114 CANARY ISLANDS. 



face of the soil, and is put together in the roughest man- 

 ner possible. It is drawn with a pair of oxen, and little 

 effort is requisite to keep it down ; in fact, the whole is 

 so slight a concern, that the laborer, on unyoking his team 

 at the end of his work, always throws the plough over his 

 shoulders, and carries it home without any inconvenience. 

 The greater portion of the natives, having no personal inter- 

 est in the soil which they cultivate, do not exert themselves 

 beyond that state which the fertility of the soil renders pro- 

 ductive. No inducements are held out by the Spanish 

 government for improvements of any kind, and the natives, 

 possessing an heredhary aversion to the introduction of 

 modern inventions, do not advance one step beyond the 

 modes which have been adopted for centuries. " Unhappily, 

 the real welfare of the inhabitants does not correspond with 

 the advantages which nature has lavished on these regions. 

 The farmers are not proprietors; the fruits of their labor 

 belong to the nobles ,* and those feudal institutions, which, 

 for so long a time, have spread misery throughout Europe, 

 still weigh heavily on the happiness of the people." 



The cultivated regions are so fertile, that two crops of 

 grain may be obtained in a year, and a succession of crops 

 of potatoes and many other kinds of vegetables or fruits. 

 Grain is raised only by imperfectly ploughing the ground 

 and sowing the seed which is slightly covered with a hoe, 

 and being profusely supplied with moisture, it brings forth 

 in abundance, and is separated from the ear in a very rude 

 manner. A circular space in the field is prepared by mak- 

 ing a solid and smooth foundation, upon which the sheaves 

 are placed, and a long frame with projecting points on the 

 under side is dragged over them by oxen or cows ; upon 

 this frame the driver sits, and often it is loaded with 

 stones. The projecting points break the straw and detach 

 the kernel, which is carefully separated, and is ready for 

 use. But one of the greatest exertions bestowed upon 

 agricultural industry, is the culture of the grape. The 

 vines are planted arnons; the crevices and loose fragments 

 of lavas, from which they derive their nourishment, and 

 spread their tendrils over the surface of the rocks, receiv- 

 ing the whole influence of the heat from the perpendicular 

 ravs of the sun, as well as from the reflected heat from the 



