SOME BIRDS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS 



resulted in the engineer closing the road for the time 

 being. The inhabitants, who had taken no part in it, 

 were thus made the scapegoat of this quarrel, and had 

 perforce to take the old road which passed by the sea 

 on their journeyings between the two places. I do not 

 know how the quarrel ended, but when we returned 

 the road was open again. 



There are two or three villages beyond Garachico, 

 but the country soon becomes very bare, several large 

 " cinder heaps," or small isolated volcanos, standing 

 out from the level ground near the coast ; further on 

 the mountains gradually recede from the shore, leaving 

 an almost uncultivated plain between them and the 

 sea. There were few birds to be noticed here, the 

 only ones that showed themselves being the Camineros, 

 as they flew a little way along the path and then 

 alighted. 



There is little of interest along this plain unless it 

 be the ice-plant, its separate bead-like partitions glitter- 

 ing in the sunshine, and the attention is gradually 

 centred on the blue sea, on which, now and again, 

 the presence of a sunken rock is indicated by a cool- 

 looking patch of white surf, until, long after the last 

 village is reached, a headland of rock runs out to 

 sea which seems to bar further progress. This pro- 

 montory goes by the name of El Fraile, by reason of 

 the presence of a natural column of black rock which 

 stands outlined against the sky on its topmost edge, 

 and looked at from a distance there is a marked 

 resemblance in this column to the figure of a cowled 

 friar descending the ridge. This black headland serves 

 to further emphasise the play of colour so characteristic 



