32 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
with apparel, and are mostly employed as labourers 
in the vineyards and gardens. 
During the two days of our stay in Funchal the 
weather was very favourable for coaling, which was 
satisfactorily finished, and on the 5th February we 
proceeded out of the bay, and, with a favouring breeze, 
were soon otf the “ Desertas,” a group of barren rocks 
about 11 miles S.E. of Madeira. These rocks appear 
to be only frequented by fishermen, who repair thither 
for collecting orchil. The northernmost isle is a high 
pyramidal rock, often taken for a sail, which it much 
resembles. The weather continuing very favourable, 
the next day we sounded in 2000 fathoms, and early 
the following morning the brilliant light on Cape 
Anaga (Teneriffe) was descried ahead. As daylight 
dawned, we steamed in for the land, and the high, 
precipitous rocks, all bleak and bare, here and there 
broken by deep and rugged clefts, rose in bold out- 
line before us. Somewhat later, as the clouds cleared, 
the celebrated Peak was in sight, a grand and 
solitary object towering in seeming desolation ; for 
although there is a certain amount of fertility on its 
sides, it was not apparent as we approached it. By 
7.30 .a.m. we anchored off the town of Santa Cruz, 
Teneriffe. After a visit from the health officers, all 
were free for a run on shore. There is little at 
Santa Cruz itself to interest a stranger ; the houses 
are poor structures, the streets narrow, and there 
are no public buildings with any pretension to taste 
