84 Baron Von Buch's Observations on Madeira 



cudus for their verdure and their stately palms ; and when we 

 descend into the valley to Palmas, the first houses and streets 

 resemble those of Tunis and Algiers. The long, parched de- 

 tHvity of the mountain of St Nicolas stretches out along the 

 side ; and, under it, the inhabitants live in cellars and caverns ; 

 a street of swallows'* nests. Next rise houses like walls, without 

 roof or window ; then lofty and spacious buildings. Every 

 house in Sta Cruz itself, upon TenerifFe, had a roof, and above 

 it a balcony. Every thing here is flat ; every thing is divided 

 by horizontal lines, which are but little relieved from the, bare 

 white back-ground of the hills. Palms shoot up on all sides, 

 and many other trees that bear no resemblance to those of Eu- 

 rope, such as tamarinds, and^Carica papaia, in great abundance. 

 But every thing is Spanish : no oriental forms are met with in 

 the streets. 



Las Palmas, a town of greater magnitude than Orotava or 

 Sta Cruz, is almost as large as Laguna, and contains 8096 inha- 

 bitants. Like Seville, it is divided into two very unequal parts, 

 by the copious rivulet Guinegada. In the lesser division, De la 

 Vegueta, stands the beautiful and handsome cathedral (Justicia), 

 the court-house, the palace of the bishop, likewise all the houses 

 of the canons, and their families, and of the (Majoratsherren) on 

 the island. Hence the sable robes and the roof-like hats of the 

 priests are by far the most numerous here. The tradesmen and 

 the merchants live in La Triana, the greater division, and all 

 the merchants' shops are in the same quarter. Between those 

 two divisions, like an island, stand the two nunneries of the 

 Clara and S. Bernando, and a monastery of Franciscans. Upon 

 the top of the mountain rises the solitary Castello del Rey, 

 which, by means of a wall on a steep precipice towards the sea, 

 joins with the little Castello de Casa Mata, which again is con- 

 nected with the Castello de Sta Anna, immediately on the sea- 

 shore. 



The Bishop shares the landed revenue with the king and the 



chapter, and his own income is estimated at 100,000 piastres. 



He is also understood to be the prime mover of all the affairs of 



the island. All who aim at spiritual promotion in the island 



• flock to him ; and his palace is surrounded by the establishments 



. in which the youth destined to clerical offices are trained and 



