^06 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



extinct volcanoes, the decomposed 

 lava on the edj^es of these craters 

 having a strong red ocherous tint; 

 by degrees the lava becomes more 

 and more covered by a small ash, 

 and the masses or heaps of pumice 

 gradually increase, till the surface 

 is completely concealed. At length 

 an immense undulated plain spreads 

 itself, like a fan, on all sides nearly 

 as far as the eye can reach, and this 

 plain is bounded on the west south- 

 west, and south south-west, by the 

 regions of the peak ; and on the 

 east and north east by a range of 

 steep perpendicular precipices and 

 mountains, many leagues in cir- 

 cumference, called by theSpaniards 

 Las Faldas. M. Escolar informed 

 me that the wall could be traced 

 for many leagues, the whole cir- 

 cumference of which evidently 

 formed the side of an immense era- 

 ter. This tract called Las Cana- 

 les, contains, according to the same 

 authority, 12 square leagues. As 

 we entered this plain from the 

 south-west, there are to be seen 

 several declivities of lava and strata, 

 broken inwards towards the plain, 

 and evidently a contin\iation of the 

 above-mentioned line of wall and 

 the remains of the original crater. 

 There is here no appearance of co- 

 lumnar formation, the lava being 

 earth}' and porphyritic ; this con- 

 tinuity of wall, at present so easy 

 to be traced, may be considered as 

 forming the sides of one immense 

 crater, from which perhaps origi- 

 nally the lavas of the island flowed, 

 which might have thrown up the 

 cone of the peak, and covered these 

 wide-spreading plains or elanuras 

 with the deep beds of ashes and 

 pumice. On this plain or desert, 

 for we had long left all show of ve- 

 getation, except, a few stunted 



plants of Spanish broom, a sensible 

 change was felt in the atmosphere; 

 the wind was keen and sharp, and 

 the climate like that of England, 

 in the months of autumn. All here 

 was sad, silent, and solitary. We 

 saw at a distance the fertile plains 

 on the coast, lying as it were under 

 our feet, and aftbrding a cheerful 

 contrast to the scenes of desolation 

 with which we were surrounded ; 

 we were already 7 or 8,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, and had 

 reached the bottf)m of the second 

 region of the peak. immense 

 masses of lava, some of them many 

 hundred tons in weight, lie scatter- 

 ed on these pumice plains. Some 

 are broken by their fall, and all 

 wear the appearance of having been 

 projected by volcanic ibrce. Their 

 composition is uniformly porphy- 

 ritic, with large masses of feldspar; 

 the whole compact and heavy, and 

 bearing uo resemblance to the 

 earthy lava we had seen in such 

 abundance prior to our entering 

 these puuiice plains. Many of these 

 masses are completely vitrified, 

 while others only show marks of 

 incipient vitrification; but from 

 their site and fracture, from the in- 

 sulated state in which they lie, 

 from there being no appearance of 

 lava in a stream, from the pumice 

 bed being very deep, (and in one 

 place I saw it exposed to a depth of 

 between 20 and 30 feet), from 

 all these facts taken together, there 

 can be littledoubt that these masses 

 were thrown out of the mountain 

 when that lava flowed, which is of 

 similar substance, and which is 

 called by theSpaniardsjE/Ma/Pa/s. 

 Having reached the end of the 

 plain, we found ourselves at the 

 bottom of a steep hill, at the foot 

 of which is a mass or current of 



