VILAFLOR 73 



which latter circumstance was accounted for by the fact 

 that she had been for some time housekeeper to an 

 English lady who lived for many years at Vilaflor, 

 and died there. On one occasion a live partridge was 

 brought into my room, with a string attached to its 

 legs, and my landlady wished to know if I would like 

 it for dinner that evening. I asked her how it was 

 caught ; she seemed surprised at the question, and 

 explained, in a sentence lasting over several minutes, 

 that it had been caught on the nest. I tried to make 

 her understand that in England it was not the custom 

 to eat partridges during the nesting season, at which 

 she began to cry. I had several more partridges after 

 that one, and they were certainly very good, and only 

 cost fourpence apiece. 



One day I asked her what time it was ; the day was 

 misty, and as she pointed up towards the sky she shook 

 her head and gesticulated. ' ' No hay sol, Seiior, no se 

 qiie hora es," she said. 



This was quite true. They had no church clock in 

 the village, but when the sundial which stood against 

 the church indicated mid-day, the bell in the tower 

 was rung twelve times. 



There is no carriage road within many miles of 

 Vilaflor ; stores and merchandise have therefore to be 

 brought by way of the steep paths which lead up from 

 the villages along the south coast of Tenerife, or from 

 Santa Cruz, which is a very much longer journey. 

 Mules are the chief beasts of burden in Tenerife, 

 although there are a few camels in the island. I 

 remember one evening hearing a bell ring outside my 

 room at Vilaflor, and on looking out I saw a camel 



