NATURAL HISTORY. 



6\\ 



may say at venture, it is about 

 three miles in circumference, 

 though towards the S. S. W. the 

 descent is much more aVjrupt, and 

 the plain from which the cone 

 springs not perceptible. The view 

 from thesummitis stupendous : we 

 could plainly discover the whole 

 form of the island, and we made 

 out distinctly three or four of 

 the islands, which together are 

 called the Canaries; we could not 

 however see Lancerotte or Fuerte- 

 veiitiira, though we were told that 

 other travellers had distinguished 

 them all. 



From this spot the central chain 

 of mountains that runs from south- 

 west to north-east is easily to be 

 dis;i(igui>lied. These, with the suc- 

 cession of fertile and woody valleys, 

 commencing from San Ursula and 

 ending at Las Horcas, with the long 

 line of (jiecipitons lava rocks that 

 lay on the right of our ascent, an<l 

 which traverse that part of the 

 island, tunning from east to west 

 from their point of departure at 

 the Canales to where they end in 

 an abrupt headland on the coast, 

 with their forests and villages and 

 vineyards, the port with the ship- 

 ping in the roads, the towers of 

 Orotava with their sniics sjlitterins: 

 as the morning sun burst upon 

 them, afforded a cheerful contrast 

 to the streams of lava, the mounds 

 of ash and pumice, and the sul- 

 phuratefl rock on which we had 

 taken our seat. The sensation of 

 extreme height was in fact one of 

 the most extraordinary I ever lelt ; 

 and tl.ough I did not find the pain 

 in my chest arising from the rarity 

 of the atmosphere, near so acute as 

 on the mountains of Switzerland, 

 yet there was a keenness in the 

 air, independent of the cold, that 



crealecF ho small uneasiness in the 

 lungs. The respiration became 

 short and quick, and repeated halts 

 were found necessary. The idea 

 also of extreme height was to me 

 more determinate and precise than 

 on the mountains of Switzerland ; 

 and though the immediate objects 

 of vision were not so numerous, 

 jet as the ascent is more rapid, the 

 declivity sharper, and there is here 

 no mountain like Mount Blanc 

 towering above you, the 12,000 

 feet above the level of the sea ap- 

 peared considerably more than a 

 similiir elevation above the lake of 

 Geneva. We remained at the 

 summit about three quarters of an 

 hour : our ascent had cost us a la- 

 bour of four hours, as we left the 

 Estaucia at ten minutes before 

 three, and reached the top of the 

 peak before seven ; many indeed 

 of our halts were needless, and 

 M. Escolar told me that he had 

 twice asceiided to the summit in 

 somewhat less than three hours. 

 Our thermometer, whicli was gra- 

 duated to the scale of Fahrenheit, 

 was during our ascent as follows : 

 at Orotava, at eight in the morn- 

 ing, 74"; at six in the evening, at 

 La Estancia, 50°; at one in the fol- 

 lowing morning 42°; at La Cueva, 

 at half-past four 32^; at the bot- 

 tom of the cone 36°; at the top of 

 the Peak, one hour and a half after 

 sun-rise, -38°. The descent down 

 the cone is difficult from its ex- 

 treme rapidity, and from the fall 

 of large stones which loosen them- 

 selves from the beds o'" |)umice. — 

 Having at last scrambled to the 

 bottom, we pursued our march 

 down the other course of the lava, 

 that is to say down its westerly 

 side, having ai^cended its eastern. 

 The ravines and rents in this 



