24 



DEPAUTUUE FROM CORUNAA. 



CHAPTER II. 



Voyage from Corunna to Teneriffe. 



Departure from Corunna — Currents of the Atlantic Ocean — Ma- 

 rine Animals — Falling Stars — Swallows — Canary Islands— Lan- 

 cerota — Fucus vitifolius — Causes of the Green Colour of Plants 

 — La Graciosa— Stratified Basalt alternating^ with Marl — Hj-a- 

 lite — ^Quartz Sand — Remarks on the Distance at which Mountains 

 are visible at Sea, and the Causes by which it is modified — Land- 

 iuir at Teneriffe. 



lu^piirture 

 from Co- 

 runna. 



tvcninc 



lioriiuu ul 

 •cu. 



The wind having come round to the north-east, the 

 Pizarro set sail on the afternoon of the 5th of June 

 1799, and after working out of the narrow passage 

 passed the Tower of Hercules, or lighthouse of Corunna, 

 at half-past six. Towards evening the wind increased, 

 and the sea ran high. They directed their couree to the 

 north-west, for the purpose of avoiding the English 

 frigates which wore cruising off the coast, and about 

 nine spied the fire of a fishing-liut at Si.'iitrga, which 

 was tlie last oliject they bclield in the west of Europe. 

 As tliey advanced, the light mingled itself witli the 

 stars which rose on tlie horizon. " Our eyes," says 

 Huinl)oldt, " remained involuntarily fixed upon it. 

 Such impressions do not fode from tlie memory of tiiose 

 wlio have undertaken long voyages at an age when the 

 emotions of tlie heart are in full force. How many 

 recollections are awakened in tite imagination by a 

 luminous jjoint, wliit-li in the middle of a dark night, 

 appearing at intervals above the agitated waves, marks 

 tliu shore of one's native land !" 



