DKAGON-TREE OF CKOTAVA. 



43 



CHAT, in 



Drafcon-trec of Orotava. 



viewed from a distance, although the houses, when seen DragoTitree. 



at hand, have a gloomy appearance. One of the most 



remarkable objects in this place is the dragon-tree in 



the garden of M. Franqui, of which an engraving is here 



presented, and which our ti'avellers found to be about 



60 feet high, with a circumference of 48 feet near tlie 



roots. Tlie trunk divides into a great number of 



branches, which rise in the form of a candelabrum, and 



are terminated by tufts of leaves. This tree is said to Great ape. 



have been revered by the Guanches as the ash of Ephesus 



was by the Greeks ; and in 1402, at the time of the 



first expedition of Bethencour, was as large and as 



hollow as our travellers found it. As the species is of 



very slow growth, the age of this individual must be 



great. 



Leaving Orotava, they passed by a narrow and stony 

 path through a beautiful wood of chestnuts to a place 

 covered with brambles, laurels, and arborescent heaths, 



