120 



\ 



rative of his adventures, begins by a description 

 of Madeira and Teneriffe ; and if in the natural 

 history of these islands there yet remains as it 

 were, an immense field untrod, we must admit, 

 that the topography of the little towns of Fun- 

 chal, Santa Cruz, Laguna, and Orotava, leaves 

 scarcely any thing untold*. 



The recommendation of the court of Madrid 

 procured us in the Canaries, as in all the other 

 Spanish possessions, the most satisfactory recep- 

 tion. The captain general gave us immediate 

 permission to examine the island. Col. Armiaga, 

 who commanded a regiment of infantry, received 

 us into his house with a kind hospitality. We 

 could not cease admiring the banana, the papaw 

 tree, the poinciana pulcherrima, and other plants, 

 which we had hitherto seen only in hot houses, 

 cultivated in his garden in the open air. The 

 climate of the Canaries however is not warm 

 enough to ripen the real platano arton, with tri- 

 angular fruit from seven to eight inches long, 

 and which, requiring a temperature of 24 cen- 

 tesimal degrees, does not flourish, even in the 

 Valley of Caraccas. The bananas of Teneriffe 



* Borda, Voy. de la Flore, t. i, p. 80. Vieyra, Noticias 

 historicas, t. ii, p. 134. Bory de St. Vincent, Essai sur les 

 Isles Fortunes, p. 230. Ledru, Voyage aux Isles de Tene- 

 riffe et de Porto Rico, t. i, p. 37. Milbert, Voy. pitt. h 

 Vlsle de France, t. i, p. 9. Lord Macartney's Voyage, vol. i, 

 p. 74. 



