FERRO, or HIERO, the most westerly of the Canary Islands, and, besides being the smallest, also the most arid
and barren. It has a population of about 5000 souls, and a superficies of twenty square miles. The coast is rugged, and the soil contiguous to it is barren; but in the interior the face of the country improves, and there is a considerable portion of the island level and fruitful. The chief product is figs, which are produced in great quantities; and, to prevent their being lost, they are frequently used in making brandy. This spirit, together with wine, which is also made here, is exported to Teneriffe. Various aromatic flowers grow in great abundance; and bees thrive exceedingly well, yielding excellent honey. Ferro is but scantily supplied with water, there being only two or three fountains on the island; so that the cattle, which are numerous, are but ill provided with this indispensable commodity. Ferro was formerly supposed to be the most westerly point of the old world, and hence geographers drew their first meridian of longitude through it. This practice, however, has been abandoned; and almost every nation now makes the first meridian to pass through its own capital, not, we apprehend, with any advantage to science, but rather the reverse. Long. 17. 46. W. Lat. 27. 45. N.