80 
EiTESDEO 1U10SPF.CT. 
sensations, which are the more forcible, inasmuch as they 
have something undefined, produced by the immensity of the 
space as well as by the vastness, the novelty, and the mul- 
titude of the objects, amidst which we find ourselves tran- 
sported. When a traveller attempts to describe the loftiest 
summits of the globe, the cataracts of the great rivers, the 
tortuous vallies of the Andes, he incurs the danger of 
fatiguing his readers by the monotonous expression of his 
admiration. It appears to me more conformable to the plan 
I have proposed to myself in this narrative, to indicate the 
peculiar character that distinguishes each zone : we exhibit 
with more clearness the physiognomy of the landscape, in 
proportion as we endeavour to sketch its individual features, 
to compare them with each other, and to discover by this 
kind of analysis the sources of the enjoyments, furnished by 
the great picture of nature. 
Travellers have learned by experience, that views from the 
summits of very lofty mountains are neither so beautiful, 
picturesque, nor so varied, as those from heights which do 
not exceed that of Vesuvius, Bighi, and the Puy-de-D6me. 
Colossal mountains, such as Chimborazo, Antisana, or Mount 
Eosa, compose so large a mass, that the plains covered witli 
rich vegetation are seen only in the immensity of distance, 
and a blue and vapoury tint is uniformly spread over the 
landscape. The peak of Tenerife, from its slender form and 
local position, unites the advantages of less lofty summits 
with those peculiar to very great heights. We not only 
discern from its top a vast expanse of sen, bat we perceive 
also the forests of Teneriffe, and the inhabited parts of the 
coasts, in a proximity calculated to produce the most beau- 
tiful contrasts of form and colour. We might say, that the 
volcano overwhelms with its mass the little island which 
serves as its base, and it shoots up from the bosom of the 
waters to a height three times loftier than the region where 
the clouds float in summer. If its crater, half extinguished 
for ages past, shot forth fiakes of fire like that of Stromboli 
in the iEolian Islands, the peak of Teneriffe, like a light- 
house, would serve to guide the mariner in a circuit of more 
than 260 leagues. 
When we were seated on the external edge of the crater, 
we turned our eyes towards the north-west, where the coasts 
