124 LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
plantations of prickly pear, for the growth of cochineal, 
still an important industry, though greatly lessened since 
the discovery of aniline dyes. The cochineal insects with 
their larve are protected upon the fleshy fronds of the 
prickly pear by white canvas coverings, which are fixed to 
the plant by means of fish bones, until the insects are 
ready for gathering. 
Leaving the carriage at the foot, a steep climb took us 
to the verge of the Caldera crater, one of the most perfect 
volcanic craters in existence. It is just a mile across, almost 
a circle, and with a nearly level rim all round the upper 
part, being 1450 feet above the sea. It looks hke a huge 
well, the sides being very perpendicular of black volcanic 
rock. At the foot, 700 feet deep, is a large green plateau, with 
a solitary farm-house surrounded by orange trees, and said 
to be a very healthy locality. At a short distance from 
the Caldera, and a few hundred feet higher, are the cave 
dwellings of Atalaya, honeycombing the sides of a hill in 
terraces. We were soon surrounded by their remarkable, 
swarthy, half-clad inhabitants, begging and entreating us 
to buy specimens of their industry. What the social life 
of these curious people can be it is difficult to imagine. 
The cave opening admits the only light or ingress to their 
one or two chambers, and here the women and children 
sit about on the ground, making pottery ware of a plain 
description, and just the same in character and process as 
that of their ancestors the Guanches. No other pottery 
is used in the country, and the women and girls may be 
constantly seen with their large jars at the public foun- 
tain, evidently the gossiping rendezvous of the place, or 
carrying them on their heads full of water; for Canary 
has been truly called a “‘rainless paradise,’ rain only 
usually occurring in about three months in the year. 
In England we are not prone to grumble over the 
