46 



ZONES OF VEGETATION. 



zone are raised the date-tree, the plantain, the sugar- 

 cane, the Indian-fig, the arum colocasia, the olive, 

 the fruit trees of Europe, the vine, and wheat. 



2. The Region of Laurels is that which forms the 

 woody part of Teneriffe, where the surface of the 

 ground is always verdant, being plentifully watered 

 by springs. Four kinds of laurel, an oak, a wild 

 olive, two species of iron-tree, the arbutus calli- 

 carpa, and other evergreens, adorn this zone. The 

 trunks are covered by the ivy of the Canaries, and 

 various twining shrubs, and the woods are filled with 

 numerous species of fern. The hypericum, and 

 othqr showy plants, enrich with their beautiful flow- 

 ers the verdant carpet of moss and grass. 



3. The Region of Pines, which commences at the 

 height of 1920 yards, and has a breadth of 850, is 

 characterized by a vast forest of trees, resembling 

 the Scotch fir, intermixed with juniper. 



4. The fourth zone is remarkable chiefly for the 

 profusion of retama, a species of broom, which 

 forms oases in the midst of a wide sea of ashes. It 

 grows to the height of nine or ten feet, is ornamented 

 with fragrant flowers, and furnishes food to the 

 goats, which have run wild on the Peak from time 

 immemorial. 



5. The fifth zone is the Region of the Grasses, in 

 which some species of these supply a scanty cover- i 

 ing to the heaps of pumice, obsidian, and lava. A 

 few cryptogamic plants are observed higher; but 

 the summit is entirely destitute of vegetation. 



Thus the whole island may be considered as a 

 forest of laurels, arbutuses, and pines, of which the 

 external margin only has been in some measure 

 cleared, while the central part consists of a rocky 

 and steril soil, unfit even for pasturage. 



The following day was passed by our travellers in 

 visiting the neighbourhood of Orotava, and enjoy- 

 ing an agreeable company at Mr. Cologan's. On 

 the eve of St. John, they were present at a pastoral 



