366 PLANTS, SEEDS, AND CURRENTS 



gently up to between 2000 and 2500 feet; after which there is a 

 steeper gradient to between 4500 and 5000 feet ; and then it ascends 

 rapidly to the top. Yet it would be difficult to find a lofty volcanic 

 mountain rising from the sea with such a steep slope as is presented 

 by the great mountain on its south side. It attains its maximum 

 elevation of 7613 feet at a distance of 2*42 geographical miles from 

 the coast, which represents an average angle of slope of about 27°. 

 Mr. Samler Brown rightly says in his guide-book to these islands 

 (edit. 1905, p. 7) that it rises more abruptly from the sea than the 

 Peak of Teneriffe. Taking the shortest distance from the coast 

 at seven and a half miles and the altitude at 12,180 feet, the Peak 

 of Teneriffe rises from the sea on its north side at an average angle 

 of about 15°. 



There is some excuse for those who have coasted along the south 

 side of the island of Pico, or who have lived for weeks, as I have done, 

 on the south coast under the shadow of the peak, if at times they 

 carry away the exaggerated impression of a great cone rising in 

 places almost sheer from the sea. There lies before me a chart of 

 the Azores by Wm. Heather, dated 1822, drawn, revised, and cor- 

 rected by J. W. Norie, hydrographer. In a profile sketch of the 

 peak, bearing E. 3° S. by compass, the mountain is represented as 

 pinnacle-formed and rising from the sea to its summit at an angle 

 of about 60°. This, of course, is very far from being the case, as 

 may be seen from the profile sketches given in the Admiralty chart 

 from Captain Vidal's survey in 1842-4. Yet, as will now be shown, 

 there is a tremendous drop in a limited region on the southern 

 slopes. 



The Bluffs of the Ribiera Grande. — Due south of the peak 

 and opposite the coast villages of Praynha do Sud and Terra do Pao, 

 the mountain in its lower half drops about 3000 feet in a thousand 

 yards, giving rise for a mile or two to a line of huge bluffs, the pre- 

 cipitous faces of which are deeply scored by gorges and gulleys 

 forming dry river-beds, the largest of them being known as the Ribiera 

 Grande. Their steep sides, carved out into spurs and buttresses, 

 are usually well wooded, except in the gulleys and gorges, and they 

 terminate abruptly in the low and narrow strip of coast on which 

 the two villages lie. These bluffs constitute the most precipitous 

 portion of the lower slopes of the mountain and present one of its 

 chief spectacular features. The winding paths used by the shepherds 

 tending their sheep ascend what looks from a distance like an im- 

 possible precipice. Yet with a guide the ascent, though tedious, 

 is not difficult. Tiny white specks, which dot the upper declivities, 

 mark the sheep, and bring home to the climber the great height of 

 the bluffs. 



Above the higher edge of the bluffs the steep upper slopes of the 

 mountain are streaked by " slides " of boulders and loose blocks 

 of lava, where no vegetation obtains a hold, localities that my guides 

 were very unwilling to approach. Not infrequently a huge boulder 

 is set in motion, and rolling down the slide it leaps over the upper 

 edge of the bluffs, and bounding down their precipitous sides at 

 tremendous speed, ultimately plunges into some field or garden at 



