Mr. Bennet o« /y&^ Island of Tenerife, 293 



times in deep ravines, gradually rose in height till the summits . 

 were lost in those of the central chain, while on our right we were 

 rapidly gaining an elevation above the lower range of the peak. 

 This range forms one flank of the plain or valley of Orotava, 

 stretching from south-east to north-west, and is broken into steep 

 precipices, cut down in some places perpendicular to the horizon, 

 and called las Horcas : it joins the central chain at the high eleva- 

 tion of the pumice plains, sweeps down the side of the valley, and 

 forms a headland near 200 feet high, projecting into the sea, some 

 miles from Orotava ; we traversed this country an hour or two, till 

 we reached the point of intersection of las Horcas with the plains of 

 pumice. On the road are several small conical hills or mouths of 

 extinct volcanoes, the decomposed lava on the edges of these craters 

 having a strong red ochreous tint ; by degrees the lava becomes more 

 and more covered by a small ash, and the masses or heaps of pu- 

 mice gradually increase, till the surface is completely concealed. At 

 length an immense undulated plain spreads itself like a fan, on all 

 sides, nearly as far as the eye can reach, and this plain is bounded 

 on the west south-west, and south south-west, by the regions of the 

 peak ; and on the east and north-east by a range of steep perpendi- 

 cular precipices and mountains, many leagues in circumference, 

 called by the Spaniards Las Faldas. M. Escolar informed me that 

 the wall could be traced for many leagues, the whole circumference 

 of which evidently formed the side of an Immense crater. This tract, 

 called Las Canales^ contains, according to the same authority, 12 

 square leagues. As we entered this plain from the south-west, there 

 are to be seen several declivities of lava and strata, broken inwards 

 towards the plain, and evidently a continuation of the above- 

 mentioned line of wall and the remains of the original crater. There 



