44*8 WILLIAM Christy's 



of desolation and decay. It contains few plants of any interest, 

 either native or exotic. Some rocky ground near it looked 

 well for botanizing, but having a lady under my care 1 

 could not explore it. The rocks immediately adjoining the 

 road afforded Frankenia ericifolia, Chr. Sm., Arum arisarum, 

 Atriplex sp., Ah/ssiim Canariense ? and Lavandula multijicla ? 

 In the hedges near Villa Orotava, we gathered Periploca 

 Iwvigata, Physalis aristata? and Bosea Yervamora. The 

 town of Villa Orotava seems much superior to the Puerta, 

 both in the fineness of its streets and the greater splendour of 

 its churches and convents. One church in particular struck 

 us much, by the extreme beauty of its highly ornamented 

 facade, some of the niches and sculptures of which were still 

 farther adorned with huge flowering plants of Sempervwum. 

 Some of the party who visited the churches while we were 

 seeing the Dragon Tree describe them as being very chaste 

 and elegant, the pulpit, &c. being usually of white marble, 

 and the whole interior free from the tawdry ornaments so often 

 seen in Catholic churches. The far-famed Dragon Tree of 

 Orotava is situated in the garden of a very fine house at present 

 uninhabited, except by a couple of servants. The rooms are 

 very large and lofty, well adapted for a warm climate, though 

 at the time of our visit a fire would have been no uncomfortable 

 thing. But I must not forget the principal object of our visit 

 — the Dragon Tree. This venerable patriarch of the vegetable 

 kingdom is remarkable for its size and antiquity, but is other- 

 wise as uninteresting and unpicturesque an object as can well 

 be imagined. Without a drawing it would be almost impos- 

 sible to convey any correct idea of its appearance. The 

 beautiful engraving of it, published in London some years ago, 

 from a drawing by Williams, is correct, as far as the tree itself 

 is concerned, (though it has since lost several branches,) but 

 the accessories are quite imaginary. It is there represented as 

 surrounded by luxuriant tropical vegetation ; whereas, in 

 reality, it is situated among the cabbages of a neglected kitchen 

 garden, surrounded by a low wall, and overlooked by the 

 houses of a back street. It would certainly have been un- 

 pardonable, when so near, not to have visited this celebrated 

 object of curiosity ; but we agreed unanimously that there was 

 mothing in its appearance to repay us for a walk of several 

 miles. To most of us, by far the most interesting object in the 



