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TOBAGO

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 1041 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TOBAGO , an See also:

island in the See also:British See also:West Indies, 20 M. N.E. of See also:Trinidad, in II° 15' N. and 60° 4o' W. Pop. 18,751. It is 26 m. See also:long and 71 M. broad, and has an See also:area of 114 sq. m. or 73,313 acres, of which about io,000 are under cultivation. It consists of a single See also:mountain See also:mass (volcanic in origin), 18 m. in length, and rising in the centre to a height of 'Soo ft. A See also:great See also:part of the island is clothed with dense See also:forest, in which many valuable hardwood trees are found. The higher lands See also:form part of what is known as the " See also:Rain Preserve," where, in See also:order to attract and preserve the rainfall, the trees are never allowed to be felled. The See also:average temperature is 81° F. and the yearly rainfall is 66 in. The See also:rainy See also:season lasts from See also:June to See also:December, with a See also:short See also:interval in See also:September. The valleys are particularly adapted to See also:horse- and See also:sheep-farming, which are growing See also:industries. The See also:soil is fertile and produces See also:rubber, See also:cotton, See also:sugar, See also:coffee, See also:cocoa, See also:tobacco and nutmegs, all of which are exported; See also:pimento (allspice) grows See also:wild in the greatest profusion.

The See also:

schools are conducted by various denominations, assisted by See also:government grants. The island is divided into seven parishes. See also:Scarborough (pop. 769), the See also:capital, is on the See also:south See also:coast, 8 m. from its south-western point. It stands at the See also:foot of a See also:hill 425 ft. high, on which is situated Fort See also:King See also:George, now without a See also:garrison. There is a lighthouse at Baedlet Point. Tobago, properly Tobaco, was discovered in 1498 by See also:Columbus, who named it See also:Assumption, and the British See also:flag was first planted in I580. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Dutch and then of the See also:French, and was finally ceded to the British in 1814. Until 1889 it formed part of the See also:colony of the Windward Islands, but in that See also:year it was joined to Trinidad, its legal and fiscal arrangements, however, being kept distinct. Ten years later it became one of the wards of Trinidad, under a See also:warden and See also:magistrate; its See also:revenue, See also:expenditure and See also:debt were merged into those of the See also:united colony, and Trinidadian See also:law, with very few exceptions, was made binding in Tobago.

End of Article: TOBAGO

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