i.\ i. oi m. jomr. 



As the travellers approached the town of Oro 

 lav.-i. they met great flocks of canaries. These birds, 



11 known in Europe and America, were in genera] 

 uniformly green. Some, however, had a yellow tinge 

 on their backs; their note was the same as that of the 

 tame canary. Towards the close of tin • day they reached 

 the port ofOrotava, where they received the unexpected 

 intelligence thai the Pizarro would no1 Be1 sail till the 



th or 25th. If they could have calculated on this' de- 

 lav, thev might either have Lengthened their Btav on the 

 peak, or have made an excursion to the volcano of Cba- 

 horra. As it was they passed the following day in visit- 

 ing the environs of Orotava, and enjoying its agreeable 



jiety. They were prescnl on the eve of St. John at a 

 pastoral fi§te. In the beginning of the evening the Blope 

 of the volcano exhibited on a sudden a most extraordi- 

 nary spectacle. The Bhepherds, in conformity to a cus- 

 tom, do doubl introduced by the Spaniards, had lighted 

 the fires of St John. The scattered masses of fire, and 

 the columns of smoke driven by the wind, formed a fine 



ntrast with the deep verdure <>f the forests which 



yered the sides of the peak. Shouts of joy resound- 

 ing from afar were the only sounds that broke the silence 

 of nature in these solitary regions. 



They left the road of Santa Cruz on the 25th of June, 

 and directed their course towards South America, They 



On 1".-! Bight of the Canary Islands, the lofty moun- 

 tains of which were covered with a reddish vapour. The 

 peak alone appeared from time to time, as at intervals the 

 wmd di ed the clouds that enveloped the Sugar-loaf. 

 A few land birds, which had been driven to sea by the 

 impetuosity of the wind, followed them for several days. 



