1866. ] Teneriffe. 21 
The following were the observations made on the wall surround- 
ing the crater, and a few feet below the highest point :— 
| Sheltered Black Bulb | Dew-point of Boiling-point | B { 
| Thermometer. | Thermometer, | Depression. of Water, © { ~~atometer. 
Se 7 a, alts 
Noon. . 54925 | 200° | 62° 191°-125 | 19°-093 
| 
Although the atmosphere appeared perfectly clear, yet when I 
looked across the sun’s rays from the shade of a rock, there was an 
evident dust-haze, probably brought over by the wind from the 
neighbouring desert of Africa. 
The view from the top was most magnificent, the masses of 
eumuli, which had been resting at an elevation of 5,000 feet above 
the level of the sea, had entirely disappeared; with the exception 
of the islands of Forteventura and Lanzarote, the whole of the 
Canarian archipelago seemed to be close under my feet, the moun- 
tains of Grand Canary appeared as if on the island below, Palma 
46 miles distant, and Gomera with Hierro were quite distinct. 
I think it must be allowed that the Peak is a volcano of 
eruption, but there are strong evidences that it 1s nearly surrounded 
by a more ancient and enormous crater of elevation, termed the 
Caiiadas, which form an atrium 23 miles in circumference. 
The Canadas are surrounded by cliffs of lava, varying from 540 
feet to about 1,000 feet high; the plain of this crater is 4,383 feet 
lower than the mean elevation of the cone of the peak, which rises 
like a great mole-hill nearly in the centre of this atrium. From 
the cliffs of this atrium, various ridges of mountains spring out like 
the spokes of a wheel; some of them rise to an elevation of 8,950 
feet, such as the Risco de Guajara, which is part of the elevated 
chain of mountains surrounding the Canadas from the E. to W.S.W. 
These ridges of mountains, forming as it were buttresses, have radial 
valleys between them, running for some miles towards the sea. 
As you pass over these currents and mountains of lava, the view 
is so bewildering, that it requires two or three visits before you can 
understand the system of these volcanic mountains, which can be 
done only by making a preliminary observation from a very elevated 
position, so as to take a bird’s-eye view of the whole island, and then 
making more observations in detail on foot. 
These various mountain ridges have all the appearance of 
having been at one time jomed together, for when I examined 
their respective strata I found that they intercalated in the same 
manner; for instance, No 8 stratum in one ridge would be of 
the same type as No. 8 in an opposite one, though they were 
some miles apart. 
Some idea may be formed of the great antiquity of the streams 
of lava that run towards the sea, by a careful examination of the 
