Some Account of the Island of Tener'iffe, 255 



mule sinking knee deep at each step, we arrived at about five 

 in the afternoon at the other extremity of the stream of lava, 

 which descending from the summit of the second region of the 

 peak divides at the foot of the cone into two branches, the one 

 running to the north-east and the other to the north north-west : 

 at the extremity of this latter are several immense blocks or 

 masses of lava which bear the name of La E'ilnficia di los In- 

 gieses, and are rocks, not caves as has been stated by some 

 writers. It was here we were to pass the night : so, lighting a 

 fire made of the dry branches of the Spanish broom, and stretch- 

 ing part of a sail over a portion of the rock, we ate our dinner 

 and laid ourselves down to sleep, I however passed the best 

 part of the night by the fire, the weather being piercing cold : 

 ai I stood l>y the fire the view all around me was wild and terri- 

 fic ; the moon rose about ten at niglit, and though in her third 

 quarter gave sufficient light to sliow the waste and wilderness by 

 which we were surrounded : the peak and the upper regions 

 which we had yet to ascend toweied awfully above our heads, 

 while below, the mountains tliat had appeared of such a height 

 in the morning, and had cost us a day's labour to climb, lay 

 stretched as plains at our feet: from the uncommon rarity of the 

 atmosphere the whole vault of heaven appeared studded with in- 

 numerable stars, while the valleys of Orotava were hidden from 

 our view by a thin veil of light fleecy clouds, that floated far be- 

 neath the elevated spot we had chosen for our resting-place : the 

 solemn stillness of the night was only interrupted by the crack- 

 ling of the fire round which we stood, and bv the whistling of 

 the wind, which coming in hollow gusts from the mountain re- 

 sembled the roar of distant cannon. 



Between two and three in the morning we resumed on foot 

 our ascent of the same pumice mountain, the lower part of which 

 we had climbed on horse-back the preceding evening : the ascent 

 became however much more rapid and difficult, our feet sinking- 

 deep in the ashes at every step. From the uncommon sharpness 

 of the acclivity we were obliged to stop often to take breath ; 

 after several halts we at last reached the head of the pumice hill 

 at its point of intersection with t!ie tv/o streams of lava, the di- 

 rection of which I have before described. This is the commence- 

 ment of that division of the mountain called El Mai Pais. After 

 resting some short time here, we began to climb the stream of 

 lava, stopjjing from mass to mass: the ascent is steep, painful and 

 hazardous ; in some places the stream of lava is heaped up in 

 dykes or emijankments, and we were often obliged to darnber 

 over them as one ascends a steep wall. This lava is of the same 

 porphyritic appearance as the masses wc found in the plains ; it 

 is not covered with a thick scoria, aud seems never to liave been 



in 



