_ The people who succeeded the Guanches were 
_ descended from the Spaniards and Normans. The 
‘presen inhabitants are described by our author as 
being of a moral and religious character, but of a rov- 
ing and enterprising disposition, and less industrious 
at home than abroad. The population in 1790 was 
174,000. The produce of the several islands con- 
sists chiefly of wheat, barley, maize, potatoes, wine, 
a great variety of fruits, sugar, and other articles of 
food ; but the lower orders are frequently obliged to 
have recourse to the roots of a species of fern. The 
principal objects of commerce are wine, brandy, 
archil (a kind of lichen used as a dye), and soda. 
Tenerifie has been praised for the salubrity of its 
climate. The ground of the Canary Islands rises 
gradually to a great height, and presents, on a small 
scale, the temperature of every zone, from the in- 
tense heat of Africa to the cold of the Alpine re- 
gions; so that a person may have the benefit of 
whatever climate best suits his temperament or dis- 
ease. A similar variety exists as to the vegetation ; 
and no country seemed to our travellers more fitted 
to dissipate melancholy, and restore peace to an 
agitated mind, than Teneriffe and Madeira, where 
the natural beauty of the situation, and the salu- 
brity of the air, conspire to quiet the anxieties of 
the spirit and invigorate the body, while the feel- 
ings are not harassed by the revolting sight of slav- 
ery, which exists in almost all the European colonies. 
In winter the climate of Laguna is excessively 
foggy, and the inhabitants often complain of cold, 
although snow never falls. The lowest height at 
6 
