and Ascent of the Peak of Teyde. 3445 



water, with a smoothly swept rocky bed in some places and large boul- 

 ders in others. Of birds we saw some vultures, red-legged partridges 

 (Perdix petrosa), blackbirds {Tardus Merula), and some canaries, the 

 last very different in colour, however, from the well-known domestic 

 variety, for the wild bird has the bright yellow of the other either olive- 

 green or greenish yellow. 



At 20 minutes to 10 we entered a stationary fleecy cloud covering 

 the whole side of the mountain, and received a copious deposit from 

 the moisture it contained in a state of suspension. In half an hour 

 more we got into a still more rugged and barren tract, where the heath 

 had become superseded by a bush resembling juniper — indicating 

 another zone of vegetation. Emerging from the bed of a ravine, and 

 attaining the shoulder of the mountain the sides of which we had just 

 ascended, a strange view presented itself. The noble Peak of Teyde 

 lay right before us, rising in a huge mass from a desolate tract strewed 

 with yellowish brown pumice — its continuity broken by projecting 

 masses of dark lava and basalt assuming the most fantastic shapes — 

 at one time forming ranges of tall columns, at another appearing like 

 groups of weather-beaten ruins. Here and there a smooth and per- 

 fectly formed cone rising from the plain silently spoke of clouds of 

 smoke and ashes once sent up from its summit to darken the air, of 

 flames, and torrents of molten lava, of earthquakes, and the effects of 

 long-pent-up subterranean fires. The vegetation of this dreary tract, 

 — the Llano des Retamas — is limited to scattered bushes of juniper, 

 and the retamas (Spartocytisus nubigenus), a kind of broom, with 

 white odoriferous flowers. 



At noon w r e halted for refreshment (thereby attracting the notice of 

 a kite (Milvus regalis) which had an eye to the scraps), and after a 

 good roasting from the fierce rays of an unclouded sun, resumed our 

 march amidst clouds of dust raised by the horses' feet. For several 

 hours we continued traversing this dreary pumice-plain, unenlivened 

 by a single living creature not belonging to our party, with no other 

 vegetation than bushes of retama, the juniper having entirely disap- 

 peared. At length, passing some pumice-covered hillocks and im- 

 mense isolated blocks of dark rock — apparently shot into their present 

 position from some neighbouring crater — we reached the base of the 

 great central elevation of the island, or the Peak itself, which we be- 

 gan to ascend by a zigzag path. Here at the height of about 9,000 

 feet the beautiful Viola cheiranthifolia (peculiar to this spot) grows in 

 small tufts among the pumice. Our horses were now completely worn 

 out and we dismounted and dragged them along, until at a quarter past 



