OP BAKON HUMBOLDT. 79 



their ship could only remain four or five days 

 in the harbour. They hastened, in order to 

 reach the harbour of Orotava, and intended 

 to engage from thence a guide to the peak. 

 It was the most important object of Humboldt 

 to examine this rock. A very charming road 

 conducted the travellers from Laguna, a city 

 1,620 feet above the level of the sea, to the 

 harbour. They traversed a country of match- 

 less beauty. Enchanted by this magnificent 

 panorama, the travellers reached Orotava, and 

 proceeded from thence through a splendid grove 

 of chestnut trees, towards the summit of the 

 volcano. 



Perhaps no part of the globe was more 

 calculated to increase Humboldt' s desire for 

 travels, to elevate his thoughts, and cheer his 

 spirit, than these first tropical sceneries. No 

 wonder that the naturalist Anderson, who 

 accompanied Captain Cook on his third voyage 

 round the world, recommended this island to 

 all the physicians of Europe, as pre-eminently 

 fitted for invalids of every kind, calculated to 

 infuse into sinking hearts and feeble limbs by 

 virtue of its genial climate, and the ever-green 

 picture of a most luxuriant vegetation new 

 hope and new strength. His picture is certainly 

 not overdrawn. Humboldt calls it an enchanting 



