ss 
fires 05 i sx. joiin’s eye. 
our stay on the Peak,* or have made an excursion to tlie 
volcano of Chahorra. We passed the following day in visit- 
ing the environs of Orotava, and enjoying the agreeable corn- 
company we found at Don Cologan’s. We perceived that 
Tcneritfe had attractions not only to those who devote them- 
selves to the study of nature : we found at Orotava severed 
persons possessing a taste for literature and music, and who 
have transplanted into these distant climes the amenity of 
European society. In these respects the Canary Islands 
have no great resemblance to the other Spanish colonies, 
excepting the Havannah. 
We were present on the eve of St. John at a pastoral 
fete in the garden of Mr. Little. This gentleman, who 
rendered great service to the Canarians during the last 
famine, has cultivated a hill covered with volcanic substances, 
lie lias formed in this delicious site an English garden, 
whence there is a magnificent view of the Peak, of the 
villages along the coast, and the isle of Palma, which is 
bounded by the vast expanse of the Atlantic. I cannot com- 
pare this prospect with any, except the views of the bays ot 
Genoa and Naples ; but Orotava is greatly superior to ‘both 
in the magnitude of the masses and in the richness of vege- 
tation. In the beginning of the evening the slope of the 
volcano exhibited on a sudden a most extraordinary spectacle. 
The shepherds, in conformity to a custom, no doubt introduced 
by the Spaniards, though it dates from the highest antiquity, 
had lighted the fires of St. John. The scattered masses of 
fire and the columns of smoke driven by the wind, formed a 
fine contrast with the deep verdure of the forests which 
covered the sides of the Peak. Shouts of joy resounding 
As a great number of travellers who land at Santa Cruz, do not 
undertake the excursion to the l*eak, because thev arc ignorant of the 
time it occupies, it may be useful to laydown the following data : lu 
making use of mules as far as the Estancia de los Ingleses, it takes twenty - 
one hours from Orotava to arrive at the summit of the Peak, and return 
to the port; namely, from Orotava to the Pino del Dornajito three hours ; 
irom tiie Pino to the Station of the Rocks six hours ; and from this 
station to the Caldera three hours and a half. 1 reckon nine hours for the 
descent. In this calculation I count only the time employed in walking, 
without reckoning that which is necessary for examining the productions 
of the Peak, or for taking rest. _I -.it' a day is sufficient for going from 
Santa Crus to Orotava. 
