DURASNO OROTAVA. 



41 



eruptions, the last of which happened in 1798, prove 

 the activity of a fire which is far from being extinct. 

 There is, besides, something melancholy in the sight 

 of a crater placed in the midst of a fertile and highly- 

 eultivated country. 



Pursuing their course to the port of Orotava, the 

 travellers passed the beautiful hamlets of Matanza 

 and Vittoria (slaughter and victory), — names which 

 occur together in all the Spanish colonies, and pre- 

 sent a disagreeable contrast to the feelings of peace 

 and quiet which these countries inspire. On their 

 way they visited a botanic garden at Durasno, where 

 they found M. Le Gros, the French vice-consul, who 

 subsequently served as an excellent guide to the 

 Peak. The idea of forming such an establishment 

 at Teneriffe originated with the Marquis de Nava, 

 who thought that the Canary Islands afford the most 

 suitable place for naturalizing the plants of the East 

 and West Indies, previous to their introduction to 

 Europe. They arrived very late at the port, and 

 next morning commenced their journey to the Peak, 

 accompanied by M. Le Gros, M. Lalande, secretary 

 of the French consulate at Santa Cruz, the English 

 gardener of Durasno, and a number of guides. 



Orotava, the Taoro of the Guanches, is situated 

 on a very steep declivity, and has a pleasant aspect 

 when viewed from a distance, although the houses, 

 when seen 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 

 travellers found to be about 60 feet high, with a cir- 

 cumference of 48 feet near the roots. The 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 have been re- 

 vered 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 

 D2 



