96 CANARY ISLANDS. 



which serve to keep the blood in free circulation, and prove 

 exceedingly offensive at first, to the visitors of these islands. 

 AnimaUa Radiata. I come now to the last of the ani- 

 mal kingdom, called zoophytes, — *' although the lowest in 

 the scale of animated beings, yet highly interesting in the 

 sublime plan of creation. Their numbers exceed all cal- 

 culation ; the minuteness of many species is such, that they 

 cannot be discriminated by the aid of the most powerful 

 microscopes." Among this class of animals, these islands 

 are not destitute of their share, but whatever relates to 

 them I must pass over in silence. 



Meteorology. — Mr. Anderson, the naturalist, in the 

 third voyage of Captain Cook, particularly recommends 

 European invalids to go to Teneriffe on account of the 

 equality of the temperature, and the mildness of the climate 

 of these islands. The ground on this island rises in an 

 amphitheatre, and presents, at the same time, the tempera- 

 ture of almost every climate, from the scorching heats of 

 Africa, to the cold of the higher Alps. Three hours' ride 

 from any part of the sea-shore towards the centre of the 

 island, will afford every degree of temperature that man 

 can desire ; and none intolerable, except in winter, when 

 the light atmosphere on the summits of the higher moun- 

 tains becomes too much chilled. Indeed, so happy is the 

 climate of Port Orotava, that the range of the thermometer 

 during the years 1823-4-5 did not extend below 62° nor 

 above 83°, although it sometimes surpasses for a day or 

 two of south-west wind in autumn, but scarcely ever sinks 

 below the former. 



No climate on the globe seems better fitted to dissipate 

 melancholy and restore peace to an agitated mind, than 

 this island. The unrivalled beauty of its situation, and 

 the salubrity of the air, conspire to quiet the anxieties of the 

 spirit, and invigorate the body, while the feelings are not 

 depressed by the sultry heat, the pestilential vapors, nor 

 the revolting sight of slavery which pervades almost every 

 colony of the torrid zone. 



In winter, the climate of Laguna is extremely foggy, 

 and the inhabitants often complain of cold. It has been 

 remarked, that snow has never been known to fall in that 



