SANTA CRTZ OF TENERIFFE. 37 



CHAPTER Iir. 



Island of Teneriffe. 



Santa Cruz— -Villa de la Laguna — Guanches — Present Inhabitants 

 of'TenerifFe— Climate — Scenery of the Coast — Orotava — Dragon- 

 tree — Ascent of the Peak — Its Geological Character — Ernptions 

 — Zones of Vegetation — Fires of St John. 



Santa Cruz, the Anaza of the Guanches, which is a chap. ni. 

 neat town with a population of 8000 persons, may be santa"ci-iu 

 considered as a great caravansera situated on the road to 

 America and India, and has consequently been often 

 described. The recommendations of the court of Madrid 

 procured for our travellers the most satisfactory recep- 

 tion in tlie Canaries. The captain-general gave per- 

 mission to examine the island, and Colonel Armiaga, 

 who commanded a regiment of infantry, extended his 

 hospitality to them, and showed the most polite attention. 

 In his garden they admired the banana, the papaw, and 

 other plants cultivated in the open air, which they had 

 before seen only in hothouses. 



In the evening they made a botanical excursion to- Botanical 

 wards the fort of Passo Alto, along the basaltic rocks '^''cursion. 

 which close the promontory of Naga, but had little 

 success, as the drought and dust had in a manner de- 

 stroyed the vegetation. The Cacalia kleinia, Euphorbia 

 canariensis, and other succulent plants, which derive 

 their nourishment more from the air than from the soil, 

 reminded them by their aspect that the Canaries belong to 

 Africa, and even to the most arid part of that continent. 



