81 



mite, without using a taper for the limb. Se- 

 veral of our fellow travellers were Canarians, 

 who, like all other inhabitants of islands, vaunted 

 with enthusiasm the beauty of their country. 

 After midnight, great black clouds rising behind 

 the volcano shrouded at intervals the moon and 

 the beautiful constellation of the Scorpion. We 

 beheld lights carried to and fro on shore, which 

 were probably those of fishermen preparing for 

 their labours. We had been employed, during 

 our passage, in reading the ancient voyages of 

 the Spaniards, and these moving lights recalled 

 to our fancy those which Pedro Gutierrez, page 

 of Queen Isabella, saw in the Isle of Guanahani, 

 on that memorable night of the discovery of the 

 New World. 



On the 17th, in the morning, the horizon was 

 foggy, and the sky slightly covered with vapours. 

 The outlines of the mountain of Lanzerota ap- 

 peared stronger; the humidity, increasing the 

 transparency of the air, seemed at the same time 

 to have brought the objects nearer our view. 

 This phenomenon is well known to those, who 

 have made hygrometrical observations in places 

 whence the chain of the high Alps or the Andes 

 is seen. We passed through the channel which 

 divides the isle of Alegranza from Montana 

 Clara, taking soundings the whole way. We 

 examined the Archipelago of small islands si- 

 tuate to the north of Lanzerota, which are so 



VOL. I. G 



