RECOLLECTIONS OF TENERIFFE. 449 



garden was a Date Palm, (said to be the largest in the 

 island,) with a clear, perfectly straight stem of nearly one 

 hundred feet, surmounted by a splendid crown, showing a 

 perfect exemption from the before-described injuries inflicted 

 on most of the palms in the neighbourhood. Its great height 

 and consequent difficulty of access render it on this occasion 

 perfectly safe. Having gratified our curiosity, and waited till 

 one or two of our party had sketched the Dragon Tree, we 

 returned to our quarters at Puerta Orotava. We spent a very 

 agreeable evening at the house of an English gentleman who 

 is resident in Teneriffe for his health. On our way from Villa 

 Orotava we observed two very pretty species of wagtails. One 

 of these, [Motacilla fava?) was distinguished by the bril- 

 liant yellow of its plumage. The other, which was, how- 

 ever, much the most elegant of the two, was of a uniform grey 

 colour, very different to our M. Alba, which is mottled with 

 black and white. The only insects we observed were some 

 large dragon-flies, a white Pontia resembling P. Brassica^ and 

 a species of Hipparchia, somewhat like H. Xiphias, but con- 

 siderably smaller. As we walked in Mr. Smith's garden by 

 moonlight, we had a very fine view of the Peak, which looked 

 whiter and more dazzling than ever. We had before observed 

 that the rain of the previous night had been either snow or 

 hail in the higher regions. On some of the lower mountains 

 the snow was lying almost as low as the chestnut zone. 



1th. — Our party divided this morning, three of us returning 

 to Santa Cruz, and the remainder going in an opposite direc- 

 tion, for the purpose of visiting Garachico, formerly the best 

 port in the island, but which was destroyed by a lateral erup- 

 tion of the Peak in 1706. The town has since been rebuilt 

 on the lava stream, which covers the old port and anchorage, 

 but is now a place of little importance. The party describe 

 the road as very interesting, in some parts leading beneath the 

 magnificent cliffs of the sea-shore, and in other places along 

 the edge of the great pine forest at the base of the Peak, of 

 which they had a splendid view. Near St. Juan de la Rambla 

 they noticed some particularly large specimens of Plnus Cana- 

 riensis, and gathered abundance of that rare and beautiful fern, 

 Cheilanthes pulcliella. But to return to our own movements. 

 On leaving Orotava we had a fine view of the great valley in 

 a direction opposite to that in which we had before seen it 



NO. V. VOL. V. 3 M 



