THE AZORES 



365 



in its upper portion ; and for purposes of comparison, as concerning 

 the average soil-conditions suitable for vegetation, we may regard 

 only its lower 4000 or 4500 feet. Taking the whole island of Pico, 

 the same rule applies, since with the exception of the peak none of 

 the other mountains exceed 3500 feet in height. It is true that 

 Pico Topo, lying behind Lagens, is credited in the Admiralty chart 

 and in the accompanying " Sailing Directions " with an altitude 

 of 5357 feet; but there is an error here, the true elevation, as the 

 writer ascertained by aneroid, being about 3300 feet. This mistake 

 doubtless dates back to the time of the survey of the archipelago 

 by Captain Vidal, 1842-4. The author spent some days in the 

 vicinity of this mountain, which does not exceed the average height 

 of the peaks of this part of the island, the great cone towering far 

 above them all. He learned from Colonel Chaves that up to 1914 

 the Admiralty chart of the island was the only available map. (In 

 the latest issue of this chart (No. 1855) the correction has since 

 been made, the height of Pico Topo being there reduced to 3357 feet, 

 as indicated in the map of the island accompanying this work.) 



Comparison of the Conditions of Forest-Growth in the 

 Azores, Madeira, and the Canaries. — From what has been said 

 above we should be safe in assuming that the soil- conditions for 

 typical forest growth in the Azores, as a whole, cease usually at 

 altitudes between 3000 and 4000 feet. It would seem from the early 

 accounts of Madeira that the original forests must have extended 

 nearly to the summit of the island, and we will take their average 

 limits as between 5000 and 6000 feet. In the Canaries, as illustrated 

 by Teneriffe, this limit would be generally about 7000 feet. After 

 applying to these values for the three Macaronesian groups the 

 correction for the difference in latitude and for the associated differ- 

 ences in climate, we should expect to find in the Azores only the 

 Canarian forest vegetation of between 2000 and 5000 feet, or, in 

 other words, the evergreen shrubs and trees of the Laurel-belt. We 

 could scarcely look for more, since the higher Pine-belt of Teneriffe 

 could not exist on the lava and cinders of the higher levels of the 

 cone of Pico ; whilst the lower Canarian coast-belt with all its strange 

 African plants would be unrepresented for want of the warm climatic 

 conditions. In Madeira, intermediate in latitude and in climate 

 between the other two groups, we should expect to find an inter- 

 mediate condition of things. The lower African zone, so well de- 

 veloped in the Canary Islands and absent from the Azores, ought to 

 be considerably restricted in Madeira; and, since this island barely 

 emerges from the cloud-belt, its forest vegetation of the Canarian 

 type might be expected, subject to soil-conditions, to reach the 

 summit. In this correlation of the three floras, the writer, as far 

 as the Azores and the Canaries are concerned, was long ago fore- 

 stalled by Hochstetter and Morelet. Its significance will be made 

 more apparent in a later page. 



The General Profile of the Cone of Pico. — The characteristic 

 appearance of the great cone of Pico is that of a mountain rising 

 with easy slopes for its lower two-thirds, and then ascending pre- 

 cipitously to the summit. Except on the southern side it rises 



