2 REMARKS AND OPINIONS. 



Schmidt fell, in his expedition to the river Zaire, 

 a dear victim to the sciences which he served. * 



The island of Teneriffe extends from north-east 

 to south-west. The south-western part is occu- 

 pied by the Pic and its base ; the north-eastern, by 

 rugged dreary mountains. They are separated by 

 a broad col or pass ; on the top of which is situ- 

 ated the chief city, Laguna, and below it is Santa 

 Cruz, on the south-eastern coast, leaning on the 

 eastern mountains. The town and harbour of 

 Oratava lie on the opposite coast, at the foot of 

 the Pic, in the midst of beautiful vineyards and 

 palm-gardens, which remind us of the insukefor- 

 tunatce. The way thither, from Santa Cruz, is 

 through Laguna, (a miserable town, with seven 

 convents,) and through the villages of Matanza 

 and Vittoria, names which here, as in other Spanish 

 possessions, indicate the fate of the natives on the 

 conquest : " Victory and Massacre !'* 



The country round Saint Cruz is naked and 

 desolate ; only a few palms and plantains, rising 

 above the white walls of the town, announce to 

 the European who lands there a more southern 

 clime. The Flora, like that of all islands, is poor. 

 It is most nearly related, by the similarity of its 

 species, genera, and vegetable forms, to the Flora 



* Narrative of an expedition to explore the river Zaire. 

 London, 1818. 4to. 



There has aheady appeared, A general View of the Flora of 

 the Canary Islands, an Essay, h\ L.V.Buch, in the Memeirs. 

 of the Academy. Berlin, 1819^^ 



