ZONES OF FAMOUS VEGETATION. 
81 
^“Sf 8 . and bamlets. At our foot, masses 
1 st varhhl stan % drifted by the winds, afforded us the 
£ toS e ,E‘5> A of olouJs, «i- 
most 
milar to PeC i taC ! e- unif ' orlr ‘ stratum of clouds, si. 
the lower ro<ri desc . n b ed > and "hick separated us from 
places by the off 8 °t t )‘®. lsland > bad been pierced in several 
earth heated WE ° tbe sraal l currents of air, which the 
port v/ni. ’ y % Slm > began to send towards us. Tlie 
fh 0 yinpli'vJT 11 ’ J - 8 r eS8e l S , at aucll0l '> the gardens and 
tlimml' encircling the town, shewed themselves 
through an opening which seemed to enlarge every instant 
Jron } the summit of these solitary regions our eyes W 
WlT' an !v ha 1 blted ", orl<! ; "'C enjoyed the striking con- 
test between the bare sides of the peak, its steep declivities 
covered with scon®, its elevated plains destitute of ve-e- 
beneath ““V'h as P ect of the cultured country 
beneath. \\ e beheld the plants divided by /.ones as the 
t?on P of ? tllc atmos pbere diminished ‘with the eleva- 
on of the site Below the Piton, lichens begin to cover 
Vioin i U u a,Kl . k,strous biva: a violet* akin to the 
to its ’ n ff , ou th ,° slo P° of t,ie volcano at 1740 
s ot height ; it takes the lead not only of the other 
herbaceous plants, but even of the gramW which in the 
Alps and on the ridge of the Cordilleras, form close neigh- 
bourhood with the plants of the family of the cryptommia 
Tu ts of retama, loaded with flowers, adorn TS 
holJowed out by the torrents, and encumbered with the 
fleets of the lateral eruptions. Below the retama lies 
the region oi ferns, bordered bv the tract of the arbor 
of laurel, rbanmus, and arbutus' 
and fmit hees & T 1 ° mui S* planted with vines 
the plain afL r nch of ver(krc extends from 
event! V b l )artulm - and the zone of the alpine plants 
eT o v l if,T P3 ° f t,ie datetree aud the ausm at the 
" b'V 1 ^he ocean appears to roll. I here nass shVlitU- 
entL Kafter P fir Ure %° f , botani(!al clla k as I “shall 
ffra , v!' e ! S °“ e bjrtber details respecting the geo- 
graphy ot the plants of the island of Teneriffe.t 
Peak \vo helm? 1 P i't° X * ty’ b 1 'vbich, from the summit of tiie 
in the enLt d - the hamkts > tlle vineyards, and the gardens 
, is mcreased by the prodigious transparency of 
* Viola eheiranthifolia. + Seen 114 
VOL. I. T P- 
