RECOLLECTIONS OF TENERIFFE. 445 



as to its real height. Mr. Diston, an English gentleman in 

 Orotava, many yeai's resident in Teneriffe, and who has col- 

 lected a most valuable mass of statistical and other information 

 respecting the various islands, assured us that he had, by 

 levelling, ascertained the actual height of the Caiiadas to be 

 9,800 feet. This, I believe, is considerably more than the 

 elevation assigned to it by Webb and Berthelot. There seems 

 little doubt but that this extraordinary circus is the ancient 

 crater of this mighty volcano, in the centre of which the 

 present cone has been raised by subsequent eruptions. Our 

 only acquisition in the way of Entomology, besides the Hippo- 

 bosca before mentioned, was the elytron of a large Carabus, 

 about the size of our alpine C. glabratus, and a small brown 

 Cu?'culio ? One of our party picked up a recent shell of the 

 genus Purpura, which had apparently not been long exposed 

 to the weather. How it came there it is impossible to say, 

 as the height seems too great for it to have been carried up 

 by a bird of prey, and the spot is only visited by occasional 

 travellers like ourselves. 



Our guides intimating to us that it was time to start, as we 

 were to return by a rather longer route, we once more mounted, 

 and had a good gallop over the level surface of the plain. In 

 that part of the barrier to which our course was directed there 

 was no apparent outlet, and we began to wonder how we were 

 to get out ; but on approaching it we found it was not abso- 

 lutely perpendicular, presenting a very steep declivity, covered 

 with lietama bushes. To this our horses"" heads were turned, 

 and by the application of a sound " ai'gumentum ad posteriorem" 

 from a good cudgel, away we went. In some places it was so 

 steep that I could hardly keep my seat, but, fortunately, no 

 accident occurred. On reaching the summit, we enjoyed a 

 fine view of the cone and the basin we had just left. This 

 being also the greatest elevation we attained, we had a most 

 extensive view, but which was principally confined to the sea, 

 owing to the shoulders of the mountain hiding the country at 

 its base. A slight haze on the sea prevented our seeing the 

 islands of Palma and Gomera, which should have been visible. 

 The day, however, was most lovely, not a single cloud being 

 visible except a small patch resting on the distant chain of 

 Anagas. The descent through the Leguminous region was 

 exceedingly gradual, and many of the lietama bushes, owing to 



