199 



destined for the king* of Spain's cabinet of natu- 

 ral history. As we left the town, and turned 

 our eyes toward the road of Santa Cruz, we were 

 alarmed at seeing our vessel, the Pizzaro, under 

 way. On reaching the port, we learnt, that she 

 was plying under an easy sail, to wait for us. 

 The English vessels, that were stationed off the 

 island of Teneriffe, had disappeared : and we had 

 not a moment to lose to go on board. We em- 

 barked alone, for our fellow-travellers were Ca * 

 narians, and at the end of their journey. We 

 regretted in this number Don Francisco Salcedo, 

 son of the late Spanish governor of Louisiana, 

 whom we met with again at the Isle of Cuba, 

 on our return from the Oroonoko. 



Not to interrupt the narrative of the excur- 

 sion to the top of the Peak, I have said nothing 

 of the geological observations I made on the 

 structure of this colossal mountain, and on the 

 nature of the volcanic rocks of which it is com- 

 posed. Before we quit the Archipelago of the 

 Canaries, I shall delay a moment, and bring 

 into one point of view what relates to the physi- 

 cal picture of these countries. 



The mineralogists who think, that the end of 

 the geology of volcanoes is the classification of 

 lavas, the examination of the crystals they con- 

 tain, and their description according to their ex- 

 ternal characters, are generally very well satis- 

 fied, when they come back from the mouth of a 

 burning volcano. They return loaded with nu- 



