Book excerpt: Fr. Anthony de Verteuil, a well-known author about Trinidad's history with a large number of titles published over several decades, wrote this charming and interesting book about "Down the Islands." The small and tiny mountaintops that peep out of the ocean between Trinidad's westernmost tip and Venezuela's Paria peninsula have traditionally been the place for weekend homes of many of the country's old families, and generations of children virtually grew up there, learning about the sea and about boats. But there is more to the history of the Western Isles: historical battles were fought between them, pirates hid their loot there in sheltered coves, and the largest centipedes ever beheld by mankind live in their undergrowth!