200 THE BANANA 



the Canaries, the banana that has survived for the special 

 purpose of the trade with Europe is the Chinese banana 

 (Musa CavendisUi), the least tropical and therefore the 

 most suitable for cool climates. Its cultivation is now at 

 the height of its prosperity, and good irrigated land near the 

 coast commands the almost fabulous rent of 40 per English 

 acre. . . . The part of the Canary Islands where most of 

 the bananas are cultivated is the well-known Valley of 

 Orotava, owing to the comparatively abundant and never - 

 failing supply of water, which, no doubt, filters down from 

 the high and extensive plateau of the Canadas, nearly 

 7000 ft. high, and surrounding the famous peak of TenerifTe, 

 which is over 12,000 ft. During the winter months there 

 are abundant rains and snow, and the water gradually 

 percolates to the region of the coast, where it is tapped by 

 long, horizontal tunnels ; in one case the tunnel is over 

 a mile in length, and, although it does not rain for six 

 months (May to October), the several water galleries show 

 very little difference in their supply summer or winter. 

 In one of these tunnels the output is three million gallons 

 daily, and this water is carried along an aqueduct for a 

 great distance to irrigate the land lying below it. In 

 another instance a large supply of water (about one million 

 gallons daily) that formerly ran to waste into the sea, 

 falling from the cliff where it first made its appearance, 

 has been pumped up nearly 1000 ft. high by steam, at a 

 cost of over 40,000. It is then conducted by an aqueduct 

 across the Valley of Orotava from west to east, a distance 

 of six miles. 



"It is owing to these circumstances and to the favour- 

 able geographical position of the Canaries for navigation 

 and cheap freights that such developments have occurred 

 in the banana trade. A further increase of plantations 

 will certainly take place, at any rate im the neighbourhood 

 of the Valley of Orotava, when more water is procured, 

 and this will undoubtedly be the case, as several new 

 tunnels are being bored in search of water with very good 

 prospects of success. There still remain large supplies- 



