S2 TENERIFFE. 
nary contributions, they are entitled to the tenth of the pro- 
duce of the land, out of which, however, the Crown demands 
the royal thirds that were granted by the Pope. All exports 
and imports are also taxed for the benefit of the Crown ; 
and the luxuries of snutf and tobacco are royal monopolies 
prohibited, on very heavy penalties, from being imported 
b}^ individuals or cultivated on the island. A little weed that 
grows on the rocks, the Lichen KocJiella, usually called Or- 
chella, used as a purple dye for silks, is also a royal mono- 
poly. As an extraordinary indulgence on the part of the 
Crown, the small quantity of silk pi'oduced in Teneriffe is al- 
lowed to be manufactured into gloves and stockings ; and the 
growth of the sugar-cane is not absolutely prohibited, because 
the cultivation of this article is not attended with any profit 
to the planter ; but the culture and the manufacture of all 
such articles, as the mother-country or her more favoured co- 
lonies can supply, are directly prohibited on this island. Yet 
with all these restrictions, the whole amount of the taxes, 
imposts and vexatious monopolies on the Seven Islands, is 
scarcely equal, after the expences are deducted, to the annual 
profits of a London brewer. And, with so many discouraging 
drawbacks on industry, it is hardly to be ^vondered that the}^ 
should have no great abundance of surpKis produce to dispose 
of except their wines. The quadrupeds on the island consist 
in a few horses, mules, asses, and horned cattle, besides 
sheep, goats, hogs, and rabbits ; and we found all kinds of 
poultry dear and difficult to procure. The market is equally 
ill supplied v/ith fruit and vegetables. Their bread is very 
indifferent. Such are the pernicious effects of a bad govern- 
ment on one of the finest ishmds probably on the surface of- 
