apples, the last of which grow with luxuriance and attain to great perfection. There are three or four French and one English sugar estates in the immediate neighbourhood: our opinion of the soil did not, however, coincide with that of Mr. Anderson, who, in the account he gave some years ago, thought it very fertile.

It is worthy of remark that the main body of the pitch, which may properly be called the lake, is situated higher than the adjoining land, and that you descend by a gentle slope to the sea, where the pitch is much contaminated by the sand of the beach. During the dry season, as I have before remarked, this pitch is much softened, so that different bodies have been known slowly to sink into it. If a quantity be cut out, the cavity left will be shortly filled up; and I have heard it related that when the Spaniards undertook formerly to prepare the pitch for economical purposes, and had imprudently erected their cauldrons on the very lake, they completely sauk in the course of a night so as to defeat their intentions. Numberless proofs are given of its being at times in this softened state: the negro houses of the vicinage, for instance, built by driving posts in the earth, frequently are twisted or sunk on one side. In many places it seems to have actually overflown like lava, and presents the wrinkled appearance which a sluggish substance would exhibit in motion.'

Afterwards he says I was at Antigua in 1809, when a transport arrived laden with this pitch for the use of the dock-yard at English Harbour: it had evidently been hastily collected with little care or zeal from the beach, and was

of course much contaminated with sand and other foreign substances. The best way would probably be to have it properly prepared on the spot, and brought to the state in which it may be serviceable, previously to its exportation. I have frequently seen it used to pay the bottoms of small vessels, for which it is particularly well adapted, as it preserves them from the numerous tribes of worms so abundant in tropical countries. There seems indeed no reason why it should not, when duly prepared and attenuated, be applicable to all the purposes of the petroleum of Zante, a well-known article of commerce in the Adriatic, or that of the district in Burmah, where 400,000 hogsheads are said to be collected annually.'

The north side of the island is a ridge of hilly mountains, which end at Toco, or Point Galera, and seem formerly to have been a continuation of the Parian mountains. From the ridges or summits of these hills abundance of the finest and clearest streams issue on both sides, and contribute on the south side to form the river Caroni, which is considerable, and can be navigated by flats and canoes some distance into the interior of the island. Another ridge of hills commences at L'Ebranche on the east side, and runs in a south-west course, called the Monserrat Hills; the rivers or streams from which are distinguished by a yellow clayish color. A canal has been traced by order of government by lieutenant-colonel Rutherford, then surveyor-general, from the mouth of the Caroni to L'Ebranche, across the island, and passing through the valley which lies between these two ridges, which, if ever completed, must produce incalculable advantages to the colony. The mornings and evenings in Trinidad are delightful, and the nights invariably cool and refreshing. Upon the whole the island is undoubtedly fully as healthy as any part of the new world. The climate is less moist than that of Guiana, and not so dry as that of Cumana. The winter or rainy season begins there in June and ends in October, as in all the islands of the Carribean Sea. But there is very little rain, sometimes none, in June, though the return of the heat is invariable from the end of May. With November begins the delightful season; it is then that the east and north-easterly winds blow; those currents of air come from the cold regions of North America, probably because the laws of equilibrium require that the cold and dense air of the north should fill the place left for it by the dilatation of the hot and light air of the tropics. During this spring the thermometer is usually, in the day time, at 80° Fahrenheit, and during the night it falls to 60°, and sometimes even to 50° in tolerably elevated spots.

Trinidad, discovered by Columbus on the 31st of July, 1498, was not, however, taken possession of by the Spaniards till the year 1588, when their establishment was preceded by the almost total destruction of the Indians. Most of those who escaped found a slower and more horrible fate in the works of the mines. Some, however, owed their lives to the paternal and couragecus care of the apostle of the new world, the virtuous Las Casas. The labors of the Indians soon fertilised the land for the benefit of their conquerors, and some negroes were afterwards

taken there and united in the work of the natives. Sir Walter Raleigh, who visited Trinidad in 1593, relates that the inhabitants then cultivated excellent tobacco and the sugar cane. The Spaniards assured him that the rivers were full of gold dust. The full importance of this colony, however, was not discovered till 1783, when an edict was issued permitting all foreigners professing the Roman Catholic religion to establish themselves in this colony. It protected, at the same time, for a period of five years, all new inhabitants from debts contracted in the countries they had quitted. In consequence crowds of new colonists crowded from Europe, and from the British and French possessions. The inhabitants increased so rapidly, that, though in 1783 the whole amounted only to 2763, they were estimated six years afterwards at

2,151 whites

4,467 people of color 10,100 negroes 2,200 Indians

Total 18,918

This soon changed the face of the island; and where a short time before only some miserable huts of fishermen covered with palm leaves were seen, there arose, in the short space of four years, a town regularly built, which, by the size and convenience of its port, and the industry of its inhabitants, became one of the most commercial in the new world, justly meriting the name of Port Spain from the mother country. On the other hand the disturbances which broke out in the French colonies at the beginning of. the revolution, and the violence of various parties, alternately conquerors and conquered, brought a great number of proprietors from Martinico, Guadaloupe, and St. Lucia, to this island, as also many of the ancient French inhabitants of Grenada and Tobago; and the governor of the island, don Josef Chacon, took a wise advantage of these events. He received with equal attention all those who brought thither their industry and their capital, without troubling himself about their opinions, and by this conduct soon carried the prosperity of the colony to the highest pitch. In 1797 it capitulated to a British force under the command of sir Ralph Abercrombie. From this period till the peace of Amiens in 1802 the population increased from 18,918 to 24,239 inhabitants; the produce of sugar had also greatly increased, being almost doubled. In 1783 the tonnage of the vessels employed in the commerce of Trinidad was only 150 tons; in 1802 sixty vessels were employed whose tonnage amounted to 60,000 tons. The emigration which took place from St. Domingo and the British colonies to Trinidad, after the peace of Amiens, had increased its population in 1807 to 31,000, of which 21,000 were slaves. Trinidad has since this period remained in the hands of the British. The northeast point of the island is in long. 60° 55′ 25′′ W:, lat. 10° 51′ N.

TRINIDAD, a city of the island of Cuba, situate on the south side of the island and on the shore of a river of the same name, with a celebrated port. Its natives, who are much given to sea

faring, are good mariners. The English pillaged it in 1704; and a severe hurricane was felt here on the 14th of October, 1812: the houses which had fallen, and were reduced to a tottering condition, amounted to 500. In the country some breeding pens had lost upwards of 500 head of cattle; many of the vessels which were at anchor in the harbour of Casilda were driven on shore and others sunk. This city lies in long. 80° 6′ W., lat. 21° 42′ N.

TRINITARIANS, ORDER OF, an order instituted at Rome, A. D. 1198. The founders were John de Matha and Felix de Valois. The pope permitted them to establish this order for the deliverance of captives who groaned under the tyranny of the infidels he gave them as a habit a white gown ornamented with a red and blue cross. This order possessed at one time about 250 convents in thirteen different provinces. There was formerly the province of England, where this order had forty-three houses; that of Scotland, where it had nine; and that of Ireland, where it had fifty-two.

TRINITY, n. s. Fr. trinité; Lat. trinitas. The ineffable union of the Three Persons in the Godhead. See THEOLOGY.

Touching the picture of the Trinity, I hold it blasphemous and utterly unlawful.

Peacham.

In my whole essay there is not any thing like an objection against the Trinity. Locke.

TRINITY SUNDAY, a festival observed on the Sunday next after Whisunday in honor of the holy Trinity. The observation of this festival was first enjoined in the council of Arles, A. D.

1260.

TRINITY, OF TRINIDADO, a river of Mexico, which takes its rise in Louisiana, in long. 99° W., lat. 34° N., enters the province of San Luis Potosi, and discharges itself into Galvestan's Bay, in lat. 29° 30′ N. It has a meandering course of 350 miles in length.

TRINITY, OF LA TRINITE, a sea-port town of the island of Martinico. The harbour is formed on the south-east side by the Point Caravelle, which is two leagues in length; and on the other side by a very high hill, about 350 or 400 paces in length, which only joins to the mainland by an isthmus not above 200 feet broad. The east side, opposite to the bottom of this bay, is stopped up by a chain of rocks, which appear level with the water when the ebb tide is spent. The town here is a thriving place.

Dr.

TRIN'KET, n. s. This Skinner derives from Fr. trinquet; Ital. trinchetto, a topsail. Johnson imagines it to be corrupted from tricket, some petty finery or decoration. Toys; ornaments of dress; superfluities of decoration. What husbandlie husbands, except they be fooles, But handsom have storehouse for trinkets and tooles ? Tusser.

Beauty and use can so well agree together, that of all the trinkets wherewith they are attired, there is not one but serves to some necessary purpose.

Sidney. They throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets, had been hallowed. Shakspeare. Winter's Tale. Let her but have three wrinkles in her face, Soon will you hear the saucy steward say, Pack up with all your trinkets and away.

Dryden's Juvenal.

Go with all your servants and trinkets about you. L'Estrange.

She was not hung about with toys and trinkets, Arbuthnot. tweezer-cases, pocket-glasses. How Johnny wheedled, threatened, fawned, Swift. Till Phyllis all her trinkets pawned. TRIOB'OLAR, adj. Lat. triobolaris. Vile; mean; worthless. Turn your libel into verse, and then it may pass current amongst the balladmongers for a triobolar ballad. Cheyne.

TRINOMALEE, a town and fortress of the Carnatic. During the wars of the last century this place was often taken and retaken by the contending parties. In its vicinity the British defeated, in the year 1767, the combined armies of the Nizam and Hyder Aly. It is situated on a mountain, and contains a celebrated Hindoo temple. Long. 79° 10′ E., lat. 12° 16' N.

TRIOCALA, or TRIOCLA, an ancient town in the south of Sicily.—Sil. Ital. 14. v. 271.

TRICCIA, in botany, the third order of plants in the class polygamia, comprehending those singular plants which have the polygamy on three distinct plants. It contains two genera, the ficus

and ceratonia.

TRIONES, in astronomy, a sort of constellation or assemblage of seven stars in the Ursa Major, popularly called Charles's Wain. From the septem triones the north pole takes the denomination septentrio.

TRIOPTERIS, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the class decandria, and the order trigynia, ranking in the natural method in the twenty-third order trihilatæ.

TRIOSTEUM, fever-root, or false ipecacuana, a genus of plants belonging to the class of pentandria and the order of monogynia, ranking in the natural method under the forty-eighth order, aggregatæ.

TRIP, v. a., v. n.,& n. s. Fr. treper; Belg TRIPPING, adj. & n. s. trippen; Span. treTRIPPINGLY, adv. Spar. par. To supplant; throw by striking the feet from the ground by a sudden motion; strike from under the body; catch; detect: to fall by losing foot-hold; fail; stumble; run lightly: a stroke; catch; stumble; failure; short journey: tripping, adjective, light; agile; nimble: as a noun substantive, light dance: the adverb corresponding.

Saint Jerome, who pardons not over-easily his adversaries, if any where they chance to trip, presseth him as thereby making all sorts of men God's ene

mies.

Hooker.

Speak the speech trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lieve the town-crier had spoke my lines.

Shakspeare. Hamlet. He conjunct Shakspeare.

Tripped me behind.
Be you contented,

To have a son set your decrees at nougnt,
To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword
That guards the peace and safety of your person. Id.
O thou dissembling cub! what wilt thou be
When time hath sowed a grizzle on thy cafe?
Or will not else thy craft so quickly grow,
That thine own trip shall be thine overthrow? Id.
He throws his arm, and with a long-drawn dash
Blends all together; then distinctly trips

could make a man immortal.

Id. on Medals.

Prior.

O night and shades,

Milton.

Waller.

Dryden.

Grew.

Harris.

In Britain's isles, as Heylin notes, The ladies trip in petticoats. I took a trip to London on the death of the queen. Pope. Each seeming trip, and each digressive start, Displays their case the more, and deep-planned art. TRIPARTITE, adj. Fr. tripartite; Lat. tripartitus. Divided into three parts; having three corresponding copies; relating to three parties. Our indentures tripartite are drawn.

Shakspeare. Henry IV. TRIPE, n.s. Fr. tripe; Ital. and Span. trippa. The intestines; the guts.

How say you to a fat tripe finely broiled? -I like it well.

Shakspeare.

In private draw your poultry, clean your tripe. King. TRIPELA, in mineralogy, a peculiar species of Tripoli, found by Homberg most proper for making moulds for pastes.

TRIPETALOIDEE, in botany, the fifth order of plants, in Linnæus's system of a natural method. See BOTANY, Index.

TRIPLARIS, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the class of triandria and in the order of monogynia.

TRIPLE, adj. & v. a. Fr. triple; Lat. triTRIPLET, n. s. plex, triplus. ThreeTRIPLICATE, adj. fold; consisting of TRIPLICATION, n. s. three conjoined: to TRIPLICITY. treble: triplet is three of a kind; three verses rhyming together: triplicate, made thrice as much: triplication, the act of

Affect not duplicities nor triplicities, nor any certain number of parts in your division of things. Watts's Logick. TRIP'MADAM, n. s. An herb. Tripmadam is used in salads.

TRIPOD, n. s.

Mortimer's Husbandry. Lat. tripus. A seat with three feet, such as that from which the priestess of Apollo delivered oracles.

Two tripods cast in antick mould, With two great talents of the finest gold.

Dryden's Eneid.

The TRIPOD, in antiquity, was a famed sacred seat or stool, supported by three feet, whereon the priests and sybils were placed to render oracles. It was on the tripod that the gods were said to inspire the Pythia with that divine fury and enthusiasm wherewith she was seized at the delivery of her predictions.

M. Spanheim observes, that on Roman medals, the tripod expresses some priesthood, or sacerdotal dignity. A tripod, with a raven and a dolphin, is also the symbol of the duumviry, deputed for keeping of the sybilline oracles, and for consulting them on occasion.

TRIPOLI, the most easterly of the Barbary states on the northern coast of Africa, consists chiefly of a line of coast extending about 800 miles in length, or from Cape Razatin in 11° 38′ E long. to Port Bomba in 32° 20′ E. long. Its interior boundaries are, on the east the desert of Barca, on the south Fezzan, on the west Tunis and part of the Bled el Jereede, or country of dates. For a few miles inland this country is almost throughout of exuberant fertility; beyond this limit, the productive qualities of the soil entirely disappear, and the interior is occupied either with deserts of sand, or with the mountainous districts of Garian and Mesulata. The Tripolitan territory includes the country colonised by the Greeks and celebrated by them under the name of Cyrene. In the great bay, called now the Gulf of Sidra, are the quicksands so dreaded by the ancients, under the appellation of Syrtes. From this point the Greeks derived their knowledge of the African desert, and its savage inhabitants, called then the Nasamones and Lotophagi. Cyrene formed the eastern boundary of the Carthaginian dominion, and, under the last Ptolemy, surnamed Apion, was converted into a Roman province. It was early subjected to the power of the Saracens, and shared the vicissitudes of their dynasties on the Barbary coast: in the reign of Charles V. it was occupied for a short time by the knights of Malta, who, however, were driven out by Sinan Bashaw, the lieutenant of Solyman, and Dragut Rais, the celebrated corsair. It continued under the dependence of the Ottoman Porte, and was governed by Turks till 1713, when Hamet Bashaw, a native of Caramania, disowned the sultan's authority, and erected Tripoli into an independent state. Of late a remarkable revolution has taken place, in consequence of the sovereign reposing his confidence in negro troops. Through their means Yussuf Pacha raised himself, through the murder of his brother, to the supreme power, which he stained with every species of crime, and gave to the administration a barbarous character, which it had not before exhibited. Yet he has studiously cultivated the alliance of Britain, and has afforded to its subjects ample opportunities of exploring the interior.

The tract along the coast produces every article peculiar to the finest tropical climates. The exportation of corn might be considerable, did not the Tripoline government follow the absurd policy of prohibiting it unless by the bashaw, merely for his own profit. The same law applies to horses and mules, the breed of which is cultivated with great care. Bullocks, sheep, and poultry, are reared in immense quantities; and, animal food being little consumed, afford a considerable object of exportation. The beef is small, but very good; the mutton inferior; but the lamb exquisite. The date tree forms the staple of the interior and sandy tracts. In the same districts is found the lotus. A considerable quantity of raw silk was formerly exported; but its cultivation has latterly been neglected. The cassob, unknown in Europe, yields in Tripoli a nutritious flour, which forms an important part of the popular diet.

The basis of the population consists of a mixed

race of Moors, Arabs, and Turks, who seldom exceed the middle size. The Moors have a fair complexion; while that of the Arabs is dark and sallow. They are all remarkable for regular and athletic forms; and a cripple or deformed person is scarcely to be seen. They chiefly inhabit the towns; or carry on cultivation in the immediate vicinity. Jews, renegadoes, and negroes, are also numerous. Some remains are still found of an extraordinary race, called by the ancients the Psylli, to whom was ascribed the power of curing the bites of serpents, and other extraordinary attributes. They are seen in the towns, rushing into the street in a state of apparent frenzy, half naked and foaming at the mouth; and revered by the natives as saints. Captain Lyon found by experience that their feats, in taking up serpents uninjured, could be imitated without much difficulty. In the mountains of Garian there is a race of Arabs, who, according to a custom there prevalent from remote antiquity, live in caves under ground. A populous mountain might be passed over by the traveller without suspecting that it contained a single inhabitant.

Along the whole coast, and in many parts of the interior, are found fine specimens of classic architecture. The spots most remarkable in this respect that have been hitherto observed are Ptolometa (formerly Ptolemais), and still more Lebida, the Leptis Magna of the ancients. The remains of the latter are about three miles in length, and two in breadth, and consist of gateways, walls, an immense number of pillars, some of the very finest granite, and numerous inscribed marbles. Some specimens have been lately conveyed to this country.

TRIPOLI, a considerable city, capital of the foregoing territory, is built in a low situation on a neck of land projecting into the sea. It is of great extent, though, a large portion of the space enclosed within its walls being unoccupied, the population does not exceed 25,000. The caravanseras, mosques, houses of the foreign consuls, and of the higher ranks of the natives, are mostly of stone, and regularly whitewashed twice a-year. The lower kind of houses are of earth, small stones, and mortar; the height never exceeds one story; aud they are built in a square form, with a court in the centre. The roofs, being flat, serve as an agreeable promenade, and as a receptacle for the rain water, which is conveyed by pipes to cisterns below. The better sort of houses are two stories high. With the exception of those belonging to the foreign consuls, they have no windows to the street. The bazaars or market places, which occupy a considerable portion of the city, are kept in excellent order. There is one very elegant mosque: the public baths, of which there are only two, and the caravanseras, are also very spacious and convenient. The chief monument of antiquity is a superb triumphal arch, built of fine marble, ornamented with several bas reliefs, inscriptions, &c., and erected in the reign of Pius Antoninus. The greater part of this beautiful monument is buried in the earth, and the upper part is unfortunately mutilated. The police of the town is excellent: a number of people are also kept for the express purpose of sweeping the town. The harbour