"
So it appears that before Harden-Hickey seized the island it
already had been claimed by Great Britain, and later, on account of
the Portuguese settlement, by Brazil. The answer Harden-Hickey
made to these claims was that the English never settled in
Trinidad, and that the Portuguese abandoned it, and, therefore,
their claims lapsed. In his "prospectus" of his island,
Harden-Hickey himself describes it thus:
"Trinidad is about five miles long and three miles wide. In spite of
its rugged and uninviting appearance, the inland plateaus are rich
with luxuriant vegetation.
"Prominent among this is a peculiar species of bean, which is not
only edible, but extremely palatable. The surrounding seas swarm
with fish, which as yet are wholly unsuspicious of the hook.
Dolphins, rock-cod, pigfish, and blackfish may be caught as
quickly as they can be hauled out. I look to the sea birds and the
turtles to afford our principal source of revenue. Trinidad is the
breeding-place of almost the entire feathery population of the
South Atlantic Ocean. The exportation of guano alone should
make my little country prosperous. Turtles visit the island to
deposit eggs, and at certain seasons the beach is literally alive with
them. The only drawback to my projected kingdom is the fact that
it has no good harbor and can be approached only when the sea is
calm.
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