THE NORTH COAST OF TENERIFE 8 1 



say as they cluster round, " and what an example to 

 all of us," and it is not until the prayerful one, rising 

 from these exercises with a weaned and somewhat 

 abstracted gaze, has disposed of three or four of the 

 congregation, that they begin to realise that if he prays 

 at least he does not fast. In this strain, at any rate, 

 runs the legend. 



To the w.est of Orotava the road continues along 

 the coast, passing through some of the most beautiful 

 scenery in the island. In this district there is no lack 

 of water, and the springs which come racing down from 

 the heights above are pulled aside as it were in their 

 impetuous rush, and conducted by wooden watercourses 

 to feed, here one village on the mountain slopes, and 

 there another. 



Icod is one of the more important towns in Tenerife, 

 and, like the Villa of Orotava, it prefers to stand a 

 thousand feet above the sea, being represented on the 

 shore by its small harbour, from which a steep and 

 villanous path leads up to the town itself. This little 

 harbour, so far as I know, is the only one that can lay 

 claim to such a title along the whole of the northern 

 coast of Tenerife ; when I was there a schooner arrived, 

 laden with stone from one of the eastern islands, a 

 commodity which the inhabitants could no doubt well 

 dispense with. 



The view of the Peak from Icod differs entirely 

 from that obtained at Orotava, for while from the latter 

 place the foreground is spread out around the wide 

 valley of Orotava, gradually leading up to the steep 

 mountain range above which the Peak shows itself, at 



