502 



ANNUAL REGISTliR, 1814. 



by the name of the Peak of Tene- 

 riffe, and which is the highest land 

 not only in the island, but in all the 

 Canaries ; the mean of various ob- 

 servations niakinf^ it 12,500 feet 

 above the level of the sea. It is 

 visible at a great distance ; we saw 

 it perfectly distinct 34 leagues off 

 by chronometrical observation, 

 when it appeared rising like a cone 

 from the bed of the ocean ; and I 

 have heard that it has been clearly 

 distinguished at a distance of forty- 

 five leagues. 



The rocks and strata of the 

 Island of TenerifFe are wholly vol- 

 canic ; a long chain of mountains, 

 which may be termed the central 

 chain, traverses the island from the 

 foot of the second region of the 

 Peak sloping down on the eastern, 

 western and northern, sides, to the 

 sea. Towards the south, or more 

 properly the S.S.W. the mountains 

 are nearly perpendicular, and, 

 though broken into ridges and oc- 

 casionally separated by deej) ravines 

 that are out transversely as well as 

 longitudinally, tiiere are none of 

 thoi-e plains nor that gradual decli- 

 nation of strata that the south-earit- 

 ern and north-western sides of the 

 island exhibit. 



From the Barranco Seco, in the 

 ntighl)Ouri)ood of Santa Cruz, to 

 the noitherly point, called Puiila del 

 Hidalgo, a series of steep and 

 abrupt mountains form headlands 

 to the sea, separated from the cen- 

 tral chain by the valley of Laguna ; 

 these mountains are rugged and 

 peaked, drawn up, if the term may 

 be used, in a column, and are di- 

 vided by deep ravines. The sides 

 of these mountains are steep, being 

 in many places cut nearly perpen- 

 dicular to the horizon, and are all 

 composed of lava, generally of the 



basaltic formation, mixed with beds 

 of tufa and pumice. From Hidalgo 

 point to that of Teno, the most 

 westerly point of the Island, the 

 strata vary from beds of pumice and 

 decomposed lava and ash, which 

 form the plains of Laguna, Tica- 

 ronte and Songal, to streams and 

 currents and headlands of lava si- 

 milar to those of the Bai ranco Hun- 

 do, San Ursula, Las Horcas, and 

 Las Guanchas. The slope from 

 the central chain is here gradual, 

 intersected by ravines and streams 

 of lava. The soil famed for its 

 fertility and which produces the 

 Teneritfe wine, is composed of lava 

 and ash in a state of decomposi- 

 tion. Headlands, some of them 

 from two to three hundred feet in 

 height, project into the sea between 

 San Ursula and Orotava, forming 

 perpendicular cliffs. At the west- 

 ern extremity of the island from 

 Punta di Teno to Puerto de los 

 Christianos, the strata rise in a 

 broken ridge to the Peak, the land 

 ascending gradually from Punta de 

 Teno Ly a chain of small peaked 

 hills ; the point itself being very 

 loiv and projecting as a |jromontory 

 into the sea. The declination of 

 the strata is similar from the Peak 

 to Pueito de los Christianos. This 

 south-westerly chain is broken into 

 many abrupt ridges, and is cut 

 nearly peipendicular down to the 

 sea, I could not perceive any base 

 or shelf as on the other sides of the 

 Peak, irom which the cone arose, 

 but the fall is regular though steep. 

 From Puerto de los Christianos to 

 Santa Cruz, comprising the south- 

 ern and south-eastern sides of the 

 island, the form is similar to that 

 in the vicinity of Orotava, but it is 

 barren and desolate, laid waste by 

 streams of lava. In the short space 



