440 WILLIAM Christy's 



be used on Palm Sunday.' There appears to be a great 

 demand for them, from the number of trees we saw wretchedly 

 disfigured. 



As we advanced, the country again became more rocky and 

 open, and we had a fine view of the sea on our right. The 

 road was inclosed by stone walls, which were partially covered 

 by Ruhia fruticosa, Periplora Icemgata, a frutescent Solanum- 

 like plant, {Physalis sp. ?), and a shrubby nettle, much re- 

 sembling Mr. Lowe's Madeira Urtica eletata. The numerous 

 gateways by the road-side, leading to different farms, &c. were 

 almost covered with Davallia Canariensis, which beautifully 

 fringed the crucifixes and other sculptures with which some 

 of them are adorned. The waste ground by the road-side 

 abounded with Arum dracunculus^ A. Arisarum, and Delphi- 

 nium Staphysagi'ia, not yet in bloom, while the rocky banks 

 were covered with a species of Thymus or Satureja, and the 

 beautiful Lavandula before mentioned. A solitary specimen 

 now and then of Agave Americana, Opuntia Tuna, or Kleinia 

 neriifolia, showed us that we were now descending to a milder 

 region. By the time we reached the brink of the great valley, 

 in which the two towns of Orotava are situated, it was quite 

 dusk, and we found the descent of what more resembles a 

 staircase of rocks than a road, rather a difficult matter in the 

 deepening twilight, and with jaded horses. However the whole 

 party reached the bottom in safety. Once on level ground, 

 we found a tolerably good road, and pushed on briskly, aided 

 by the light of a fine moon, which now appeared above the 

 mountains. We passed a large inclosure, which our guides 

 informed us was " el Botanico ;" and leaving the road to 

 Villa Orotavo on our left, we soon found ourselves entering 

 the Puerta, and in a few minutes were safely housed in the 

 posada of Senhor Antonio Tinoco. The arrival, after dark, 

 of a party of eleven tired travellers, with their horses and 

 attendants, and without previous notice, at the solitary inn of a 

 small town, not often visited by strangers, was rather a perilous 

 experiment, and it was therefore with no small satisfaction we 

 learned from our lively hostess that all could be accommodated. 

 This, however, was not to be accomplished without some skill 



' After our return from TenerifTe, a vessel arrived at Funchal from tlie Cana- 

 ries, whose cargo principally consisted of these leaves. They were carried in the 

 grand procession at tiie cathedral, on Palm Sunday. 





