95 



we have seen issuing from granite, gneiss, and 

 micaceous schist, we shall have occasion to re- 

 turn to this subject, which is one of the most im- 

 portant of the physical history of the globe. 



We reem barked at sunset, and hoisted sail, 

 but the breeze was too feeble to permit us to con- 

 tinue our course to Teneriffe. The sea was calm ; 

 a reddish vapor covered the horizon, and seemed 

 to magnify every object. In this solitude, amidst, 

 so many uninhabited islets, we enjoyed for a long- 

 time the view of an austere and savage nature. 

 The black mountains of Graciosa appeared like 

 perpendicular walls of five or six hundred feet. 

 Their shadows, thrown over the surface of the 

 ocean, gave a gloomy aspect to the scenery. 

 Rocks of basalt, emerged from the bosom of the 

 water, wore the resemblance of the ruins of some 

 vast edifice ; their existence carried our thoughts 

 back to the remote period when submarine vol- 

 canoes gave birth to new islands, or rent the 

 continents asunder. Every thing which sur- 

 rounded us seemed to indicate destruction and 

 sterility ; but the back ground of the picture, 

 the coasts of Lanzerota, presented a more smil- 

 ing aspect. In a narrow pass, between two hills, 

 crowned with scattered tufts of trees, the marks 

 of cultivation were visible. The last rays of the 

 sun gilded the corn ready for the sickle. The 

 desert even is animated wherever we can disco- 

 ver a trace of the industry of man. 



