284 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



with some of the first people of the land. The 

 Spaniards are very musical, and I enjoyed some 

 delightful evenings in their society. The ladies 

 are elegant and piquant as any in Spain, and they 

 are said "to be the concentration of all that's 

 divine upon earth." 



During my stay at Santa Cruz I became ac- 

 quainted with a young lieutenant in the American 

 navy, with whom I made several expeditions to 

 different parts of the island. I extract from my 

 log our trip to the summit of the peak. 



Leaving Richardson's Hotel after breakfast, a 

 smart ride of about an hour up a rather steep 

 ascent brought us to Laguna, a large but very 

 dull-looking town surrounded with gardens, in 

 which I noticed myrtles, laurels, arbutus, oleander, 

 orange, citron, lemon, peach, banana, cypress, 

 date, palms, and roses growing most luxuriantly. 

 Two hours more along paths leading through fields 

 of cactus, corn and maize brought us to Villa 

 Orotava, Puerto Orotava being four miles distant, 

 on the sea. 



The appearance of the town is gloomy in the 



