154 



near Rome ; but scarcely had we reached the 

 plain covered with pumice stone, when the 

 landscape changed it's aspect, and at every step 

 we met with large blocks of obsidian thrown out 

 by the volcano. Every thing here speaks per- 

 fect solitude. A few goats and rabbits only 

 bound across the plain. The barren region of 

 the peak is nine square leagues ; and as the 

 lower regions viewed from this point shrink in 

 the prospect, the island appears an immense 

 heap of torrefied matter, hemmed round by a 

 scanty border of vegetation. 



From the region of the spartium nubigenum 

 we passed through narrow defiles, and small ra- 

 vines hollowed very anciently by the torrents, 

 first to a more elevated plain {el Monton de Tri- 

 go) 9 then to the place where we intended to pass 

 the night. This station, which is more than 

 1530 toises above the coast, bears the name of 

 the English Halt {Estancia de los Ingleses*), no 

 doubt because English travellers were those, who 

 formerly visited the peak most frequently. Two 



* This denomination was already in use at the beginning 

 of the last century. Mr. Eden, who corrupts all Spanish 

 words, as do the greater part of travellers in our own times, 

 calls it the Stancha : it is the Station des Rochers of Mr. Borda, 

 as is proved by the barometrical heights there observed. 

 These heights were in 1803, according to Mr* Cordier, 19 

 inches 95 lines ; and in 1776, according to Messrs. Borda 

 and Varela, 19 inches 9*8 lines ; the barometer at Orotava 

 keeping within nearly a line at the same height. 



