ISLAND OF LANCEROTA. 



27 



harbour of Santa Cruz in TenerifTe was blockaded 

 by the English; and on the 16th, in the afternoon, 

 the seamen discovered land, which proved to be 

 that island. As they advanced they saw first the 

 island of Forteventura, famous for the number of 

 camels reared upon it, and soon after the smaller 

 one of Lobos. Spending part of the night on deck, 

 the naturalists viewed the volcanic summits of Lan- 

 cerota illumined by the moon, and enjoyed the beau- 

 tiful serenity of the atmosphere. After a time, great 

 black clouds, rising behind the volcano, shrouded at 

 intervals the moon and the constellation of Scorpio. 

 They observed lights carried about on the shore, 

 probably by fishermen, and having been employed 

 occasionally during their passage in reading some 

 of the old Spanish voyages, these moving fires re- 

 called to their imagination those seen on the island 

 of Guanahani on the memorable night of the dis- 

 covery of the New World. 



In passing through the archipelago of small isl- 

 ands situated to the north of Lancerota, they were 

 struck by the configuration of the coasts, which re- 

 sembled the banks of the Rhine near Bonn. It is a 

 remarkable circumstance, our author observes, that, 

 while the forms of animals and plants exhibit the 

 greatest diversity in different climates, the rocky 

 masses present the same appearances in both hemi- 

 spheres. In the Canary Isles, as in Auvergne, in the 

 Mittelgebirge, in Bohemia, in Mexico, and on the 

 banks of the Ganges, the trap formation displays a 

 symmetrical arrangement of the mountains, ex- 

 hibiting truncated cones and graduated platforms. 



The whole western part of Lancerota announces 

 the character of ar country recently deranged by vol- 

 canic action, every part being black, arid, and des- 

 titute of soil. The Abbe Viera relates that in 1730 

 more than half of the island changed its appearance. 

 The great volcano ravaged the most fertile and best- 

 cultivated district, and entirely destroyed nine vil- 



