Map of the island of Trinidad, sheet 3

Title Leupe: A New Map of the Island of Trinidad.

This map was made directly after the capture of Trinidad by the British in 1797. One of the first orders given by the conquering general Sir Ralph Abercromby was 'the physical inventory of the land and its properties' to be drawn. The assigned cartographer not only produced an inventory but also divided the entire arable land into equal lots and drafted an elaborate infrastructure. The accompanying 'Descriptive Account of the Island of Trinidad' gives further details on the 'proprietors of land', the 'quantity of land', the population and agriculture. This sheer amount of detail bore its influence on successive surveys of the island like the Descriptive Account of the Island of Trinidad produced five years later when the island was officialy declared a British colony.

Part of a larger map (VEL1437A-E).

Scale-bar of various degrees. 15 British Statute miles = 208 ‘strepen’.