195 



their note was the same as that of the tame ca- 

 nary. It is nevertheless remarked, that those 

 which have been taken in the isle of the Great 

 Canary, and in the islet of Monte Clara, near 

 Lanzerota, have a stronger, and at the same time 

 the most harmonious song. Under^every zone, 

 among birds of the same species, each flock has 

 it's peculiar note. The yellow canaries are a 

 variety which has taken birth in Europe ; and 

 those we saw in cages at Orotava and Santa 

 Cruz had been bought at Cadiz, and in other 

 ports of Spain. But of all the birds of the Ca- 

 nary islands, that which has the most heartsooth- 

 ing song is unknown in Europe ; this is the 

 capirote, which no effort has been able to tame, 

 so sacred to his soul is liberty. I have stood in 

 admiration of his soft and melodious warbling, 

 in a garden at Orotava ; but I have never seen 

 him sufficiently near, to know to what family he 

 belongs. As to the parrots, which were suppos- 

 ed to have been seen at the period of Captain 

 Cook's abode at TenerifFe, they never existed 

 but in the narrative of a few travellers, who have 

 copied from each other. Neither parrots nor 

 monkeys inhabit the islands of the Canaries ; 

 and though in the New Continent the former 

 migrate as far as North Carolina, I doubt whe- 

 ther in the Old they have ever been met with be- 

 yond the 28th degree of north latitude. 



Toward the close of day we reached the port 

 o 2 



