TENERIEFE. 
31 
fires are still active within — as is evident from occasional 
subterraneous noises and the bursting of hot springs, 
and at distant intervals, within the memory of 
the people, the issuing of smoke from the crater- — 
there has been no eruption since that above-men- 
tioned. The people appear to be insensible to any- 
thing like apprehension of the recurrence of such a 
calamity, nor do" they seem to stand much in awe of 
the frequent earthquakes which shake the very foun- 
dations of the island. The summit of the great Peak 
may be gained by a difficult ascent from Oratava ; the 
distance to the crater from the foot is about twelve 
miles, the road forming a complete zig-zag throughout. 
The crater is of an area containing 7,500 square 
yards, or, at a rough computation, about an acre and a 
half. Except during the latter end of August and 
September, the top is capped with snow, from which 
the sun’s rays glance with great brilliancy, adding not 
a little to its over- towering effect. It would scarcely 
be credited by those who have never witnessed a 
similar illusion, that, at Santa Cruz, which is distant 
from the Peak upwards of thirty miles, it appears so 
wonderfully near to the eye that one might almost 
fancy it possible to cast a stone to the summit. The 
island possesses several other towns and villages, but 
none which particularly demand notice in these pages. 
